Rally

World rally champion Kalle Rovanpera snatched the Rally Finland lead from Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans at the end of an eventful Friday morning that included a crash for Ott Tanak.Rovanpera headed to midday service with a 0.2s margin over Evans, who had impressed in difficult wet conditions in his bid for a first win of 2024.Toyota's Sebastien Ogier briefly held the rally lead after stage two, but ...Keep readingView the full article

Ott Tanak has crashed out of Rally Finland in an incident that briefly red flagged stage three of the World Rally Championship gravel rally on Friday morning.The Hyundai driver went off the road just over two kilometres into the brand new Sarrikas test [15.93km] which was held in wet conditions. Tanak and co-driver Mattin Jarveoja were sitting in sixth overall after the morning’s first ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship points leader Thierry Neuville snatched the opening stage victory from Takamoto Katsuta to claim an early Rally Finland lead.Neuville was the last of the Rally1 cars to tackle the Harju super special stage in host city Jyvaskyla and was able to pip Toyota’s Katsuta by 1.1 seconds on the mixed surface test.The stage time arrived following a challenging Thursday morning ...Keep readingView the full article

World Rally Championship drivers have voiced their concerns over the GPS system that will warn crews to slow down for virtual chicanes, which will make its competitive debut at Rally Finland.Event organisers have introduced a virtual chicane in the shakedown and Ouninpohja stages at this weekend’s gravel rally that marks the ninth round of the championship.A virtual chicane provides a way to ...Keep readingView the full article

The World Rally Championship is set for its largest season since 2008 following the confirmation of an expanded 2025 calendar which features 14 events.As previously reported, the WRC schedule will expand next year to accommodate three new rallies, with the Canary Islands, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia joining the calendar.The schedule features five flyaways events, four asphalt rallies, nine gravel ...Keep readingView the full article

The World Rally Championship will introduce virtual chicanes for the first time in competition at Rally Finland, in a move that has helped re-introduce the legendary Ouninpohja stage.The advancement in technology has seen virtual chicanes become more prevalent in rallying with the system already being used in various championships including the European Rally Championship at Rally di Roma.This ...Keep readingView the full article

Rally di Roma Capitale has its sights set on joining the World Rally Championship in the future with organisers “working hard” to elevate the event to rallying’s top-flight.The Italian asphalt rally, that begins in the nation’s capital city Rome, has been steadily growing in stature having earned a place on the European Rally Championship calendar in 2017.Last weekend the rally, based ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota has unveiled special liveries that will adorn entries for Kalle Rovanpera and Sebastien Ogier for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Finland.The Japanese brand will field an expanded five-car Rally1 line-up at the team’s home event with both part-time drivers Rovanpera and Ogier competing alongside full-time entrants Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, while rising star Sami ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai is yet to commit to the 2026 World Rally Championship, but team principal Cyril Abiteboul says rallying is the "manufacturer's roots" and he is not "over with rally".The long-term future of the Korean marque in the WRC is unclear with the brand understood to be gearing up to join the World Endurance Championship with a Hypercar programme in the near future.Hyundai is one of two full ...Keep readingView the full article

M-Sport will investigate further opportunities to field Martins Sesks in the World Rally Championship following stunning displays in Poland and Latvia.Sesks made his Rally1 debut with the Ford team as part of a two-round agreement facilitated by the WRC Promoter and partners of last year’s European Rally Championship runner-up.The Latvian made an immediate impact finishing fifth on his debut in ...Keep readingView the full article

“I really wanted him to be a good footballer, but it didn’t work out. There was absolutely no expectations whatsoever from my behalf, for him to ever become a professional driver. I’m very proud obviously, he’s surpassed my expectations many years ago and still going strong.”The words are those of Gwyndaf Evans, who speaks with a beaming smile as he recounts how his son Elfyn has ...Keep readingView the full article

There were perhaps only two words mentioned more than 'Martins' and 'Sesks' when the World Rally Championship visited Latvia last weekend, and those were 'road position'.Championship leader Thierry Neuville reignited a debate surrounding how the WRC determines the road order for rallies. The very nature of rallying means that someone is always going to be disadvantaged by road position.For gravel ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai has reiterated its drivers Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak are currently free to fight for the World Rally Championship without fear of team orders, according to team principal Cyril Abiteboul.The Korean manufacturer’s two full-time drivers Neuville and Tanak are split by eight points in the title race after last weekend’s Rally Latvia with five rounds of the season remaining.Neuville ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA is conducting a review into a “potentially dangerous” incident where an inflatable promotional arch halted Ott Tanak during the World Rally Championship’s visit to Latvia.Read Also: WRCWRC Latvia: Rovanpera storms to victory, Tanak snatches podium from Sesks The WRC title contender collected a deflated promotional arch that was lying in the road after Toyota’s ...Keep readingView the full article

Kalle Rovanpera clinched his third win of a partial World Rally Championship campaign with a dominant performance in Latvia as the Baltic nation made its WRC debut.Two-time world champions Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were rarely challenged through the 20 predominantly gravel stages to record a comfortable win by 39.2s.Rovanpera took the win from Toyota team-mates Sebastien Ogier and ...Keep readingView the full article

Kalle Rovanpera maintained his control of Rally Latvia as the Toyota driver closed in on a dominant World Rally Championship victory on Sunday morning. The two-time world champion was unable to relax with Super Sunday points on offer and managed to balance the need for points and to preserve his overall rally lead perfectly.Rovanpera headed into the final two stages with a 40.3s margin over ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai has called for a “clear and transparent” investigation to understand why its World Rally Championship driver Ott Tanak was delayed by a fallen inflatable promotional arch at Rally Latvia.Stage 14 provided one of the strangest incidents of the season when a promotional arch halted fourth-placed Tanak.Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja collected the arch that was lying across the road ...Keep readingView the full article

Kalle Rovanpera dominated Saturday’s stages to open up a commanding Rally Latvia lead over Toyota World Rally Championship team-mate Sebastien Ogier.The reigning world champion set a rapid pace to claim six of the eight stages and transform an overnight 15.7s advantage to a 42.5s lead [18 provisional points] heading into Sunday’s final four stages.M-Sport’s local star Martins Sesks started ...Keep readingView the full article

Ott Tanak has taken aim at World Rally Championship officials after being delayed when an inflatable arch blocked stage 14 at Rally Latvia.The Hyundai driver was angered by a bizarre incident during the Vecpils 12.64km when a promotional arch appeared to block the road and was subsequently collected by the car.Tanak's car was captured by broadcast cameras grounded to a halt with an arch draped ...Keep readingView the full article

Kalle Rovanpera recorded his 200th World Rally Championship stage win on his way to extending his lead at Rally Latvia on Saturday morning.The two-time world champion won three of the four morning gravel tests to increase his advantage to 34.8s.That lead was over Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who managed to pip local star Martins Sesks to second across the loop.Hyundai's Ott Tanak charged from ...Keep readingView the full article