Rally

Second-placed Sebastien Ogier gained 4.3s on Tanak over the afternoon loop by taking a different tyre strategy from the rest of the field. Ogier used a pair of medium tyres to good effect by winning SS10, while everyone else had taken a full complement of hards. Though Tanak responded with a stage win on Maria Las Cruces, Ogier was still quicker than Tanak on the final stage of the day, as rain ...Keep reading View the full article

The Belgian's i20 Coupe WRC went off the road halfway through the Maria Las Cruces stage on Saturday morning, rolling six times. Despite initial concerns about his leg, Hyundai has confirmed Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul were uninjured. Both emerged from the car unaided, but team principal Andrea Adamo confirmed to Motorsport.com that they called for aerial medical support ...Keep reading View the full article

Although Tanak only won one stage from three on Saturday morning, the loop-ending Pelun test, he gained more than 10 seconds over Ogier in all, extending his lead to 34.6s. Ogier was initially being closed down by current points leader Neuville, who had top the times on the opening Rio Lia test and gained 5.7s on the Citroen driver. But Neuville’s chase came to an abrupt halt on SS8, when ...Keep reading View the full article

Neuville had won the opening stage of Saturday morning, Rio Lia, and had climbed from fourth to third at the expense of Toyota driver Jari-Matti Latvala. He was only 1.4 seconds behind reigning six-time champion Sebastien Ogier before SS8 and pushing to take second place away from the Citroen driver. But around the halfway mark of the Maria Las Cruces test, Neuville suffered a big accident ...Keep reading View the full article

The Belgian Formula 1 host holds its first mixed-surface event this weekend for the third round of World RX with a layout that encompasses the famous Eau Rouge corner to accompany a long loose-surface banked final turn. Seventh-fastest in the wet opening qualifier after an on-track battle with title-contender Timmy Hansen, Doran was one of only a few drivers to take dry tyres for the second ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak ended the opening day 22.4 seconds clear of Ogier, as well as 29.5s clear of points leader Thierry Neuville of Hyundai, extending his advantage from 6s at the start of the loop. On the afternoon opening stage – the second El Puma run of the day – Tanak was 11.2s quicker than Ogier and 17.6s quicker than Neuville. Then on SS5 – the second Espigado run – Tanak extended his lead by a ...Keep reading View the full article

FIA rally director Yves Matton declined to comment on the situation, telling Motorsport.com that he wanted to wait for WRC safety delegate Michele Mouton’s comments first. A source within the event organisers, however, admitted it was a mistake from the marshal. “There was no confirmation from the FIA that [everything] was ready and we were cleared to go,” said the source. “But on the ...Keep reading View the full article

The trio are separated by 6.6 seconds overall after the first morning of the new rally, and moved well clear of the rest on the 30.72km El Puma SS2. Those who ran after them complained about a particular shortage of grip on a hard, polished surface. It left Tanak in the overall lead, 2.9s clear of Citroen's Ogier, while Tanak’s Toyota teammate Kris Meeke was left 12.4s off in fourth ...Keep reading View the full article

The Leon-based rally, now in its 15th year in the championship, had become a standard-bearer in terms of layout and spectator education. But this year it was heavily criticised, starting with the controversy over a broken jump on the opening street stage. There was then confusion over the handling of the red flag for Esapekka Lappi's crash on Saturday morning, and Andreas Mikkelsen ...Keep reading View the full article

Meeke briefly took the lead of the event on Saturday when Citroen's Sebastien Ogier slowed with a puncture. But Ogier's time loss was minimised because the stage was red flagged due to his team-mate Esapekka Lappi's car being judged to be in an unsafe position after a spin that left it beached. Ogier was awarded a nominal time that kept him in second place, and he retook the lead when Meeke ...Keep reading View the full article

Citroen driver Ogier began the final day of running with a 27-second advantage over Evans, and took a buffer of 24.4s into the Power Stage as points leader Tanak won both the morning's stages. The Frenchman eclipsed Kris Meeke for Power Stage victory by only 0.025s, ending up with 30.2s in hand over Toyota driver Tanak and securing the maximum available 30 points on offer. Tanak had passed ...Keep reading View the full article

Citroen’s sole remaining driver Ogier pulled further ahead of M-Sport’s Evans, pushing his lead gap further to 27s. A drama-filled morning for Ogier included a puncture and a notional time being awarded for his first run through Guanajuatito, and trouble struck once more, this time on the Leon Autodrome stage. Caught out by surface water which had not been present yesterday, Ogier ...Keep reading View the full article

Rally leader Ogier suffered a puncture on the Saturday morning running of the Guanajuatito stage and dropped one minute. His teammate Esapekka Lappi went off the road near the finish, and the stage was stopped - but only after two cars had passed the Finn's stricken C3 WRC. The stoppage meant the remaining crews were awarded notional times, Ogier included. Ogier dropped to third having ...Keep reading View the full article

Ogier's teammate Esapekka Lappi triggered a red flag on the morning’s opening Guanajuatito stage when he ran wide and went backwards off the road, his Citroen C3 becoming beached on a ledge and unable to move. Meeke subsequently went fastest as the next car through, with Evans behind him second fastest. But running behind the pair, rally leader Ogier had picked up a front right puncture ...Keep reading View the full article

The Spaniard, making his first World Rally Championship start with the Korean squad this season, was 4.6 seconds behind leader Sebastien Ogier when he retired with an electrical fault on the way to the Las Minas test. Adamo told Motorsport.com: “When you have the car that is not as competitive as the top one, you cannot permit yourself a retirement for a reliability issue so I am ...Keep reading View the full article

Lavigne, who has been part of the marathon's organisational team since 1992, has held the spot of rally director for the past 15 years. He will remain part of Dakar promoter Amaury Sport Organisation, but will be moved to a different position. His replacement Castera had a 10-year tenure as the Dakar sporting director before Marc Coma took over in 2016. Coma departed from the role two years ...Keep reading View the full article

Reigning world champion Ogier was a class apart compared to title rivals Neuville and Ott Tanak, winning three of the full-length gravel stages on his way to establishing a 14.8s lead despite his early road order position. Despite picking up a puncture on the Las Minas stage, Ogier was relatively unaffected, dropping only 4.2s to his closest rival Elfyn Evans. Neuville had also suffered a ...Keep reading View the full article

Mikkelsen had briefly stopped his Hyundai i20 around 8.5 miles into the first stage of Friday’s afternoon loop, losing around a minute and a half. Though he continued on at full speed following his delay, Mikkelsen’s rally came to an end shortly afterwards, pulling up and parking at the side of the road not far from the finish. The cause of his retirement is unknown at present, though a ...Keep reading View the full article

Stage wins on both El Chocolate, the longest stage of the rally, and the short Leon city stage have handed Mikkelsen a 1.6s advantage over second-placed Sebastien Ogier, who had set the pace on the Ortega test. Ogier had coped with a high position in the running order and the subsequent lack of grip favourably in comparison to his title rivals Neuville and championship leader Ott Tanak, as both ...Keep reading View the full article

A jump was added near the end of the 1.14km-Guanajuato street stage, the severity of which threw the rear of the cars into the air. Organisers called a halt to the stage with three cars still to run, meaning Ott Tanak (Toyota), Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) did not start. The trio were given notional times equivalent to that set by Toyota's Kris Meeke, the last car ...Keep reading View the full article