Rally

It’s quite easy to marvel at the sight of a World Rally Championship car darting through narrow asphalt lanes, sliding between snow banks and surviving some of the world’s toughest rocky terrains. But exactly how are these machines built?Hyundai Motorsport has lifted the lid on the process with a behind-the-scenes look at how it constructs its €200,000 i20 N Rally2 car that competes in WRC2 ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2027 World Rally Championship regulations are likely to offer manufacturers a range of powertrain options and cars that will be significantly cheaper through a cost cap on components.The WRC’s 2027 ruleset for the future of Rally1 and Rally2 is expected to be revealed at next month’s World Motor Sport Council, although Motorsport.com understands teams were issued a draft of the proposal at ...Keep readingView the full article

Newly crowned world champion Thierry Neuville will headline a host of World Rally Championship stars set to compete at the Monza Rally Show next month.The event has returned this year to celebrate Pirelli’s four-year stint as the WRC’s sole tyre supplier with the championship set to welcome South Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook to provide its control tyre from next season.Event organisers ...Keep readingView the full article

Sami Pajari has won the Junior WRC and now clinched the WRC2 crown, but the “hard work” starts now as the Finn prepares to join the World Rally Championship elite in 2025.Toyota has put its faith in Finland’s latest prospect to come from its storied rally driver production line by handing the 22-year-old a full-time drive in a GR Yaris Rally1 car next year. Read Also: WRCToyota ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai “needs to do better” and learn from Ott Tanak’s Rally Japan accident that contributed to a “painful” World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title defeat, according to team principal Cyril Abiteboul.The Korean marque missed out on a first manufacturers' title since 2020 in dramatic circumstances on the final day of the season at last weekend’s Rally Japan. Read ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota will expand its World Rally Championship entry to five cars at selected events next year following confirmation Sami Pajari will join the team for a maiden full-time Rally1 campaign.Fresh from sealing the WRC manufacturers’s title in dramatic fashion at last weekend’s Rally Japan, Toyota has unveiled its 2025 plans, which also include four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen taking up a ...Keep readingView the full article

Rally Japan organisers have been fined €50,000 and issued an additional €100,000 suspended fine after an unauthorised vehicle ventured onto a live stage at the World Rally Championship season finale. A minivan entered stage 12 (Ena) on Saturday morning, forcing officials to cancel the test after six of the eight Rally1 crews posted times.Television cameras captured a vehicle that was ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota snatching the World Rally Championship manufacturers' crown on the final stage of the season was a great advert for rallying, according to team boss Jari-Matti Latvala. The Japanese brand overhauled an unlikely 15-point deficit to Hyundai coming into the Japan season finale, culminating in an extraordinary final stage showdown.They were tied on points heading into the Power Stage after ...Keep readingView the full article

Thierry Neuville has said his ability to keep calm in moments of adversity and his "never give up" attitude were key to finally clinching the World Rally Championship title.The five-time WRC runner-up (2013, 2016-2019) took the last step and became a world champion after finishing sixth in a dramatic season finale in Japan.Having led the championship since winning January’s Monte Carlo opener ...Keep readingView the full article

Thierry Neuville clinched a career-defining maiden World Rally Championship title in dramatic circumstances at this weekend’s Rally Japan.Often regarded among the best drivers never to win a WRC title, the Belgian can now lay that claim to rest after he and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe beat Hyundai team-mate Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja to a long-awaited crown.Neuville entered the ...Keep readingView the full article

Elfyn Evans won the World Rally Championship season finale in Japan while Toyota snatched the manufacturers’ title in a Power Stage thriller after Thierry Neuville had already been crowned world champion.Evans and co-driver Scott Martin clinched their first WRC win of the season for Toyota after Hyundai’s Ott Tanak crashed out of comfortable 38s lead on stage 17, which handed Hyundai team-mate ...Keep readingView the full article

Ott Tanak has explained the crash he described as a “proper disaster” that handed team-mate Thierry Neuville the World Rally Championship crown and dented Hyundai’s manufacturers’ title bid.Tanak started Sunday with a commanding 38 second rally lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans but his Rally Japan victory bid unravelled in the most spectacular fashion on stage 17.The 2019 world champion ...Keep readingView the full article

Ott Tanak has dramatically crashed out of the lead of Rally Japan which has handed Thierry Neuville the World Rally Championship and swung the manufacturers title battle towards Toyota.Tanak started Sunday with a 38 second rally lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans which he needed to maintain to keep his WRC title hopes alive.However, Sunday morning’s opening stage (Nukata, 20.23km) proved decisive ...Keep readingView the full article

Thierry Neuville says he cannot afford to cruise through the Rally Japan’s final leg to secure a maiden World Rally Championship title following a stirring Saturday fightback.The WRC points leader started Saturday outside the points-paying positions in 15th after Friday’s costly turbo failure dashed hopes of a relatively comfortable run to score the six points required to seal the ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota will need a “maximum performance” from its drivers and “a little bit of support” from M-Sport Ford to deny Hyundai the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title in Japan. This year’s championship will go down to the wire with Toyota trailing Hyundai by 11 points heading into the final five stages of the Rally Japan season finale on Sunday.Toyota began the weekend 15 points ...Keep readingView the full article

An investigation into how an unauthorised vehicle entered a live World Rally Championship stage at Rally Japan is underway, an incident which the FIA has described as "a very serious issue."A minivan entered stage 12 (Ena) on Saturday morning, forcing officials to cancel the test after six of the eight Rally1 crews posted times.Television cameras captured a vehicle that was stationary facing in ...Keep readingView the full article

Thierry Neuville boosted his World Rally Championship hopes by provisionally claiming more than half of the points needed to secure the title, while rival Ott Tanak extended his Rally Japan lead.Six points from the Japan season finale will secure a maiden title for Neuville, but that task was hanging in the balance after a turbo issue on Friday left the Hyundai driver in 15th position at the start ...Keep readingView the full article

The 12th stage of the World Rally Championship season finale was cancelled due to an unauthorised vehicle entering the closed road.Six of the eight Rally1 crews successfully completed a run through the 16.47km Ena test but officials were forced to abandon the stage before rally leader Ott Tanak and Toyota Elfyn Evans could begin.Luckily the appearance of the unauthorised vehicle was flagged to ...Keep readingView the full article

Thierry Neuville kickstarted his Rally Japan recovery on Saturday morning to close in on the World Rally Championship points-paying positions, while title rival Ott Tanak witnessed his lead trimmed by Elfyn Evans. Neuville, now driving a fully-functioning Hyundai i20N after Friday’s power issue, managed to haul himself up tot 11th spot as Tanak kept his championship hopes alive by continuing ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai has apologised to Thierry Neuville and is planning to change “everything” on his car after a suspected turbo related issue dented his World Rally Championship title hopes in Japan.Championship leader Neuville can clinch the crown by scoring six points at the season finale, but that prospect has been made much tougher after his i20 N suffered a mysterious loss of power in stage four on ...Keep readingView the full article