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Norwegian rally driver Frank Tore Larsen enjoyed a phenomenal 2026 campaign behind the wheel of his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, triumphing in every single round of the Norwegian Rally Championship. Larsen set the fastest time on 49 out of 51 special stages throughout the season, meaning he won a staggering 96% of the national championship stages he contested.
"I wasn't aware of that statistic, and it really sounds impressive when you hear it for the first time," Larsen told Dirtfish. "However, when you think about it, you immediately ask yourself: 'What could I have done differently on those two stages to achieve a 100% record?'"
The only two stages where Larsen missed out on victory came during the opening two rounds of the year. On both occasions, he finished second by the slimmest of margins behind Jens Hvaal (Škoda) – trailing by just 0.5 and 0.3 seconds respectively. That left him less than a single second shy of a complete clean sweep across the entire championship.
"Rallies are often long, and it's completely normal to have a dip or encounter a stage with a profile, surface, or conditions that don't suit you perfectly," the champion explained. "The Norwegian championship consisted of six events – two on snow, two on gravel, and two on asphalt.
"Winning all six rallies shows versatility and the ability to adapt to any surface. But for me, these results are above all proof of the outstanding consistency and strong pace we maintained all year round," the Norwegian added.
In 2025, Larsen fought a tight title battle with former World Rally Championship (WRC) regular Eyvind Brynildsen, narrowly missing out on the crown. Although Brynildsen did not compete this year, Larsen does not view his triumph as any less valuable: "We compared our stage times against last year when we were battling Eyvind, and we could see that we were actually faster now."
Beyond his home turf, the Norwegian driver regularly enters the Swedish round of the European Rally Championship (ERC). In 2024, he finished fourth behind Oliver Solberg, Mikko Heikkilä, and Hayden Paddon, followed by a fifth-place finish in 2025. This season, he was running in sixth place before an alternator issue forced him to retire.
In European competition, his rivals wield significantly newer machinery – the top 10 finishers in Sweden this year were all driving the latest Rally2 cars from Škoda and Toyota, whereas Larsen's Polo GTI R5 is now eight years old.
"For next season, the goal remains the same: contesting the Norwegian championship and the Swedish ERC round," Larsen concluded. "We need to evaluate whether the Polo is the right car for the European event. Naturally, my main target is always the Norwegian title, but I also dream of an ERC podium, and one day, a victory."
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