Rally

Starting the day sitting second, Katsuta leapt into an 11.4s rally lead over Hyundai's Esapekka Lappi after a drama-filled stage four, which resulted in Rovanpera and Ott Tanak retiring from the day's action.Overnight leader and reigning world champion Rovanpera, making a return to the WRC in a part-time programme for Toyota, was the victim of a snowbank. His rival Tanak suffered a similar fate ...Keep readingView the full article

The two-time world champion, making the first start of his part-time 2024 WRC campaign, lit up the timing screens on the first of 18 snow stages – Umea Sprint, 5.16km.Rovanpera, starting seventh on the road, posted a time 1.4s faster than Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.“It is always ok when the time is on that side of the clock,” said Rovanpera. “This is always tricky as it is icy, so ...Keep readingView the full article

Anti-lag system issues affected all three Hyundais in Monte Carlo, with Tanak hit the worst by the problem that team principal Cyril Abiteboul admitted was exacerbated by the 2019 world champion's driving style.Hyundai has since identified the issue but it is likely the problem will only be completely rectified through the homologation of new software which Hyundai plans to have in place in time ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning two-time world champion is expected to be the overwhelming favourite for victory on Sweden’s snow-covered roads.A previous event winner in 2022, Rovanpera also has the advantage of a favourable starting position after sitting out last month’s Monte Carlo season as part of his wish to contest a part-time programme this year.The Finn returned to the stages at the Arctic Lapland ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC released its 2024 schedule with the rally traversing the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, which made its championship debut last year, set to take place from 31 October to 3 November.However, rally organisers have now confirmed plans to move the event to 17-20 October subject to approval from the FIA and ADAC. The location of the service park has also been relocated. The asphalt rally ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA is currently evaluating the future of WRC’s top tier which has resulted in the creation of a working group headed by FIA Deputy President Robert Reid, the 2001 World Rally Championship title-winning co-driver, and 1981 WRC co-driver champion David Richards, who is the chairman of Motorsport UK. The group has been tasked to “evaluate and recommend the future direction of ...Keep readingView the full article

The ‘Craig Breen Spirit of Rallying Award’ will be awarded to the JWRC driver who, over the course of the season, best embodies Breen’s characteristics: a willingness to overcome adversity, an unwavering determination to take on every obstacle to complete every rally, and an outgoing positive demeanour in their interactions with fellow competitors, marshals and volunteers, media and their ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn was in the running for a Rally1 seat with Hyundai for 2024 before the Korean manufacturer opted to share its third entry between Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo and new signing Andreas Mikkelsen.Suninen, whose best WRC finish to date came when he placed second for M-Sport on the 2019 Rally Sardinia, joined Hyundai’s revamped driver development programme in 2023 alongside Emil Lindholm.He was ...Keep readingView the full article

The Korean brand has opted to retire the sky blue colour scheme with which it started the season, and was driven to victory by Thierry Neuville in Monte Carlo last month, in favour of a completely new look.The new livery pays tribute to 10 years of Hyundai’s high performance ‘N’ road car brand, which now features prominently in the new orange, white and blue colours. The livery ties in with ...Keep readingView the full article

Ferrari has always been red, but if you look back over the liveries even in the last 20 years it is surprising how many other colours have come and gone. Yellow, white, black and even blue (many years ago) have all made an appearance, so what can we expect this season? The new clothing, which has been revealed in a series of images and a social media video, contains no black at all, with ...Keep readingView the full article

To prepare for the WRC’s only round on snow, the title contender entered the Arctic Lapland Rally last weekend in Finland ahead of a pre-event test this week.Evans came out victorious in Lapland after Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanpera suffered a technical fault in the last stage. Rovanpera had set the pace in the rally to hold a lead of nearly a minute over Evans heading into the final test.While ...Keep readingView the full article

The two-time WRC title winner had indicted a wish to broaden his motorsport horizons after announcing plans that he and co-driver Jonne Halttunen will contest a partial World Rally Championship campaign this year, which begins at Rally Sweden next week.The 23-year-old admitted late last year that he wanted to try other motorsport disciplines, revealing that he had a target of testing and racing a ...Keep readingView the full article

The launch of a new fan survey to collect data from WRC fans is the FIA’s latest step in the process in understanding the future direction for rallying’s top tier.It follows the creation of a working group in December last year that is designed to “evaluate and recommend the future direction of rallying”. The group is headed by FIA Deputy President Robert Reid, the 2001 World Rally ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning world champion is expected to compete in at least six rallies this year for Toyota, beginning with Sweden next week, a rally he won in 2022 on the way to his maiden world title.Rovanpera jumped back behind the wheel of the Toyota GR Yaris last weekend to prepare for Sweden's snow stages by participating in the Arctic Lapland Rally in Finland.The Finn set a blistering pace to lead the ...Keep readingView the full article

Returning to the Middle East for the first time since Rally Jordan in 2011 has been a long-time goal for the championship, with Saudi Arabia understood to be the target to host a round in 2025.The WRC has described a desert rally in this region as a "missing piece" of its current calendar.Plans to add a Middle East round to the WRC schedule have come close to fruition in the last two years and it ...Keep readingView the full article

Carlos Sainz Sr made history at the 2024 Dakar Rally by becoming the oldest driver ever to win the prestigious event at a remarkable age of 61. It was Sainz Sr’s fourth victory in the Dakar, 14 years after his first, adding to an already illustrious career for the double world rally champion. So, it is no surprise that his motorsport genes passed through the family with Sainz’s son, Carlos ...Keep readingView the full article

The factory Toyota duo were entered into the snow rally to gather valuable miles driving their GR Yaris Rally1 cars ahead of the WRC’s to Rally Sweden from 15-18 February.Evans took the victory with a 5m02.3s margin from 2022 Finnish rally champion Mikko Heikkila after trouble hit long-time leader Rovanpera, who competed in his first rally since electing to contest a part-time WRC programme this ...Keep readingView the full article

Tanak and team-mates Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen all suffered from a throttle mapping issues on their i20 Ns during the first two stages of the Monte Carlo Rally last Thursday.While the problem was quickly rectified for Neuville and Mikkelsen, Tanak continued to struggle with the anti-lag system on his i20 N throughout the remainder of the rally.Tanak was still able to bring the i20 N ...Keep readingView the full article

The Ford squad has opted to promote its Rally2 drivers Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster to its Rally1 programme for 2024, following Ott Tanak’s decision to leave the organisation to re-join Hyundai.Fourmaux and Munster impressed across Monte Carlo’s 17 tricky asphalt stages last weekend. Both set a top-three stage time, while Fourmaux produced an impressive drive to bag 11 points, only two ...Keep readingView the full article

The Italian gravel rally, which hosts the sixth round of the championship from 30 May-2 June, has revealed an all-new format that will be covered in 48 hours.The rally will be held over 16 competitive stages covering a total of 266.48 kilometres and will be based around the city of Alghero, which last hosted the event in 2022.Read Also: WRCRally USA sets sights on joining WRC in ...Keep readingView the full article