Rally

Acropolis Rally Greece served a timely reminder as to why World Rally Championships crews and teams are regarded among the elite after completing one of the toughest days in motorsport. The WRC was braced for perhaps its most physically demanding test of the season thanks to a punishing blend the WRC’s roughest stages, coupled with the relentless energy sapping temperatures, spread across a ...Keep readingView the full article

Ott Tanak leads Acropolis Rally Greece after an attritional Friday held in soaring temperatures that tested World Rally Championship crews to the limit. Tanak’s consistent speed and ability to avoid serious delays helped the Estonian complete the day’s six rough gravel stages with a 3.0s lead over Hyundai team-mate Adrien Fourmaux, with Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier in third 16.9s ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier has moved into the lead of Acropolis Rally Greece despite being among several World Rally Championship crews to pick up punctures on a brutal Friday morning. Eight-time world champion Ogier completed the morning loop with a 6.1s lead over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, with Adrien Fourmaux in third 14.4s adrift. Ogier took a shared overnight lead with Tanak into Friday’s rough ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai will debut a new driver cooling system to help combat the searing heat at this weekend’s Acropolis Rally Greece, as cockpit temperatures are predicted to reach almost 70 degrees centigrade. The World Rally Championship’s annual visit to Greece is often regarded as one of the toughest events on the calendar due to its punishing rough gravel stages and extreme heat. Both of these ...Keep readingView the full article

And then there was one. Perhaps we should not have been surprised to see Carlos Sainz Sr decide not to pursue a late push for the FIA presidency. After all, last month, Mohammed Ben Sulayem received a timely boost via a letter of support signed by 36 clubs, the majority of which are based in the Americas. The letter gushed about his leadership, with its signatories “expressing their ...Keep readingView the full article

Malcom Wilson will take up the post of FIA Deputy president for sport following a vote at the FIA’s Extraordinary General Assembly in Macau. Wilson was nominated to take the position by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in April after Robert Reid, the 2001 World Rally Championship co-driver champion, resigned from the role citing a ‘standards breakdown’ at the FIA. The FIA has today ...Keep readingView the full article

The World Rally Championship’s highly anticipated 2027 technical rules are edging closer to being completely finalised with the FIA approving refined bodywork regulations. The WRC’s 2027 technical regulations were among the subjects up for discussion at Tuesday’s World Motor Sport Council in Macau. Last month, the WRC Commission revealed that it would present to the WMSC a number of ...Keep readingView the full article

Italy appears set to host a round of the World Rally Championship and European Rally Championship for the foreseeable future with plans for a long-term commitment in the works. Last weekend’s Rally Italy Sardinia marked the final event of its current contract with the WRC. Sardinia’s rough gravel roads have hosted the WRC every year, barring 2009, since the event moved from Sanremo on ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier has reiterated that he has no plans to contest a full World Rally Championship season, after climbing to second in the standings following an ‘almost perfect’ run to victory in Sardinia. The eight-time world champion’s 7.9s win over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak added further gloss to a blistering start to a part-time campaign for Toyota, which stands at three wins and a ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier claimed a third win of the World Rally Championship season after surviving a final-stage mistake to conquer a demanding Rally Italy Sardinia. The part-time Toyota driver and co-driver Vincent Landais avoided the pitfalls of Sardinia’s 16 rough gravel stages to take an impressive win, as Toyota extended its 100% winning start to 2025. Ogier was locked in a tense battle ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai will push for victory at Rally Italy Sardinia and “accept the consequences” as the team aims to score its first win of the 2025 World Rally Championship campaign. The Korean marque came to Sardinia — a rally where it has only been defeated twice since 2016 — under pressure to end Toyota’s 100% winning start to the year. Hyundai’s Ott Tanak heads into Sunday’s final four ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier will take a slender 11.1s lead into the final day of Rally Italy Sardinia after surviving a brutal Saturday that served up trouble for several World Rally Championship crews. Toyota’s Ogier managed to hold his nerve in a tense and pressure-filled battle with Hyundai’s Ott Tanak in incredibly challenging conditions where the risk of puncture was high. Knowing that Tanak would ...Keep readingView the full article

Adrien Fourmaux has explained the issue that took him out of the World Rally Championship victory battle for the second event in a row, remaining confident about his fortunes. Fourmaux had been locked in an intense fight for the rally lead with Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier at Rally Italy Sardinia that had seen the Hyundai driver lead the rally on Friday morning before ending the day a mere 2.1s ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier continues to lead Rally Italy Sardinia after briefly losing the advantage in the dust of Adrien Fourmaux, whose World Rally Championship victory bid has failed. Ogier had extended his overnight 2.1s margin over Fourmaux to 7.4s after winning Saturday morning’s first test before drama struck on stage 8 – Lerno - Su Filigosu 1 - 24.34 km. Fourmaux hit a rock that wasn’t ...Keep readingView the full article

Sébastien Ogier admits he is surprised to be leading Rally Italia Sardinia after an eventful Friday that caught out several of his World Rally Championship rivals. The eight-time world champion faced the effects of road cleaning in the morning, starting third, but completed Friday’s six gravel stages with a 2.1s lead over Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux. Ogier defied his road position to ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai started its quest for a first World Rally Championship win of 2025 by setting the pace at Rally Sardinia, while M-Sport suffered a nightmare triple retirement that included a roll for Martins Sesks. Hyundai ended Friday morning’s trio of gravel stages with Adrien Fourmaux leading team-mate and reigning world’s champion Thierry Neuville by 2.9 seconds, with Toyota’s ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai has given its clearest indication yet that it is gearing up to continue in the World Rally Championship until at least the end of 2026. There have been question marks surrounding its short-term and long-term future in rallying’s top tier that first surfaced last year when it confirmed plans to embark on a programme in the World Endurance Championship from 2026 under the Genesis ...Keep readingView the full article

Sardinia is regarded as one of the roughest rallies on the World Rally Championship calendar, and is often a critical round as the title race edges towards the halfway mark. Heading into the rally, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans continues to lead the standings, albeit his advantage has been cut to 30 points over team-mate Kalle Rovanpera, with part-time driver Sebastien Ogier in third. However, all ...Keep readingView the full article

Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer says he would like to explore opportunities in rallying in the future after realising the dream of driving a World Rally Championship car. The sportscar ace and former Formula E driver has been a life-long admirer of rallying, having grown up around the discipline thanks to his father running a rally team in Belgium. Last week, the ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier has been included on a 12-car Rally1 entry list for the Acropolis Rally Greece round of the World Rally Championship next month. The eight-time world champion has been confirmed on the entry list for the gravel rally (26-29 June) that will mark the Toyota driver’s fifth start of a partial WRC campaign in 2025. Ogier will join Toyota’s full-time line-up of championship ...Keep readingView the full article