Rally

While the FIA's statement didn’t explicitly mention Ypres, it stated that Monza will be the eighth round of the 2020 season, suggesting the Belgian event remains on course to be run on November 20-21 despite doubts caused by the fluid coronavirus situation in the country. The Monza Rally has been held annually since 1978 and over the years it has attracted stars from both the rallying and the ...Keep reading View the full article

Perhaps the most unfashionable world champion in rallying history, as he was slightly overweight, chain-smoked and wore huge glasses, his fellow Finns nicknamed him ‘loysa’ – which literally translates as ‘slack’. Brought in to the works Peugeot team in the 1985 WRC by Jean Todt in a support role to Ari Vatanen, Salonen was promoted to team leader following Vatanen’s near-fatal ...Keep reading View the full article

Ogier lost his lead in the drivers’ standings to Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans when his Yaris WRC was struck down by terminal engine failure on the penultimate stage of the Turkish event, having earlier had problems when his car dropped from four- to two-wheel-drive on the second day of the event. It means Ogier heads into this weekend's Rally Italy with an 18-point deficit to Evans with just ...Keep reading View the full article

IMG became the promoter of FIA rallycross for the 2013 season in a 20-year agreement with the FIA, but, Motorsport.com understands, will cease to run the series after the end of the current campaign. Work is understood to be ongoing to secure the future of the dual-surface discipline’s top level. When asked for clarification about the current situation by Motorsport.com, World ...Keep reading View the full article

This will mark the duo’s third consecutive outing in Dakar for Mini, both having joined the marque in 2019 following Peugeot’s withdrawal from the rally raid as factory entrant. Sainz and Peterhansel will drive X-raid’s two Mini JCW Buggies, with the line-up for its additional 4x4 entries yet to be announced. Sainz won the 42nd edition of Dakar earlier this January, scoring Mini’s ...Keep reading View the full article

As revealed by Motorsport.com earlier this week, Loeb will be a part of BRX’s two car line-up in the top-tier T1 category alongside 2014 winner Nani Roma, whose appointment was confirmed by the squad last month. Loeb contested the Dakar as a factory Peugeot driver between 2016-18, securing a best finish of second during the three-year stint, before entering the rally as a privateer in 2019 ...Keep reading View the full article

Breen will team up with Hyundai regulars Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak for the Ypres Rally, marking his third WRC appearance of 2020 following previous outings in Sweden and Estonia, although a planned Rally Finland foray came to naught after the event was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Irish driver finished seventh in Sweden, before recording a second-place finish behind ...Keep reading View the full article

The 2003 champion will get back behind the wheel of a World Rally Car, driving a Citroen C3 on the closing 4.28-mile Sassari test of the loose surface event using Pirelli’s freshly-developed Scorpion KX rubber. The 45-year-old will be navigated by fellow Norwegian and three-time WRC event winner Andreas Mikkelsen, who was recruited by Pirelli at the end of June to spearhead its research and ...Keep reading View the full article

The nine-time World Rally champion will be announced as teammate to Nani Roma for his return to the famous rally raid, which takes place in Saudi Arabia in January. Loeb, 46, will again be paired with long-time co-driver Daniel Elena as he has been for his four previous Dakar starts, all of which have been at the wheel of Peugeot machinery. The Frenchman has now concluded his programme in ...Keep reading View the full article

The Welshman won the toughest event on the calendar by 35.2 seconds, and set the third fastest time on the powerstage to collect three bonus points, to reclaim top spot in the drivers’ standings. With just two rounds scheduled to run in 2020 – next month’s Rally Italia and November’s Rally Ypres – his advantage is 18 points. It was his second win of the campaign following his ...Keep reading View the full article

Ekstrom set a pair of fastest times in qualifying to top the Intermediate Classification, then won semi-final one ahead of KYB Team JC teammate Robin Larsson to secure pole for the final. He then controlled the main event from the front to net victory, and close the points gap to Johan Kristoffersson. Series leader Kristoffersson had used a superior tyre strategy on Saturday, the first of the ...Keep reading View the full article

The Welshman took a cautious approach throughout what is the most attritional event on the WRC calendar. His reward was a third career victory in the sport’s premier series and the second of his debut season with Tommi Makinen’s Toyota team. The final day began with Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier picking up the cudgels to continue their furious battle at ...Keep reading View the full article

Pirelli has a very long history in rallying and you will be in the WRC in 2021. Can you please tell us about your preparations? Our preparations are a bit late because of COVID. Our plan was to start in March and unfortunately, we didn’t start, but we started in July. We tried to do some testing from March to July, we were working from home, a lot of smart working, on the indoor testing. We ...Keep reading View the full article

Overnight leader Sebastien Loeb rolled the dice by putting two medium-compound tyres on his Hyundai i20 WRC for the opening stage of the day and paid a heavy price as the softer rubber failed to endure on the rock-strewn surface. Loeb’s struggle to recapture lost time could not compare with that of his Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak, however, who suffered a steering failure mid-way through the ...Keep reading View the full article

Having opened the day with the first fastest time in the qualifiers, Kristoffersson was beaten to top of the order in the Intermediate Classification by Niclas Gronholm. But come the semi-finals and final, Kristoffersson unleashed three and then two new tyres onto his Volkswagen Motorsport-built, Kristoffersson Motorsport-prepared VW Polo to dominate both races and claim his third win from ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak’s Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC arrowed into a bank four miles from the end of the Yesilbelde stage, and although he managed to free it and move it to safety, the Estonian deemed the damage terminal. Footage showed Tanak paying particular attention to the front-right corner of the car before walking away from it. It remains unclear what caused the issue on one of the most unforgiving WRC ...Keep reading View the full article

The veteran Frenchman, who is driving a limited schedule for Hyundai in 2020, made full use of his advantageous road position to head the field at the opening rest halt. Although he is not a factor in the pitched battle for this year’s drivers’ title, Loeb has won in Turkey on three previous occasions and his presence is intended to maximise Hyundai's bid to secure the WRC manufacturers’ ...Keep reading View the full article

The reigning Finnish rallycross champion made his World RX debut with a Gronholm RX-run Hyundai i20 in his home round of the series at Kouvola, and on his maiden appearance challenged for overall victory, eventually finishing second to Johan Kristoffersson in the round three final. In the second installment of the double-header, he missed out on a final start only due to a track limits penalty ...Keep reading View the full article

Ekstrom was announced on Monday as the male driver for Cupra’s new Extreme E programme for 2021, in a collaboration with German team ABT, but having contested the opening two weekends of the World RX series, the double DTM champion has been given permission by his employer to race in the fifth and sixth rounds in Riga. Racing one of the Audi S1s built and developed by his own EKS squad, and ...Keep reading View the full article

The Vila Real event at the town of Montalegre was due to take place on October 10-11 in the revised 2020 schedule. With the Belgian round at Spa getting moved to the end of November last month, Portugal would have been the next calling point following the Latvian double-header this weekend. The Municipality of Montalegre, organiser of the Portuguese event, had announced last month that its ...Keep reading View the full article