Rally

Robert Wickens went into his first race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Long Beach with a simple goal: “To leave with our heads held high.” The Canadian undoubtedly did that over the course of his maiden event aboard a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R specially adapted to allow him to drive with hand controls. But there was also a feeling of what might have been for ...Keep readingView the full article

Portugal will continue to host a round of the World Rally Championship until 2028 at least after signing a new multi-year contract. Rally Portugal is one of the founding members of the WRC hosting a round since the inaugural championship season in 1973, and has only been absent from the schedule during a brief hiatus from 2002-2006. Organisers have today announced that the rally has inked a ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai returned to form in Portugal but it will postpone any decision to run a fourth car until it is happy with its upgraded World Rally Championship challenger’s performance. The South Korean marque bounced back from its crushing Canary Islands defeat last month by taking the fight to Toyota in Portugal last weekend. Hyundai appeared to have the edge on Toyota on gravel in what was the ...Keep readingView the full article

The World Rally Championship and the FIA are working to address future event schedules after Rally Portugal’s extreme itinerary drew widespread criticism from drivers. Last weekend’s round featured a revised schedule from the event organisers, which included two more stages compared to last year and was signed off by the FIA. It meant crews tackled 10 stages on Friday, beginning with a ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier declared his record-extending seventh Rally Portugal triumph among the most physically demanding rallies of his storied World Rally Championship career. The eight-time world champion, co-driven by Vincent Landais, held off Hyundai’s Ott Tanak to collect a 63rd career win at the gravel event that delivered his first 15 years ago. Ogier conceded that victory would have been ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier came through a marathon Rally Portugal to claim a record extending seventh World Rally Championship victory at the gravel rally. Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais navigated a particularly demanding schedule that tested crews and teams to the limit to win the 24-stage contest as Toyota continued its 100% winning start to 2025. The eight-time world champion took a 63rd career ...Keep readingView the full article

A critical power steering failure severely dented Ott Tanak’s hopes of a first win of the World Rally Championship season, handing Sébastien Ogier the Rally Portugal lead. Until the mechanical trouble, the Hyundai driver appeared to be in command of the rally having led the rally since Friday’s stage 2, holding off the Toyota of eight-time world champion and six-time Portugal winner ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship drivers voiced their concerns over Rally Portugal’s demanding itinerary headlined by 14 hours behind the wheel on Friday. The fifth round of the WRC season has undergone a schedule tweak this year that has included the addition of two extra stages on Friday. It meant crews tackled 10 stages beginning with a first test at 7:35am before eventually returning back to the ...Keep readingView the full article

Adrien Fourmaux exited the Rally Portugal victory battle in unfortunate circumstances, which has helped relieve the pressure on Hyundai World Rally Championship team-mate and rally leader Ott Tanak. After struggling at Rally Islas Canarias last month, Hyundai bounced back on Portugal’s tricky gravel stages on Friday morning with Tanak and Fourmaux locked in the fight for victory. Fourmaux ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai boss Cyril Abiteboul remains optimistic that the brand could continue in the World Rally Championship next year - but has outlined the factors currently preventing it from committing to 2027. The Korean marque’s future involvement in the WRC remains a hot topic with the car maker, which will join the World Endurance Championship in 2026 under its Genesis umbrella, but is yet to ...Keep readingView the full article

Sebastien Ogier has voiced support for Carlos Sainz Sr should the World Rally Championship legend decide to run for FIA president. As revealed by Motorsport.com last week, two-time WRC champion Sainz Sr is seriously considering whether to formally stand for election against Mohammed Ben Sulayem in the race to become FIA president. Sainz Sr is gauging his level of support from the FIA's member ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA has revised the penalties in Appendix B of its International Sporting Code, thus reducing the potential fines for drivers caught swearing, with mechanisms also in place for suspended penalties and mitigating circumstances. In January, the FIA updated its sporting code to include a series of stewards' guidelines based on driver misconduct, which includes "the general use of language ...Keep readingView the full article

The World Rally Championship heads into a crucial part of the title race, with this weekend’s Rally Portugal beginning a run of seven consecutive gravel rallies. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans holds a 43-point lead over team-mate Kalle Rovanpera, with Hyundai's Thierry Neuville third 50 points adrift, heading into round five, but the next run of gravel events will prove vital in determining this ...Keep readingView the full article

Martins Sesks is working to add a seventh round to his partial 2025 World Rally Championship programme with M-Sport-Ford that continues at Rally Portugal this week. The 2023 European Rally Championship runner-up burst onto the WRC scene last year after a trio of impressive outings for the Ford squad in Poland, his native Latvia and Chile. A run to fifth driving a non-hybrid powered ...Keep readingView the full article

An updated version of the World Rally Championship 2027 technical regulations is being finalised to be presented to the FIA World Motor Sport Council next month. A number of refinements to the WRC27 regulations were discussed by the WRC Commission when it met on Thursday. According to an update issued by the FIA, the biggest update pertained to bodywork while further details regarding “how ...Keep readingView the full article

Robert Wickens was always going to get back into a racing car after the life-changing injuries he sustained at the wheel of an Indycar at Pocono in 2018. He never doubted it, and nor did those around him. So no one should be surprised that his comeback is gathering pace with an IMSA SportsCar Championship campaign aboard a Chevrolet Corvette equipped with the latest-generation of hand-controls ...Keep readingView the full article

Carlos Sainz Sr has said “now is the right time” to consider running for FIA president, as he dismissed any suggestion of a conflict of interest. Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, the two-time World Rally champion said he was “currently in the process of figuring out how much support I will get from the community of motorsport”. The next presidential election will be held in ...Keep readingView the full article

As exclusively reported by Motorsport.com, Carlos Sainz Sr is seriously considering whether to launch a bid to challenge incumbent FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's campaign for a second term during this year's elections at the governing body. A two-time World Rally champion, Sainz might be viewed by contemporary Formula 1 fans as the ex-rally driver father of Williams’ Carlos Sainz. Yet ...Keep readingView the full article

Carlos Sainz Sr is considering running against Mohammed Ben Sulayem to be the next FIA president. Sources close to the former World Rally champion and Dakar winner said that several key figures from within the motorsport world have approached him about running against Ben Sulayem, the current FIA president. Motorsport.com understands that Sainz, the father of Williams F1 driver Carlos Sainz ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship service parks will undergo changes to infrastructure this year with further improvements expected in 2026. Improving the current service park model has emerged as the next target for the WRC's promotional plan, with a view to enhancing both the fan and team experiences at events. This time last year the WRC released its promotions strategy to stakeholders, headlined ...Keep readingView the full article