Rally

Recovering from dropping 20 minutes on Tuesday after making a 'rookie error', 13-time Dakar champion Peterhansel took command of Wednesday's 331km San Juan de Marcona-Arequipa stage virtually from the start. After crossing the second waypoint tied with Toyota's Nasser Al-Attiyah, Peterhansel steadily pulled clear of the pack over the remainder of the stage, ultimately winning by 3m26s over his ...Keep reading View the full article

Overnight leader Joan Barreda was forced out of the rally altogether after suffering a crash 143km into the 331km San Juan de Marcona-Arequipa stage. Not long afterwards, the remaining riders in the overnight top three - KTM's reigning champion Matthias Walkner and Barreda's Honda teammate Ricky Brabec - both got lost, dropping more than 20 minutes. Walkner's fellow KTM rider Toby Price ...Keep reading View the full article

Barreda held a slender lead of 1m31s coming into Wednesday's 331km San Juan de Marcona-Arequipa stage, having notched up his 22nd career stage win on Monday's opening test. But the Spaniard came unstuck at the 143km mark, and was stationary for more than an hour after crashing in an area with rocks and heavy fog. Although Barreda himself did not suffer any serious injury, his Honda was ...Keep reading View the full article

Greensmith will spearhead M-Sport’s WRC2 Pro assault with 10 rounds in a Ford Fiesta R5 in addition to his scheduled maiden appearance in a Ford Fiesta WRC in May. The 22-year-old and former British Junior champion is hoping a strong showing in Portugal could lead to more top-flight action before the end of the year. He tested M-Sport’s Fiesta WRC for the first time in Greystoke forest ...Keep reading View the full article

The truck army looks wild when you see them flying on the fast tracks or climbing a high dune, but if you take the time to watch closely – and the whole logistics around them – you will discover incredible technology and a precise organization. A strict procedure dictates the 32 team members of the Petronas De Rooy Iveco Team and in the middle of the dust and ‘fesh fesh’ of the Dakar ...Keep reading View the full article

Peterhansel was left stranded on a dune after being distracted by electrical gremlins that affected his Mini Buggy's intercom and air-conditioning, the costly stoppage dumping him to 13th in the overall standings with a 13m55s gap to leader Giniel de Villiers. While disappointed with the mistake, Peterhansel says it would have been significantly worse had teammate Cyril Despres not intervened ...Keep reading View the full article

Alonso suggested in a recent video recording with Spanish TV presenter and rally-raid competitor Jesus Calleja that he would like to test the Dakar-spec Hilux. Today, Al-Attiyah confirmed he has spoken with the two-time Formula 1 world champion about making that a reality. Al-Attiyah became friends with Calleja during 2017, when the TV star helped him during one of the races of the FIA ...Keep reading View the full article

Walkner and Brabec were closely matched throughout the entire day, the duo running less than 10 seconds apart in the first three waypoints. Brabec was able to inch away during the middle phase but before he could run away with the stage win, Walkner closed the gap back and beat the American by 22 seconds. There is only two seconds between the pair in the overall order in favour of Walkner ...Keep reading View the full article

Loeb, contesting the race in a PH Sport-run 2017-spec Peugeot 3008 DKR, gradually pulled clear over the 342 timed kilometres on the run between Pisco and San Juan de Marcona – only to nearly lose the stage win in the final stretch. Ending up a mere eight seconds quicker than X-raid Mini driver Nani Roma, Loeb has now recorded stage wins in all four Dakars that he's contested. Toyota driver ...Keep reading View the full article

Ogier is joined by former Toyota driver Esapekka Lappi at Citroen this season and the Frenchman prefers to focus on the potential of the two C3 WRC drivers working to make the car quicker and more consistent through the coming season. “You know what,” Ogier said, “one thing which is sure: I don’t want any number one status in the team. "For me it has to be equal chance as long as we ...Keep reading View the full article

Nikolaev picked up where he had left off last year, completing the 84km timed special within the Lima-Pisco stage in 1h9m5s. However, Kamaz will be aware they won't get to stroll to the finish with ease because the three Petronas De Rooy Ivecos demonstrated their credentials behind him. Ton van Genugten was a real thorn in the Kamaz's side, reaching the finish line just 18 seconds from the ...Keep reading View the full article

Al-Attiyah made light work of the opening stage of the 2019 Dakar, running second through the dunes behind Sainz before catching the Spaniard's Mini Buggy with around 15 kilometres to go. The Toyota driver will take a 1m59s lead into tomorrow's second stage. While admitting that he's happier running behind Al-Attiyah tomorrow, Sainz says the first day of running has proven just how difficult ...Keep reading View the full article

The Qatari completed the dune-populated 84km timed stage near Pisco, which came after a lengthy road section that started at Peruvian capital Lima, in 1h1m41s. Al-Attiyah, a two-time Dakar winner whose most recent triumph came in 2015, ran second on the road behind reigning champion Carlos Sainz. His Toyota Hilux set the pace at both waypoints and ultimately caught up with Sainz's X-raid ...Keep reading View the full article

Barreda, who is yet to finish higher than fifth in a Dakar despite winning over 20 stages, was the top rider at both waypoints before arriving at the end as the pace-setter of the 84km timed section. His closest challenger throughout the day was Husqvarna's Pablo Quintanilla, the Chilean spending the whole stage in second and ending up 1m34s adrift. Ricky Brabec completed a strong day for ...Keep reading View the full article

When Toyota brought a four-wheel drive car to the World Rally Championship for the first time, much was expected of the Japanese giant. Ultimately, history reflects well on the Celica GT4 courtesy of Carlos Sainz Sr’s maiden drivers’ title in 1990. But the car codenamed ST165 fell well short of the world-beater Japan expected. Cooling problems were present from the outset, as were ...Keep reading View the full article

Jorge Viegas, who was elected last year to succeed Vito Ippolito as FIM President, has travelled to the Peruvian capital of Lima to hold talks with Dakar organising body ASO, and expects to reach an agreement in 2019. The FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Cup was first formed in 1999 and became a World Championship in 2003, but the Dakar has never been part of it. Its 2019 calendar comprises ...Keep reading View the full article

Toyota Hilux cars finished as best of the rest behind the dominant Peugeots in the past two editions of the Dakar, with Gazoo drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giniel de Villiers making up the podium behind winner Carlos Sainz last year. And now that Peugeot has withdrawn from cross-country rallying, Hall is convinced his team must seize its chance in the 2019 contest, which kicks off on ...Keep reading View the full article

1. Peugeot exit makes Al-Attiyah favourite Second in 2016 with Mini and in 2018 with Toyota, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel have easily been the crew that ran the all-conquering Peugeots closest in the now-concluded era of the French manufacturer's Dakar dominance. Their Toyota Hilux has sometimes outpaced the 3008DKR, and on those stages where the Peugeots were too fast – usually ...Keep reading View the full article

Petter Solberg’s Volkswagen-backed PSRX squad announced in December that it will sit out this year due to a lack of competition, following the departure of Peugeot’s works effort and Audi’s support for Mattias Ekstrom’s team. While PSRX won’t field the Volkswagen-Motorsport built and run Polos with which it has won the last two drivers’ and teams’ titles in 2019, Volkswagen ...Keep reading View the full article

Loeb is tackling this year's Dakar in a PH Sport-run two-year-old Peugeot 3008DKR following the French manufacturer's withdrawal from cross-country rallying after its 2018 victory. Besides the age of his equipment, the other thing that could hinder the nine-time WRC champion is a route packed with sand dunes – precisely the conditions where his lack of cross-country experience will count ...Keep reading View the full article