Though the roads are asphalt and mostly straight, the snow in the French Alps will test teams' tyre choices and driving skills.

The defending champions:

In the final race of 2025, France's Sébastien Ogier (his ninth driver's title) and Vincent Landais as co-driver (his first championship title) were crowned the year's winning champions. The reigning Manufacturer's Champion is Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) with their GR Yaris Rally1.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin from the United Kingdom were second, trailing by four points, also in a Toyota GR Yaris. Finnish teammates Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were third, a further twenty-one points behind in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.

In the Manufacturers' Championship, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a 224-point advantage over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT in their Hyundai i20 N Rally1, with M-Sport Ford WRT in third place with a Ford Puma Rally1.

Clearly, Toyota Gazoo Racing is a force to be reckoned with, which is not surprising considering that Toyota's rallying heritage dates back to 1957 when it entered the Mobilgas Round Australia Rally.

The brand took its first win in 1973 when Canadians Walter Boyce and Doug Woods triumphed at the 'Press-on Regardless Rally' USA (United States of America) in a Toyota Corolla Levin TE27. In 1975, Hannu Mikkola and Atso Aho achieved victory at Finland's 1000 Lakes Rally in a factory-backed Corolla Levin TE27.

In 2015, Toyota announced a return to the WRC after an 18-year absence, but by this time, Toyota Gazoo Racing was fully established. Toyota Gazoo Racing, or TGR for short, set up a WRC base in Finland and entered the WRC again in 2017.

In 2018, they secured 5 rally wins, followed by a Manufacturer's Championship. 2021 was the first year they managed a clean sweep of winnings by claiming the Driver's, Co-drivers' and Manufacturer's titles for the first time since 1994. The wins kept stacking up until they reached their 100th win in the 2025 Estonia Rally with drivers Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.

The legend of Gazoo Racing:

Gazoo Racing was born on the track, on the Nürburgring track in Germany to be precise.

It was the result of the endless passion, grit and enthusiasm of mainly two people: Akio Toyoda, then chairman of the Toyota Company, and Hiromu Naruse, master driver. Naruse joined the Toyota Motor Company in 1963 as an 18- or 19-year-old temporary worker in the Vehicle Inspection Division.

By the age of 28, he first visited the Nürburgring whilst providing technical guidance and participating in the 6 Hours of Nürburgring in a Celica 1600GT. Hiromu was immediately enchanted and insisted to Akio Toyoda that: "Races are the ultimate stage on which to pass on technologies and develop human resources." Hiromu , known for not sugar-coating anything, said the words that led to Akio's own race-driving training:

"Somebody in your position, who doesn't know the first thing about driving, shouldn't make passing comments about cars. The least you can do is learn how to drive. You should recognise that, as test drivers, we're putting our lives on the line to make better cars. If you feel like it, even if just once a month, I'll teach you how to drive." Akio recalls that the comments didn't bother him and led to him taking on Naruse as his driving trainer, through which Hiromu shared his experience and expertise without holding back.

Gazoo Racing: The early years:

The name Toyota Gazoo Racing, however, was only made official in 2015, after 8 years of Hiromu Naruse and Akio Toyoda's pioneering 'activities' in 2007 at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

The team, consisting of Akio Toyoda, going under the name of Morizo as the team leader, and Hiromu Naruse as the master test driver, along with a few Toyota employees as technical support, wasn't allowed to use the Toyota name.

Their actions were regarded as merely a source of content for the Gazoo.com vehicle sales website, not anything that could be regarded as an official racing project. Their cars were used Altezza RS200s that had been fitted out as race cars.

In 2008, the team used the UK six-speed manual transmission Lexus IS250 and took part in the fourth round of the Nürburgring endurance series (VLN4). This race experience was used to develop the legendary Lexus LF-A. In 2010, after two years of developing the LF-A, Gazoo Racing took their first championship title home.

In 2012, the two LF-A racing cars were reduced to one, and two Toyota 86 models were introduced. This was the year in which vehicle development through racing, including the development of the LF-A, began in earnest. In 2015, all of Toyota's racing endeavours were placed under the name of Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Back to 2026:

Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced that Toyota's motorsport divisions will be split, with WEC and NASCAR immediately competing under the new name of Toyota Racing.

Toyota Gazoo Racing will remain an entity in the World Rally Championship for this year only. In 2027, this team will race under Gazoo Racing, which can be described as a return to the GR roots and probably a homage to Akio's mentor and friend, Hiromu Naruse. Hiromu Naruse passed away, sadly yet somehow profoundly, during a vehicle testing accident on his beloved Nürburgring on 23 June 2010.

Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala explained the change: "Morizo-san wants to keep this idea which was done in the past. Through motorsport we learn, we can evolve and we can create something better, and that's how we create ever better cars."