Rally

Six-time champion Ogier set the fastest time on the 3.35km warm-up stage near the event's service park in Gap, just a tenth of a second faster than Hyundai man Thierry Neuville. "Shakedown doesn’t mean much and you don’t need to make any conclusions from the results, but it’s always a good sign if you are in the rhythm already," said Ogier. "I’ve had the chance to have a good amount ...Keep reading View the full article

The Swede, who claimed back-to-back World RX titles with Petter Solberg’s Volkswagen-backed team in 2017 and 2018, switched to the World Touring Car Cup last season after PSRX withdrew from World RX. But, with Volkswagen terminating its works internal combustion-based programmes in November, Kristoffersson has been left without a drive despite winning the final round of WTCR in Malaysia in ...Keep reading View the full article

Alonso ended up 13th during this month's Dakar in Saudi Arabia at the wheel of a factory Toyota Hilux 4x4, although the two-time Formula 1 champion showed strong pace for much of the rally and came close to winning a stage during the second week. Two major incidents - hitting a rock on Stage 2 and suffering a double rollover over a high dune on Stage 10 - cost him a place in the top 10 overall ...Keep reading View the full article

The Gulf nation secured a five-year deal to host the cross-country rally from 2020, marking a shift away from South America for the event after 10 years. The first edition, held earlier this month, was held exclusively in Saudi Arabia as per the contract, but the ASO is free to add more countries to the marathon from 2021 onwards. Dakar Rally director David Castera first mooted the ...Keep reading View the full article

The significance of Brabec's triumph in the Dakar on Friday can barely be overstated. As well as becoming the first US competitor to win the legendary rally-raid in any class (although he was soon joined in that regard by SxS champion Casey Currie), he scored Honda's first triumph since 1989 and ended a mammoth KTM winning streak dating back to 2001. A little over five years ago, the San ...Keep reading View the full article

The governing body's World Motor Sport Council approved Chile's request to withdraw from the 2020 WRC calendar. While there had been speculation of a 14th round being drafted in, the WMSC confirmed on Monday there will be no replacement for the Concepcion-based event, which was lost due to ongoing unrest in the country. The one change affected by the loss of Chile is a shift in the date for ...Keep reading View the full article

Two-time World Rally champion Sainz clinched his third victory on the legendary off-road event on its first visit to Saudi Arabia at the wheel of one of X-raid's two-wheel-drive Mini JCW Buggy contenders, beating Toyota rival Nasser Al-Attiyah by six minutes. In doing so, the 57-year-old added to his previous triumphs taken in 2010 (with Volkswagen) and 2018 (with Peugeot), beating his own ...Keep reading View the full article

Having enjoyed an unbeaten run in the legendary rally-raid's two-wheel division since 2001, KTM was finally beaten on the Dakar's first visit to Saudi Arabia, as Honda scored its first win since 1989 courtesy of Ricky Brabec. KTM's top factory representative was Toby Price in third place, some 24 minutes behind Brabec, although Pablo Quintanilla did finish second for sister brand ...Keep reading View the full article

Al-Attiyah, who won the 2019 Dakar in the four-wheel-drive Hilux, finished six minutes behind the winning two-wheel-drive X-raid Mini buggy of Carlos Sainz in the 2020 edition of the event. While the final margin of victory was small, four-wheel drive cars won only three of Dakar 2020's 12 stages, with Al-Attiyah, squadmate Giniel de Villiers and Mini 4x4 driver Vaidotas Zala claiming a stage ...Keep reading View the full article

Alonso, who has been sampling various motorsport categories after leaving Formula 1 as a two-time champion, posted a best stage finish of runner-up in a Toyota Gazoo-run Hilux in his first Dakar outing. Though a stop for repairs on the second stage and a roll on the 10th stage cost him several hours in the general classification, Alonso was buoyed by how competitive he has proven, and believes ...Keep reading View the full article

The 48-year-old Straver was contesting his third Dakar rally on a KTM 450 EXC, again competing in the 'Original by Motul' class after topping it the year prior. The sub-category features riders competing without any assistance crews, with Dakar organiser ASO instead providing certain resources. Straver entered the 11th stage 38th in the overall bike classification, but crashed in the opening ...Keep reading View the full article

Partnering up with a new co-driver in Sean Berriman for the 2020 edition, Currie was among a number of Can-Am drivers vying for supremacy in the first week of competition. But as his rivals dropped away one by one, and defending champion Francisco 'Chaleco' Lopez gave up nearly an hour in the first stage after the rest day, Currie was suddenly in possession of a 30-minute lead. Lopez made ...Keep reading View the full article

Previously a champion in 2014, Karginov led Anton Shibalov to wrap up what was ultimately a walkover Kamaz win, even if it had threatened to become less straightforward than expected in the early stages of the event. Against the backdrop of Eduard Nikolaev and Dmitry Sotnikov, who were first and second for Kamaz last year, dropping out of contention in the opening week, the Belorussian MAZ ...Keep reading View the full article

Two-time world rally champion Sainz, father of McLaren Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr, finished 6m21s clear of reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah after 12 stages. Representing X-raid Mini in this year's event, Sainz will now have won the Dakar with three different manufacturers, having previously triumphed with Volkswagen in 2010 and Peugeot in 2018. The victory is X-raid Mini's first ...Keep reading View the full article

Casale, who returned after a one-year excursion into the SxS category last year, dominated the quad class for the duration of the marathon. Laying the foundation of his title with three stage wins in the first four days, he finished every time in the top three until Stage 10, which threw a spanner in the works as he got lost and conceded much of his lead. But Casale was not fazed as he beat ...Keep reading View the full article

Brabec, who is in his fifth Dakar and had been leading when he retired with an engine failure last year, has taken the overall lead with a win in Stage 3 and never surrendered it, placing in the top five in all but one of the remaining stages. The one exception was the penultimate day when Pablo Quintanilla was able to close the gap from 25 to 13 minutes ahead of the shortened last ...Keep reading View the full article

Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel both made inroads into Sainz's lead in the penultimate test as the Spaniard opened the stage, and they now both sit just over 10 minutes adrift. The final Haradh - Qiddiya test on Friday was due to be contested over 374km, but construction of gas pipelines on the route has forced the organisers to slash the timed special down to 166km. And though rally director ...Keep reading View the full article

The stage, which was originally scheduled to be a 374km test to wrap up the event, will now be reduced to 166km. Works for new gas pipelines are being carried out by Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company in the vicinity of Haradh, renowned for its oil and gas-rich fields. The route for the 12th timed stage was planned to cross the area. Competitors will instead complete a 130km link from ...Keep reading View the full article

Sainz had to open the road in the 379km timed special within the stage taking the competition back to Haradh from Shubaytah. He consequently gave up nearly five minutes to Peterhansel in the first 100 kilometres as he navigated the dunes of the Rub' Al Khali, but would limit the damage over the rest of the special, ending up eight minutes slower than the stage winner at the finish. This will ...Keep reading View the full article

Ott Tanak won the WRC title last year and had the right to take the number one for his car this year, but has decided against it and will run number eight instead. The WRC changed its rules for numbers in 2019 following an F1 and NASCAR-style strategy of allowing drivers to pick numbers rather than the numbers being linked to the team's manufacturer championship finishing position. Tanak's ...Keep reading View the full article