Rally

The Japanese marque has been developing a Rally2 version of its GR Yaris since last year as it bids to join the customer rally car market.The GR Yaris Rally2 made its public debut at Rally Japan last year and has since undergone an extensive development programme ahead of its FIA homologation, which could begin this month.Once homologated, the GR Yaris Rally2 will see Toyota join WRC rivals ...Keep readingView the full article

The Korean marque had made a bold statement ahead of next season by re-signing 2019 world champion Ott Tanak to join the already contracted Thierry Neuville. Hyundai is yet to announce its plans for its full driver line-up for 2024 as the team continues to evaluate whether to field three cars or expand to four i20Ns. As Abiteboul has explained, the team will make its decision in a ...Keep readingView the full article

The Estonian gravel rally acted as the fourth round of the FIA's new WRC talent spotting initiative last weekend.Organised and funded by the FIA, six driver and co-driver pairings have been selected from regional finals held across the world to tackle six European rallies this year behind the wheel of an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally3 car.The best four crews at the end of the six rallies will receive ...Keep readingView the full article

As previously reported, the European nation had been tipped to secure a return to the WRC with its Masurian gravel roads last appearing in the championship in 2017.Poland has been vying to return to the WRC since it lost its place on the calendar due to repeated breaches of spectator safety.Poland’s return was confirmed by rally organisers at the event’s official launch at Mikolajki, which was ...Keep readingView the full article

The Spaniard will take over the i20N from Teemu Suninen, who is set to drive this month’s Central European Rally after competing last weekend’s Rally Chile, where he retired on the penultimate stage. Sordo had hinted after finishing third at Acropolis Rally in Greece last month that his next outing would be the WRC’s final round on asphalt in Japan from 16-19 November.The 40-year-old ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai has announced that 2019 world champion Tanak will rejoin the Korean squad for the 2024 campaign, which will see the Estonian reunite with five-time WRC title runner-up Neuville.The pair were previously team-mates at Hyundai from 2020-2022.Following Tanak's departure from Hyundai at the end of 2022, Abiteboul made it clear after taking up the team principal role for 2023 that Neuville ...Keep readingView the full article

The British squad has been forced to reconsider its driver options for next season following confirmation its star signing Tanak has elected to leave the team after one season.The news comes just days after Tanak scored a convincing win at last weekend’s Rally Chile, his second victory of the season for the team in a campaign littered with misfortune and reliability woes.Read Also: Tanak ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2019 world champion's move comes just days after scoring a second victory of the WRC season with M-Sport at Rally Chile last weekend.This will be Tanak's second spell driving for the Korean marque after sensationally leaving the team with a year remaining on his contract at the end of the 2022 season.Aside from wins in Sweden and Chile, and a second in Croatia, Tanak's 2023 campaign at M-Sport ...Keep readingView the full article

M-Sport and Tanak proved tyre decisions are still crucialTyre compounds proved ultimately decisive in determining the outcome of Rally Chile; it's an aspect rarely seen in the modern WRC.Crews expected abrasive roads ahead of the WRC’s return to the South American nation but not to the extent as witnessed last Saturday.While there was plenty of focus on Toyota’s ultimately incorrect decision ...Keep readingView the full article

The Ford squad put an end to a rough run of results last Sunday when Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja scored a first victory since February's Rally Sweden triumph.Heading into Chile, the British outfit had scored two podiums in a campaign that had been blighted by misfortune and reliability woes.However, Tanak and the team were unstoppable on Chile's tyre-punishing gravel roads. The convincing ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn, competing in only his third start driving a Rally1 hybrid, appeared on course to finish on the podium following an impressive run through Friday and Saturday in the final gravel round of the season.Suninen briefly led the rally after winning stage four before slotting into second, which he held until an error on the event's penultimate stage. The 29-year-old was in a battle with ...Keep readingView the full article

The Japanese brand has become only the sixth marque to achieve a manufacturers’ title three-peat, joining Lancia, Subaru, Citroen, Peugeot and Volkswagen in the WRC’s 50-year history.Toyota sealed its seventh WRC manufacturers’ title and third in row at Rally Chile after defeating rival Hyundai with two rounds of the season remaining.Elfyn Evans led home the trio of GR Yaris’ in third ...Keep readingView the full article

Tanak delivered a masterclass in speed and tyre management to score his and the British team's second win of 2023.The 2019 world champion won seven of the 16 tricky gravel stages to complete the rally with a 42.1-second margin over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who snatched second after late drama struck team-mate Teemu Suninen.Tanak led after winning Friday’s opening stage before briefly ...Keep readingView the full article

Tanak headed to the final service of the gravel event with a slightly reduced 51.6s lead over Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen.Suninen came under pressure from charging Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville (+58.3s), who won the morning’s two stages.Toyota’s Elfyn Evans completed the loop in fourth overall (+1m19.1s) ahead of title rival Kalle Rovanpera (+2m07.8s), with the third Toyota driven by ...Keep readingView the full article

The Ford squad closed in on a second WRC win of the season with Tanak ending Saturday with a 58.3s lead over Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen ahead of Sunday’s final four stages.Tanak took a 4.2s overnight lead into Saturday but it was a strategy call, made on Friday night, to take four hard tyres as part of his tyre package for the morning loop, that proved crucial.Facing extremely abrasive gravel ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2019 world champion won four of the six stages to open up a 58.3s advantage aboard his Ford Puma, having started the day with a 4.2s margin over Suninen.An inspired tyre call across the morning loop helped Tanak increase his lead to 47.8s, before a masterclass in tyre management maintained his momentum in the afternoon.Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville ended the day in third (+1m03.0s) after ...Keep readingView the full article

Evans and his team-mates Kalle Rovanpera and Takamoto Katsuta all opted to take only soft tyres for the loop held on roads that were much more abrasive than those navigated on Friday.While Evans briefly managed to overhaul Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen to claim second overall and Rovanpera climbed to fourth after winning stage seven, their tyre strategy backfired on stage nine.Towards the end of the ...Keep readingView the full article

Tanak claimed two of the three morning stages but it was decision to run hard tyres for the final stage that helped the Estonian to open up a commanding 47.5s lead over Hyundai driver Suninen. Tanak had started the day with only a 4.2s overnight margin.Toyota’s Elfyn Evans briefly jumped to second, but a call to run soft tyres resulted in the Welshman dropping to fourth overall (+1m16.8s) ...Keep readingView the full article

After an impressive start to the rally, Loubet was sitting fourth heading into stage three when he went off the road at high-speed.The Frenchman appeared to carry too much speed into a right-hand corner which resulted in his car being sent into a frightening series of rolls, before coming to rest on its roof. Loubet and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul luckily emerged from the wreckage without ...Keep readingView the full article

Tanak completed the day's six demanding gravel stages with a 4.2s lad over Suninen, who impressed in only his third Rally1 start.Tanak led the rally after winning the opening stage before losing the advantage following a spin and loss of hybrid in stage two. However, the 2019 world champion was able to rattle off two stage wins across the afternoon to regain the lead.Toyota’s Elfyn Evans led the ...Keep readingView the full article