– It has now been around 19 months since the rally world last saw Dani Sordo as a participant in a World Rally Championship (WRC) event in a Rally1 car. This long period comes to an end this weekend at the WRC rally in the Canary Islands.
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Sordo, a three-time WRC event winner, returns to the top class for the first time since his second-place finish at the Acropolis Rally Greece 2024. This weekend, the Spaniard and his co-driver Candido Carrera will once again drive for the Hyundai factory team, taking over the third i20 N for their home event in the 2026 WRC calendar. This car will also be driven by Hayden Paddon and Esapekka Lappi during the season, apart from Sordo.
“Honestly, I’m really looking forward to being back in the Rally1 car and working with the Hyundai team,” says Sordo. “I’m really excited about it and also curious to be at the start of the Canary Islands Rally for only the second time since 2005.” Back then, Sordo competed in the non-WRC rally with co-driver Marc Marti in a Citroen C2 S1600.
20 years later, in the 2025 season, the Canary Islands Rally appeared on the WRC calendar for the first time. As for the Hyundai team, they suffered a bitter defeat against Toyota exactly one year ago on the smooth, circuit-like asphalt stages of the Spanish island. Adrien Fourmaux’s fifth place was the best result at the time, while the weaknesses of the i20 N on asphalt were clearly visible.
Since then, Hyundai has worked intensively to improve the car on asphalt. Two weeks ago in Croatia, the team narrowly missed not only their first season victory of 2026, but also their first asphalt victory since the Central European Rally 2024. An error by Thierry Neuville on the final Power Stage meant that the wait for a victory continues.
What can we expect from Sordo’s return?
The 2026 WRC season has been extremely unpredictable so far, with three different winners in four rallies and Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) leading the championship after his two victories in Kenya and Croatia. Could Dani Sordo bring some magic on his return and continue the varied start to this year’s season?
Judging by Sordo’s statements before his comeback, the 42-year-old Spaniard is extremely confident. He has prepared intensively for his return to the Rally1 car by participating in Rally La Llana, a national asphalt rally in Spain, a few weeks ago.
This rally was originally not part of Sordo’s preparation plan, as Hyundai had actually intended for him to compete in the Rally Villa de Santa Brigida. However, this very event was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
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Even if the asphalt on the Spanish mainland differs from what the WRC stars will encounter this weekend in the Canary Islands, Sordo sees no reason why a podium finish or even a victory should not be the goal.
“My goal is to develop a good setup for the car and fight for a good result, definitely for the podium. But when I start a rally, I always aim for victory. Why not? This applies even more to Spain and to asphalt, so why not go for the win?”
“Rally La Llana was not really comparable to the Canary Islands Rally in terms of asphalt. A few of the special stages were quite similar, but it certainly wasn’t the same. However, we have a good setup and a good balance in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, and it was nice to work with Candido [Carrera] in the car again. We are well prepared for the Canaries,” says Sordo.
Sordo hasn’t missed the competition, but …
While Sordo has sorely missed driving a Rally1 car, he was not idle in terms of competition during his long WRC break. In 2025, he participated in the Portuguese Rally Championship, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2. He engaged in an intense title fight with his former WRC rival Kris Meeke and ultimately outscored the Northern Irishman by seven points.
“Certainly, I missed the feeling in the car, that and the events,” Sordo admits, before adding: “Honestly, I didn’t miss the competition, because I had a nice fight with Kris Meeke. But the feeling of driving a Rally1 car, you definitely miss that when you’re not actually driving it.”
As mentioned at the outset, Sordo’s participation in the Canary Islands Rally this weekend will be his first start in this rally since he finished second in 2005 behind the wheel of a Citroen C2 S1600. “I don’t remember much about the Canaries, but it was a legendary rally in the Spanish Championship,” Sordo admits.
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“What I remember very well,” the Spaniard continued, “is the weather. It was difficult to get a good weather forecast, because, as on all islands, it can be completely different on one side than on the other. So it can rain on one special stage and be dry on others. I remember that, and also the roads, which were quite good, a bit like race tracks.”
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