Rally

Toyota has today announced that Rovanpera will pilot one of the three factory Toyota GR Yaris entries at the famous gravel rally next month (28-31 March). Rovanpera will join full-time Toyota team-mates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.Inclusion on the Kenya entry list means Rovanpera will compete in two consecutive WRC events. The Finn contested the first round of his partial WRC season at Rally ...Keep readingView the full article

Twelve months ago the prospect of a career in the World Rally Championship was a pipe dream for a quartet of youngsters from all four corners of the globe. But now these inexperienced drivers are daring to turn their dreams into reality thanks to the FIA Rally Star initiative.The brainchild of Jerome Roussel, one of the figures that worked on the Rallye Jeunes programme that discovered the likes ...Keep readingView the full article

On Wednesday, the FIA is set to reveal a concept that will form the future direction of the WRC with the focus being on the top category. The Rally1 hybrid class, launched in 2022, has come under scrutiny having struggled to attract manufacturers, while entries have dropped below 10 cars this season.This action from the FIA is the result of the formulation of a working group last December which ...Keep readingView the full article

Ireland is vying to secure a three-year contract to host the WRC, beginning from 2025, which aims to bring the championship back to the country for the first time since 2009.Motorsport Ireland announced in January that it plans to rotate the rally through three locations; Waterford, Kerry and Limerick, across the three-year deal, should it secure the contract.WRC Promoter’s event director Simon ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai’s new signing has admitted his season to date has “not been great” after costly mistakes in both the Monte Carlo season opener and last weekend’s visit to Sweden.The 2019 world champion, touted among the favourites to challenge for this year’s title, is fifth in the championship standings, 27 points behind team-mate and championship leader Neuville, and 24 adrift of Toyota’s ...Keep readingView the full article

Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers and chairman David Richards met with the WRC Promoter at last weekend’s Rally Sweden, with Rally GB among the topics discussed.Great Britain has been a mainstay of the WRC, hosting a round since its inaugural season in 1973 but has dropped off the calendar, with 2019 the last edition of the famous event. The Covid-19 pandemic coupled with the loss of funding from ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver downplayed his Sweden chances given the disadvantage of starting second on the road. However, Evans finished the rally in second, 29.6s behind winner Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi.While not a fan of the 2024 points system, the Welshman benefitted from the new rules. Evans survived a wild 360-degree spin on Friday to claim 13 points for finishing Saturday in third overall. He then ...Keep readingView the full article

Fourmaux delivered the best result of his WRC career to date to finish a milestone third, 47.9 seconds behind eventual Rally Sweden winner Esapekka Lappi of Hyundai.The M-Sport Ford driver successfully navigated incredibly challenging conditions that caught out world champions Kalle Rovanpera and Ott Tanak to end Saturday in second position, behind Lappi and in front of Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, to ...Keep readingView the full article

The Hyundai driver beat Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by 29.6 seconds across Sweden’s 18 snow stages to clinch a first win since his breakthrough 2017 Rally Finland victory.The success ended a 2,394 day wait to stand on the top step of a WRC top tier podium, following his Finland win, 60 rallies ago when driving for Toyota.The Finn, competing in the first round of a partial programme this year, made ...Keep readingView the full article

Part-time pairing Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm successfully navigated through 18 challenging snow stages to score a second career win with a 29.6-second margin over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.Lappi’s triumph ended a six and a half-year victory drought, arriving on the first start of his 2024 part-time programme. Watch: Rally Sweden Wolf Power Stage Highlights M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai driver Lappi took no risks to complete Sunday morning’s stages safely with a 34-second lead over Evans, who jumped ahead of M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux (+48.1s).Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville remained in a comfortable fourth overall (+1m50.6s) as WRC2 leader Oliver Solberg rounded out the top five (+4m51.2s). The new Super Sunday points format for 2024 added another storyline to ...Keep readingView the full article

Fourmaux has emerged as the surprise package on the challenging snow rally to occupy second position, 1m06.3s adrift of rally leader Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, heading into the final day tomorrow.The 28-year-old has delivered impressive pace and consistency on Saturday to hold off Toyota’s Elfyn Evans in the fight for second. Watch: Rally Sweden Saturday Afternoon Highlights Fourmaux ...Keep readingView the full article

Lappi will take a 1m06.3s lead over M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux into the final three tests after an impressive drive through 15 of the 18 challenging snow-covered stages.Should Lappi triumph on Sunday it would mark only his second career WRC win following a maiden success at Rally Finland in 2017, when he was driving for Toyota.Victory would also add to Hyundai’s strong start to the 2024 season ...Keep readingView the full article

The Hyundai driver will take a 1m06.3s advantage over M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux into Sunday's final three stages, with Toyota’s Elfyn Evans sitting 1m23.0s back in third, as he seeks a first win since his maiden success on the 2017 Rally Finland.Lappi was pushed hard by Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta in the morning as the Finn saw his lead shrink to 0.9s. However, Katsuta’s charge was halted on ...Keep readingView the full article

Launched in Vista Jet's Milan hangar, located at Linate Airport, the company founded by entrepreneur and driver Thomas Flohr, the main sponsor of the Piacenza-based team, revealed the 296 GT3s in silver and red colours that will take part in the LMGT3 Class. In the #54 there will be Flohr himself, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon (a Ferrari factory driver), a trio confirmed after last ...Keep readingView the full article

Lappi ended the morning loop with a 1m24.3s lead over M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, with Toyota’s Elfyn Evans [+1m40.5s] in third after Toyota driver Katsuta’s victory tilt came to an end on stage 10.Oliver Solberg continued to impress and sat an incredible fourth overall (+2m25.4s) in the WRC2 class lead, while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville climbed from 11th to fifth overall, 2m42.9s behind ...Keep readingView the full article

Munster lost a rear side window from his Ford Puma Rally1 during stage six, which prompted some quick thinking to protect the car’s hybrid unit from the snow and prevent his windscreen from fogging up.M-Sport’s new recruit showcased his resourceful side by fashioning a team jacket into a makeshift window for the day’s remaining two stages.“I have no idea how we lost the window,” Munster ...Keep readingView the full article

The Hyundai driver was four minutes late to the start of stage six after struggling to fire up his i20 N, incurring a 40-second penalty.It resulted in the Belgian dropping behind Toyota’s Elfyn Evans on the road order, effectively making the latter face the worst of the conditions on the snow covered roads.Evans initially suspected foul play at the end of stage stating, “I guess the spirit of ...Keep readingView the full article

Lappi claimed three stage wins from the four afternoon tests that were plagued by snow flurries that made conditions incredibly challenging for crews. The performance helped Lappi overhaul Katsuta to open up a 3.2s rally lead after eight of 18 stages.Katsuta ended the day as the lead Toyota after overnight leader Kalle Rovanpera crashed out on stage four after running wide into a snowbank, with ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning two-time world champion won Thursday night’s super special and stage two on Friday morning to open up a 5.7s lead over Toyota team-mate heading into stage four where drama struck.In an incident unseen by television cameras, Rovanpera ran wide as snow began to fall in the stage. The 23-year-old clouted a snowbank which resulted in his GR Yaris suffering damage to its radiator.“We ...Keep readingView the full article