With Lancia making its long-awaited return to the World Rally Championship (even if in WRC2), the manufacturer was bound to set some major milestones.

Yohan Rossel winning the Croatia Rally on Sunday made for an obvious one as Lancia’s maiden victory in the WRC2 category, but the fact that he hung with the premier WRC drivers means he also achieved feats not seen by the marque since its heyday in the ’90s.

Driving a Ypsilon HF Integrale, Rossel set a total time of 2:56:35.7 to beat his younger brother Léo Rossel for the WRC2 win by 38.8 seconds. The latter, a Citroën driver, prevented Lancia from going 1–2 in class as he held off Nikolay Gryazin by 19.1. Gryazin was slowed down by mechanical issues on Saturday but made up the lost ground a day later to finish third.

In the bigger picture, the older Rossel’s run was good for fourth among all drivers. It is the best WRC finish for a Lancia regardless of category since Alex Fiorio also placed fourth in the 1994 Acropolis Rally with a Delta HF Integrale. Lancia had already shut down its legendary rally program in 1992, meaning entries afterward were privateers until Group A was phased out five years later.

His ’94 Acropolis run was effectively the last strong performance by a Lancia until the company resumed factory rallying three decades later. In that race, he won SS32 to become Lancia’s final WRC stage winner for the next 32 years until Rossel topped SS15 at this year’s Rallye Monte-Carlo. He was one of two Lancias in the Acropolis top ten alongside the Greek native Armodios Vovos in eighth. Carlos Sainz won for Subaru, while Juha Kankkunen’s Toyota kept Fiorio off the podium by placing third and 8:27 ahead.

Fiorio’s father Cesare was the Lancia WRC team director, while Alex won the inaugural FIA Cup for Production Rally Drivers in 1987. The younger Fiorio never topped a WRC leaderboard, but enjoyed a solid career with ten podiums and 45 stage wins.

2026 is Lancia’s first season back in the WRC. The Italian manufacturer had revived its factory rally division in late 2024 before competing in the European Rally Championship. When Craig Rahill won ERC4 at the 2025 Barum Czech Rally Zlín, he became Lancia’s first international rally class winner since Christophe Spiliotis topped Group N at Monte Carlo in 1993.

Lancia’s last outright WRC victory came at the 1992 Rallye Sanremo with Andrea Aghini, who led an Integrale 1–2 with Kankkunen.

“We knew that Lancia’s ambition this year was to come back strongly in the WRC,” said Rossel. “After Monte Carlo, it was a bit difficult for me as it wasn’t the result I was expecting, but here in Croatia, at this second round, everything was perfect from tire choices to the setup. We were always in control. I’m really happy for the team, for myself, and for all Lancia fans.”

Rossel’s win also moves him up to third in the WRC2 standings while Lancia Corse HF leads the team championship.

Takamoto Katsuta scored his second straight overall win after leader Thierry Neuville crashed on the Power Stage. He joins Kenjiro Shinozuka as only the second Japanese driver to win a WRC race when he claimed the Safari Rally Kenya in March, with Shinozuka also having two career victories.

“We always want to win but we would never wish for something like this to happen to a competitor. It can and has happened to us before, so we know it’s not a nice feeling for a team or a driver. Nevertheless, it makes us happy to see Taka take his second win in a row,” Kankkunen stated. The Finn, who won the 1987 and 1991 WRC titles with Lancia, now serves as Toyota Gazoo Racing’s deputy team principal.

“To have a Japanese driver with a Japanese manufacturer leading the championship, this has never been done before. Both Taka and Sami (Pajari) were driving very well again this weekend, and it shows how strong our team is, that even if some of our drivers make mistakes, we have others who are also capable of winning.”

Featured image credit: Acropolis Rally, Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool