Rally

The decision hands Niclas Gronholm, who had initially finished third on track before being promoted to second when Kevin Hansen was penalised for contact, his first World RX win. Gronholm had topped qualifying and won the first semi-final in torrential conditions, but lost out in the final after a poor start. GC Kompetition driver Marklund was disqualified from the entire event by ...Keep reading View the full article

The heavens opened above the Lankebanen circuit minutes before the semi-finals, rendering event-long tyre strategies useless, with all 12 cars switched onto wets. Having followed his day one performance with another fastest time on Sunday morning to top the Intermediate Classification on his return to the series, Niclas Gronholm started from pole position in semi-final one, the first drenched ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak headed into the Power Stage 26.7 seconds ahead of Sordo, but plummeted down to fifth after spinning his Toyota and losing two minutes as he wrestled with his Yaris. An emotional Sordo claimed his second WRC victory by 13.7s over M-Sport’s Teemu Suninen on his first event with new co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen. Andreas Mikkelsen was third. Sordo had led in Sardinia on Friday, but was ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak began Saturday 11.2s shy of Sordo, but won all three of the morning’s tests to rocket into a 6.4s lead heading into the afternoon loop. He set about extending that gap immediately on the second pass of Coiluna-Loelle, pulling another 4.2s out of Sordo with his fourth fastest time of the day. Monti di Ala would yield another stage win for Tanak, who extended his overall lead to 17.7s on ...Keep reading View the full article

Having been forced to skip rounds three and four of the series due to an appendicitis operation, Gronholm prepared for his comeback with a brief shakedown in Finland last week, before topping the time sheets in each session on day one at the Lankebanen circuit. Fastest in Free Practice, despite pulling off in the first session and returning to the paddock, Gronholm won the race to turn one ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak selected a different tyre strategy to his immediate rivals Sordo and Teemu Suninen, who both chose five hard compound tyres for the loop. Tanak went with three mediums and two hards, a combination he used on this exact loop two years when he won the rally for M-Sport. The Toyota’s speed was ominous on the opening Coiluna-Loelle test, as Tanak immediately grabbed 6.5 seconds from Sordo ...Keep reading View the full article

The next homologation cycle for the WRC will include common electric motors and batteries. The FIA has, however, introduced the potential for a second level of hybrid to be introduced in 2025 which would allow for harvested energy to be used in competition. The level of technological change – and the amount the teams will be permitted to do themselves – after the first three years will ...Keep reading View the full article

A “revised roadmap for the Electrification of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2021” has been approved by the WMSC, following initial plans to switch the series to electric cars being extinguished in March this year. While the previous intention for World RX electrification had included manufacturer-built and developed single-make carbon monocoque chassis machines, the new ...Keep reading View the full article

Sordo began the afternoon loop 0.7 seconds behind Toyota’s Ott Tanak in third, and duly beat his rival by that same 0.7s to draw level with Tanak heading into stage seven. Stage seven Castelsardo stage was then cancelled as a spectator required medical attention, but not before the leading three drivers on the road - Tanak, Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans - all managed to complete ...Keep reading View the full article

Ogier retired from Rally Italy after breaking a steering arm on the final stage of Friday’s morning loop. Returning under Rally 2 regulations would leave Ogier running first on the road for a second day in succession, but with very little potential for scoring points from the Alghero-based event. The world champion is already looking towards the next round of the series in ...Keep reading View the full article

Ogier headed into Friday as rally leader courtesy of his stage win on Thursday’s superspecial stage, but fell to ninth as he fought against the conditions as the opening car on the road. But Ogier’s morning would get worse on the Monte Barante stage that concluded the loop. On the quarry section where the stage began, the Citroen driver clipped a boulder on the inside of a left-hander ...Keep reading View the full article

Ogier raced championship rival Ott Tanak on the Ittiri Arena Show stage, and beat the Toyota driver by a mere 0.3s in what was the final heat. Lappi was one of the first WRC drivers to tackle the stage after another disappointing rally in Portugal, but made a bright start to lie second overnight, 0.2s up on Tanak. Tanak’s teammate Kris Meeke was fourth fastest, losing out to Tanak by just ...Keep reading View the full article

Hyundai went into the campaign intending to run Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen at every round, with Dani Sordo and Sebastien Loeb alternating in the third car. Read Also: Is Loeb's return paying off for Hyundai? But it has dropped Mikkelsen for two of the last four rallies. Team principal Andrea Adamo is leaving his options open regarding what to do with ...Keep reading View the full article

Despite social media speculation last week, it looks like a fourth Toyota Yaris WRC at Rally Spain will be used by Takamoto Katsuta rather than Alonso. The Salou event was always scheduled for Toyota’s junior driver and the team’s sporting director Kaj Lindstrom admitted that hadn’t changed – although Katsuta could compete in Germany or Rally GB before Spain. Alonso is not the ...Keep reading View the full article

Portugal was Loeb's penultimate outing in his current part-time Hyundai deal, but fuel problems on stage three wrecked his weekend. Dani Sordo ran into similar issues. Read Also: Is Loeb's return paying off for Hyundai? "Apart from being upset about losing the two cars and affecting the Hyundai image, I am upset that we asked him to come and then we waste part of his ...Keep reading View the full article

Suninen said the switch had come as he sought a more experienced co-driver alongside him for the rest of the season. Lehtinen, who has 169 WRC starts (all but eight of which were alongside Mikko Hirvonen), replaces Marko Salminen, who completed his 31st WRC round in fourth place at Rally of Portugal earlier this month. Suninen said: “I want to thank Marko because we achieved a lot ...Keep reading View the full article

Further details of the next generation of World Rally Cars will be revealed following next week’s meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council. Matton says competitiveness and cost-effectiveness are high on the list of priorities for the WRC's new era. “The target is to stay at the same cost [as the current cars],” he said. “[By] making some technical economies on some other ...Keep reading View the full article

The Aussie withstood intense pain en route to victory earlier this year, carrying a broken right scaphoid that had been freshly operated on throughout the gruelling trek across the Peruvian dunes. Price even had to resort to using a makeshift device that held his KTM's throttle open on transport stages to get to the end. Upon returning to Australia late January Price went straight back under ...Keep reading View the full article

The Korean squad altered the order of Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo on three occasions, positioning the i20 Coupe WRCs on the road to run directly ahead of Neuville to sweep the stones and clean the line for the Belgian. Read Also: Outspoken Ogier slams Hyundai boss for alleged “mean tactics” Neuville was quick to point out that no rules had been broken. "We didn't ...Keep reading View the full article

After fuel-related problems on the opening day left Hyundai drivers Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo down the order, Adamo used the regulations to manipulate those cars into a starting position which would offer teammate Thierry Neuville a cleaner road. Speaking in the post-event press conference in Matosinhos, Citroen star Ogier said he had no problem with those tactics, but then added: “But ...Keep reading View the full article