Rally

Ogier completed his second test aboard a C3 WRC in the French Alps last month – having previously driven the car for the first time in Portugal in late November – and admitted he was impressed with the car's speed, in places. The Frenchman told Motorsport.com: “This car showed great speed in some conditions last year, but if you check the overall result from last year and my first ...Keep reading View the full article

Sainz won last year's edition of the rally with Peugeot, but the manufacturer's withdrawal from cross-country rallying means he will defend his title with X-raid. The squad has Dakar pedigree, and won four-straight editions with its four-wheel drive Minis from 2012-15, but its '18 buggy was hurriedly developed the year before and arrived at the last-minute before the Dakar. Two-time World ...Keep reading View the full article

Nandan had spearheaded Hyundai’s return to the WRC since January, 2013. The Frenchman was responsible for both the development the team’s Alzenau factory base and the i20 WRC in 2013. Since its WRC debut, the i20 has collected 10 world rally wins and finished second in the manufacturers’ standings for the last three years. Nandan’s team led both the championship races for much of ...Keep reading View the full article

The Austrian outfit has run Ford Fiestas under its own banner for the last two years in World RX, along with creating the world’s first publicly released four-wheel drive electric rallycross Supercar. Having run Baumanis and triple European Rallycross Champion Timur Timerzyanov in 2017, Baumanis was the sole full-time entrant for the team in World RX 2018, although he was joined in a second ...Keep reading View the full article

Since Loeb's move to the Korean manufacturer was confirmed earlier this month, there have been questions about how the world's most successful rally driver would react to team orders. Loeb, who will tackle a six-round programme starting with Monte Carlo, Sweden and Corsica, has admitted he's there to help. "Since a very long time, I am in the shoes of a number one or, at least, I fight in ...Keep reading View the full article

After a poor first full campaign with Hyundai, Mikkelsen was widely expected to have his programme of rallies reduced for 2019. Sources within the team have confirmed that move was considered as Hyundai pondered its options for 2019, when Sebastien Loeb joins the line-up. Ultimately, Mikkelsen's contract has kept him in the seat for all 14 rounds next season. Asked by Motorsport.com if ...Keep reading View the full article

Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen will stay on at the team for the full 14-round calendar, with 2017 WRC2 champion Pontus Tidemand alongside them for the opening rounds in Monte Carlo and Sweden. The third car's status is undecided from Rally Mexico onwards. M-Sport had been on the verge of ending its 22-year unbroken run of WRC participation because it was unable to find the funding for ...Keep reading View the full article

Tidemand, who won the WRC2 title with Skoda in 2017 and was second this year, will tackle next month's Monte Carlo Rally and then his home event in Sweden at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta WRC. The 28-year-old decided to leave the Skoda stable despite the offer to continue in 2019. Monte Carlo will mark his first top-class WRC outing since he contested Rally Sweden in 2014, finishing eighth in ...Keep reading View the full article

The Friedersdorf-based team will build a new Seat Ibiza Supercar for Scheider’s campaign, the German having raced in selected outings for the squad this year in an older-specification car. Team owner and driver Rene Munnich drove an updated version of the team’s Ibiza in 2018, which included a front-mounted cooling package and adapted suspension geometry. Lessons learnt from that car will ...Keep reading View the full article

The Norwegian drove an ES Motorsport Skoda Fabia Supercar at former World RX venue Mettet as he assesses his options for next season. “It was a lot of fun to be honest, I really enjoyed it,” Ostberg told Motorsport.com. “I’ve seen events and I’ve been on a few [rallycross] tracks but always with a rally car, so this was the first time I drove a Supercar. "But okay, the WRC cars ... Keep reading View the full article

Kristofferson has been left without a drive following Petter Solberg’s PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team’s departure from World RX. He is weighing up circuit racing and rallying options for 2019, but is keen to return to rallycross in the future. “For sure I’m very disappointed that we cannot continue because for me it’s been two amazing years with great success,” the 30-year old Swede ... Keep reading View the full article

Loeb last week was confirmed for six 2019 rallies for Hyundai, and will share the third car with Dani Sordo alongside regulars Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen. Read Also: Loeb's Hyundai deal forces Paddon out of WRC The nine-time World Rally champion will test the i20 Coupe WRC for the first time just hours after touching down from finishing the Dakar Rally, where ... Keep reading View the full article

WRC manufacturers have to confirm their entries with the governing body by Friday afternoon for inclusion in next year’s world championship. But M-Sport team principal Malcolm Wilson said his team is not in a position to do that. Despite lifting back-to-back drivers’ titles with Sebastien Ogier and winning last year’s manufacturers’ crown, the Cumbrian squad is out of cash ahead of ... Keep reading View the full article

If rallycross could write its own memoir, you can bet that the chapter about 2018 would be one of the most intriguing. Just four years ago we were all talking about rallycross being the next big thing – Global Rallycross had just secured Red Bull backing and had huge manufacturer involvement in the shape of Hyundai, Subaru, and Volkswagen, while over in Europe IMG and the FIA had got an ... Keep reading View the full article

Having competed in every round of World RX to date and won four drivers' titles with Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson, the Swedish squad will not take part in the championship in 2019 as initially planned. The Torsby-based team has cited a lack of competition, following the departure of Peugeot’s works effort, Olsbergs MSE and Mattias Ekstrom’s Audi-backed EKS team in recent months, as the ... Keep reading View the full article

Latvala hit an Armco barrier and damaged the car sufficiently to halt the test for the remainder of the day while the team fixed the Yaris WRC. The Finn’s co-driver at the test, former Toyota driver Juho Hanninen, was checked over by on-site medics. The team confirmed these were precautionary checks, given the side-on nature of the shunt. A spokesperson from the team confirmed Latvala was ... Keep reading View the full article

The former Rally Argentina winner had set his sights on repeating his programme with Hyundai Motorsport next season, but Loeb’s arrival in the Korean squad ended those hopes. Hyundai management insisted dialogue was ongoing with Paddon, but Motorsport.com’s sources have indicated the programme was too limited for the Kiwi. The 31-year-old wouldn’t be drawn on what he was offered, but a ... Keep reading View the full article

Motorsport.com revealed on Wednesday that nine-time WRC champion Loeb had agreed a contract with Hyundai - ending his long relationship with the Citroen/Peugeot group. His deal covers the 2019 and '20 seasons. Hyundai will field Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen for the full WRC season next year, with Loeb and Sordo sharing a third car in which Sordo will contest the eight events Loeb is ... Keep reading View the full article

Gordon, a Dakar regular since 2005, took stage wins during six of his 11 outings in the event and finished as high as third overall in 2009, driving a Hummer. He sat out the past two rallies, but will make his comeback in January, reforming his previous partnership with co-driver Kellon Walch in a Textron XX off-road racer. Gordon said: “Kellon has been my navigator for three out of my ... Keep reading View the full article

Hansen ran his own rallycross concern until the end of 2017, when the Team Peugeot Hansen squad, in which Peugeot had supported Hansen’s efforts since 2014 and won the team’s title in 2015, was changed into a full factory team. The Swede continued to work for the works outfit as team manager, but following Peugeot’s departure from the series, he is working on re-forming his own ... Keep reading View the full article