WRC Finale In Limbo as Toyota and Hyundai Say They Won't Go

The World Rally Championship's November finale in Jeddah is teetering on the edge.

According to DirtFish, corporate travel policies from Toyota and Hyundai are colliding head-on with WRC's logistics, potentially leaving Toyota Gazoo Racing and Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT on the sidelines, unable to commit to the season-ending Rally Saudi Arabia.

A joint letter sent directly to the FIA by sporting directors Kaj Lindström (Toyota) and Andrew Wheatley (Hyundai) claims neither factory team can legally ship its crews to the final round as company-wide travel bans remain in place.

Both Toyota Motor Corporation and Hyundai Motor Group have implemented sweeping travel bans due to the war in Iran, restricting employee travel across broad swathes of the Middle East. If those internal rules remain unchanged, neither manufacturer will field cars in Jeddah.

"The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team is wholly owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and all its members must comply with TMC regulations. TMC policy currently prohibits any travel to the Middle East. Our company and our team are informed weekly by headquarters of any changes to this policy,"  the Japanese manufacturer said in the statement.

M-Sport Ford, on the other hand, claims it's no problem at all to enter the region. Team principal Richard Millener points out that official government travel advisories currently only warn against traveling within 10 kilometers of the Saudi-Yemeni border.

Despite the stance from two of its three main manufacturer teams, the FIA and WRC Promoter are pressing forward.

FIA Road Sport Director Emilia Abel confirmed no formal cancellations or postponements have been issued, though she admitted that shipping schedules and freight timelines are rapidly approaching their absolute limits. An official decision from the FIA on whether the WRC's Saudi event moves forward, gets relocated, or gets cancelled needs to arrive within days.

The FIA was already forced to cancel Formula 1's 2026 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The governing body is currently weighing whether the season-ending swing to Qatar and Abu Dhabi will take place. Both currently remain officially on the schedule, but a formal decision from F1 is expected by mid-September.

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