Seth Quintero Clinches 2026 ARA Title in a Toyota GR Corolla RC2

Source: Racer, October 11, 2026

Seth Quintero and co-driver James Morgan are the 2026 ARA National Champions. The title was decided at the Lake Superior Performance Rally in a finish that had everything: a second-place run good enough to seal the crown, and a gut-punch double tire puncture on the final stage that ended Lia Block's championship bid. Quintero's GR Corolla Rally RC2 crossed the finish line intact. Block's title hopes did not.

It was Toyota Gazoo Racing's first full American stage rally season, and they closed it with two overall wins, three podiums, and a championship. For a debut year, that's hard to argue with.

The RC2 is built to absorb what stage rally throws at it: gravel, mud, heat cycles, repeated hard braking into blind corners. The road car it's descended from may not see gravel stages, but the same logic applies once you're pushing it on track or through the mountains. Stock brakes have a ceiling, and the GR Corolla is the kind of car that finds that ceiling fast.

Cover the Other Corner: The Rear Kit That Completes the Story

The Paragon 20-26 Toyota GR Yaris / GR Corolla Competition Rear Big Brake Kit is a four-piston competition setup designed to work in concert with front hardware on a car that's capable of punishing both axles equally. At $2,700, it's the other half of a complete brake system overhaul, and on a car with the GR Corolla's all-wheel-drive traction and torque, the rear brakes aren't an afterthought.

Rear brake upgrade kits get overlooked because they don't have the visual real estate of a front setup. But get the balance wrong and the best front brakes in the world won't give you a consistent pedal. Stage rally engineers know this better than anyone — brake bias is one of the first things dialed in before a service loop. The Paragon rear kit gives the road car the same kind of attention.

Four pistons, purpose-built rotor, Paragon's competition-grade hardware — it's the kind of setup that shows up through the wheel spokes and tells anyone who knows what they're looking at exactly what they're seeing. On a GR Corolla that's already doing its part visually, the rear caliper finishing the look matters.

Whether you're building a full Paragon big brake setup front-to-rear or stepping up the rear end to match existing hardware, this kit is the genuine article. Quintero's championship season proved the platform can win. Now it's your turn to decide what the road car is capable of.