Rally Sweden – Second victory of the season for Matteo Fontana in WRC3

Reigning WRC3 World Champion Matteo Fontana has started his 2026 season in the best possible way. After his victory at Monte Carlo, the Italian followed up in Sweden by dominating his rivals, including those competing in the Junior category. WRC and also having similar vehicles, and those in the RC3 class, thus excluding crews not registered for the WRC round. "Last year, we struggled here and the rally “It hadn’t gone in the best way. The local drivers are very fast here, and we suffered a bit from that last year, but this year we’ve really taken a step forward and we can be satisfied with our pace,” he told us at the rally finish. Finishing nearly three minutes ahead of Tymoteusz Abramowski, his WRC3 runner-up, and 27,6 seconds ahead of JWRC winner Calle Carlberg, Fontana indeed set a blistering pace, making him the benchmark in the category.

Matteo Fontana entered another dimension following the Monte Carlo Rally

You've surely heard about this 22-year-old driver who made a huge splash last January. Indeed, on Sunday of the Monte Carlo Rally, Fontana, driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 equipped with four-wheel drive, perfectly exploited his starting position behind all the Rally1 and Rally2 cars to set two fastest stage times across all categories, broadcast worldwide. This changed the course of events for the young man: "I received a huge number of messages about it, and on social media, people were going crazy," Matteo Fontana told us in Sweden, smiling as he recalled this incredible moment. The rest of his season will take place in the Junior WRC events: while Fontana isn't competing in them, he now wants to test himself against the crews who do. We will therefore see him in action again in Croatia but, before that, he will also be involved in the Italian Championship in a Rally2 class car.

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