Rally

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans clinched a second win of the World Rally Championship season to boost his title hopes after surviving the toughest Safari Rally since the event rejoined the calendar. Evans and co-driver Scott Martin emerged from a gruelling 21-stage rally of attrition with victory by 1m09.9s from Hyundai’s Ott Tanak. Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville recovered to third, 3m32.0s ...Keep readingView the full article

Kalle Rovanpera will leave Safari Rally Kenya without scoring any World Rally Championship points after retiring on the final day. The two-time world champion’s latest setback, in what has been a gruelling Safari Rally, occurred following the opening stage of Sunday morning. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen clocked the third-fastest time on stage 17 [Mzabibu], 3.7s adrift of ...Keep readingView the full article

Elfyn Evans says an almost two-minute lead is no guarantee of victory after wild conditions have rendered this year’s Safari Rally the toughest since the event rejoined the World Rally Championship. The WRC points leader survived incredibly challenging conditions to head into Sunday’s final five stages with a 1m57.4s lead over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak after Kalle Rovanpera’s victory bid ...Keep readingView the full article

Kalle Rovanpera’s Safari Rally victory bid has been dented by a pair of costly punctures, the second caused by an off-road excursion to avoid a herd of zebra. The two-time world champion started Saturday 7.7 seconds behind leader and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans but ended the morning loop of stages, which featured tricky wet and muddy sections, 1m32.5s adrift. Rovanpera’s front-right ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA has confirmed TotalEnergies will take over as the World Rally Championship fuel supplier after P1 Performance Fuels after being placed into administration. The motorsport governing body moved quickly to appoint a new supplier now that P1 Performance Fuels can no longer fulfill its contractual obligations to act as the WRC’s fuel supplier. The FIA stepped in to work with logistics ...Keep readingView the full article

Ott Tanak is hopeful of regaining the Safari Rally lead if his car can “stay together” as extreme conditions once again proved to be Hyundai’s downfall in Africa. The 2019 world champion won four of Friday’s opening six stages to build up a 46.1s lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, but will head into Saturday 55.4s in arrears. Tanak’s i20 N suffered a front-right driveshaft failure ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally champion Thierry Neuville feels he has been wrongfully handed a penalty for a jump start due to what he believes was a timing glitch at Safari Rally Kenya. Neuville has already endured an eventful trip to Kenya after only six of the 21 stages comprising the third round of the WRC. The Belgian suffered an issue with his i20 N that cost him 20 seconds on Thursday's second stage ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship drivers will continue to limit stage-end comments until they have a “clear way forward” following dialogue with the FIA, according to Elfyn Evans. WRC drivers remained silent or offered limited comments in their native languages during Wednesday’s shakedown at this weekend’s Safari Rally Kenya, in response to the FIA’s move to sanction drivers for using ...Keep readingView the full article

Thierry Neuville insists Hyundai is yet to decide on its World Rally Championship future, describing recent speculation the brand has already decided to leave at the end of 2025 as “unfounded”. The reigning world champion and Hyundai WRC stalwart has responded to a report in Belgian media that claims the Korean marque has already made a call to leave the category at the end of this season ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA has reiterated its stance on drivers using “inappropriate language” but will discuss the matter with World Rally Championship competitors following their protest at Safari Rally Kenya. WRC drivers have elected to remain silent or speak in only their mother tongue during stage-end television interviews in Kenya this week, after Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux was fined for swearing in ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship drivers have continued their stance opposing the FIA’s move to sanction drivers for using “inappropriate language” by limiting comments in stage-end interviews at Safari Rally Kenya. Drivers refused to comment or only spoke in their mother tongue to explain why they are not commenting during stage-end interviews during Wednesday shakedown in Kenya. It is ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai insists it has made the “better choice” to contest next week’s Safari Rally Kenya without its much anticipated 2025 car update package that debuted in Sweden last month. The South Korean manufacturer will head to Africa for the toughest event on the WRC calendar with a trio of i20 N Rally1 cars competing in the specification that ended the 2024 campaign (minus the hybrid unit and ...Keep readingView the full article

The F1 World Championship has come a long way since its first race at Silverstone in 1950 and as it celebrates its 75th anniversary through this season, it is pulling out all the stops to make it something special – including the release of a very special range of Puma clothing. The highlight so far was the triumphant F1 75 show, held at the O2 in London in February, where the sport’s 10 ...Keep readingView the full article

Safari Rally Kenya is set to go ahead unaffected despite the World Rally Championship’s fuel supplier P1 Fuels being placed into administration. The WRC became the first FIA sanctioned world championship to move to 100% sustainable fuel after German company P1 Performance Fuels won a tender to act as the control fuel supplier, beginning in 2022. Last month, P1 Fuels was the subject of ...Keep readingView the full article

Last year, the World Rally Championship set out on a bold mission to unearth its next female star. This global talent search wasn’t purely focused on finding a driver who could perhaps one day follow in the footsteps of the great four-time WRC rally winner Michele Mouton; it was also intended to break down the barriers to entry for women in rallying. Relatively speaking, the WRC, compared to ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship drivers have called for communication with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to find an “urgent solution” following the governing body's move to sanction drivers for swearing. WRC drivers and co-drivers through the World Rally Drivers Alliance (WoRDA) have today issued a statement opposing the measures the FIA has taken to impose fines on drivers for ...Keep readingView the full article

Adrien Fourmaux has been fined €10,000 and hit with a further suspended €20,000 fine for using “inappropriate language” during a World Rally Championship television interview. The Hyundai driver’s comments following the end of stage 18 at Rally Sweden have been deemed to have breached FIA Article 12.2.1.l of the 2025 FIA International Sporting Code. Fourmaux was asked for a summary ...Keep readingView the full article

Claire Schonborn has claimed a fully funded drive in the Junior World Rally Championship after winning the Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme shootout at Rally Sweden. The WRC conducted a global search to unearth the next female rally star last year with the programme reaching its culmination in Sweden. A group of 15 finalists were whittled down to three, featuring Schonborn ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota will need to think about “strategy for its drivers” as a grandstand finish awaits Rally Sweden with only three seconds splitting team-mates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta. The Japanese marque has always operated a firm no team orders policy among its crews but team principal Jari-Matti Latvala has hinted that some form of strategy could come into play on Sunday. Evans will head ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux has explained a bizarre “messy" startline issue that has severely dented his Rally Sweden victory hopes after starting stage 11 without his helmet properly fastened. Fourmaux had been in the thick of an intense five-way fight for victory, having started the day in fourth, 7.9s adrift of leader Toyota’s Elfyn Evans. Hyundai’s new signing, who finished third ...Keep readingView the full article