File photo: a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, the car class Lia Block competes in, at the 2021 Barum Czech Rally Zlín. Photo by Miloslav Rejha via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
With just two rounds remaining in the 2026 American Rally Association National Championship, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s GR Corolla Rally RC2 program has turned into one of the season’s best storylines. Driver Seth Quintero and co-driver Topi Luhtinen currently sit second in the championship after a rocky start followed by a red-hot summer.
Quintero and the team did not compete in the season-opening Sno*Drift Rally back in February, and their second outing at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood ended without a finish. The GR Corolla found its rhythm as the calendar moved into summer, with Quintero and Luhtinen taking their first overall win together at the Southern Ohio Forest Rally in June, then backing it up with another victory at Rally Colorado in July, an event marked by extreme heat, punctures, and attrition across the field.
The Ojibwe Forests Rally in late August brought a setback. Contact with a rock on the second stage damaged the Corolla’s suspension, forcing Quintero and Luhtinen out of Friday’s competition. They rejoined on Saturday well out of contention for the overall result, but salvaged the weekend by winning the closing Power Stage for maximum bonus points.
That result allowed Hyundai’s Lia Block, who scored her first career overall national rally win at Ojibwe, to stretch her championship lead over Quintero from two points to 21. Alastair Scully currently sits third in the standings. In the co-driver points, Luhtinen is second behind Block’s co-driver Alex Gelsomino.
Two rounds remain on the 2026 calendar. The series heads to Newport, Tennessee for the Overmountain Rally on September 18-19, followed by the season finale at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in Marquette, Michigan on October 9-10. Quintero has said the title fight is “not mathematically impossible,” though closing a 21-point gap in two rounds will require big results from the GR Corolla and a stumble from Block.
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