Rally

The team’s plans for its third car for the remainder of the WRC season are yet to be determined following the tragic passing of Craig Breen, who had been sharing the entry with Sordo this season. Veteran Sordo had been announced to pilot the third i20 N for Portugal two weeks ago, where he finished second, before Breen’s death in a Croatia testing accident in April. The South Korean ...Keep readingView the full article

The championship had hoped to roll out a 14-round schedule for this season, although plans to add an event in the Middle East failed to come to fruition. However, the target to add a desert based round in Saudi Arabia remains a key goal for 2024, with plans for a test event to be held later this year. “Our ambition is 14 events. I think we will be quite happy with 14 events for the ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2019 world champion once again showed flashes of speed during last weekend's WRC round in Portugal, but ultimately finished fourth, 2m04.1s adrift of the eventual winner Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera. The event was Tanak's second on gravel following Mexico where a turbo issue was among the problems that halted his charge. Last weekend the Estonian displayed impressive pace through the first ...Keep readingView the full article

Cost caps have recently been introduced to Formula 1 in 2021 and Formula E last season to prevent costs spiralling out of control to the detriment of the disciplines. Currently WRC’s top Rally1 class operates without a cost cap, meaning manufacturers Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport-Ford are free to spend what they wish on rally programmes. WRC Promoter believes costs have been drifting away ...Keep readingView the full article

The move arrives following Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville's comments prior to last weekend's Rally Portugal where he called for the WRC to "react" after stating that rallying's top tier is at a critical point and requires change to appeal to fans and attract new manufacturers. The WRC's senior sporting director Peter Thul says he has carefully read Neuville's comments and is willing to hear ...Keep readingView the full article

Top Performer - Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen While Kalle Rovanpera refused to call his Rally Portugal performance the best of his career to date, it should rank among the finest. On Portugal's mix of rough and fast gravel stages, Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen rekindled the magic that saw them dominate the 2022 season. Portugal has become renowned for its rough ...Keep readingView the full article

Rovanpera claimed a ninth career WRC victory in Portugal and his first of the season after dominating the rough gravel rally to defeat Hyundai’s Sordo by 54.7s. The triumph was the reigning world champion’s first win since sealing the 2022 title at Rally New Zealand last October. After converting a difficult road position into 10.8s lead at the end of Friday, Rovanpera won five of seven ...Keep readingView the full article

The duo finished fifth, 8m22.5s adrift of rally winner Kalle Rovanpera, after a turbo problem on Sunday cost them a shot at a podium finish having started the day sitting third overall. To compound the disappointing end to their rally, FIA stewards issued the fine to be jointly paid by the duo after they failed to submit their time card at the of stage 17. As per FIA WRC Sporing regulations ...Keep readingView the full article

Solberg was leading the second tier WRC2 class by 35.4s when he performed doughnuts at the end of the Lousada super special on Saturday night, held on a bespoke Rallycross circuit in front of thousands of spectators. Read Also: Solberg loses WRC2 lead after penalty for performing “doughnuts" The Swede’s exhibition driving breached regulations that were introduced after ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning world champion delivered one of his finest drives to beat Hyundai’s Dani Sordo by 54.7s and seal maximum points by winning the Power Stage. Read Also: WRC Portugal: Rovanpera kickstarts title defence with dominant win The victory was made even more impressive given he was second in the road order ahead of Friday’s dusty gravel stages. Rovanpera had ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver rekindled the devastating form that saw the Finn become the youngest ever world champion to defeat Hyundai’s Dani Sordo by 54.7s after three days of competition across Portugal’s tough gravel stages. Rovanpera won 10 of the 19 stages, emerging with a 10.8s lead at the end of Friday despite facing the disadvantage of starting second on the road. The 22-year-old produced ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver will head into the event's final stage with a 47.8s lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi inherited third (+1m17.8s) from team-mate Neuville, who dropped to fifth (+6m35.0s) after nursing a severely underpowered i20 N through the morning loop. M-Sport’s Ott Tanak climbed to a lonely fourth (+2m03.4s) virtue of Neuville’s dramas. The morning ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toksport Skoda driver had dominated the second tier WRC class in Portugal having built up a 35.4s lead over team-mate Gus Greensmith at the end of Saturday. However, Solberg attracted the attention of the FIA stewards for a piece of exhibition driving, where the son of 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg, elected to perform "doughnuts" following his run at the side by side Lousada super ...Keep readingView the full article

The South Korean marque will head into the final four stages with its part-time driver Dani Sordo sitting second, 57.5s adrift of Toyota’s runaway leader Kalle Rovanpera, but only 11.1s ahead of Thierry Neuville, the team’s highest-placed driver in the championship. Its second full-time driver Esapekka Lappi is fourth, 2.3s behind Neuville after losing grip of third across ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning world champion has so far produced a faultless display to head into Sunday’s final four stages with a 57.5s lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. Rovanpera has endured a quiet start to his title defence by his own high standards, with the 22-year-old yet to score a victory this year. His last visit to the top step of the podium came in New Zealand last October. The Finn has also ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning world rally champion won five of the day’s seven tests to transform an overnight 10.8s advantage into a 57.5s lead, as the Finn moved closer to a first WRC win since New Zealand last October. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville leapfrogged team-mate Esapekka Lappi to claim third, with 2.3s splitting the duo. M-Sport’s Ott Tanak ended Saturday in a lonely fifth driving the sole ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver started the day with a 10.8s advantage but a stunning drive resulted in the Finn to clean sweep the trio of stages to open up a 52.4s-lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi has moved to third, 57.0s adrift, but ahead of Thierry Neuville (+57.9s) and M-Sport’s Ott Tanak (+1m34.1s) after team-mate Pierre-Louis Loubet crashed out of fifth on stage ...Keep readingView the full article

The Frenchman led the rally after winning Friday’s opening stage although drama struck at the of stage three when his Ford Puma developed a fire. At the time Loubet and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul detected a burning smell but were initially unable to locate the issue. A frustrated Loubet thought his rally was over at this point. However, Loubet was able to get the issue under control to ...Keep readingView the full article

Evans ran off the road on stage seven (Mortagua, 18.15km) while occupying sixth position following a challenging day opening the road. A drought breaking victory in Croatia last month meant the Welshman headed to Portugal tied at the top of the championship standings with part-time Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who isn’t competing in Portugal this weekend. Evans had been struggling ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver produced an head turning display despite being disadvantaged by road position to end the day leading Hyundai’s Dani Sordo by 10.8s. Rovanpera won three of the day’s eight stages to become the fourth different leader of the event to date. A late push from Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville pushed the Belgian to third, 26.0s adrift ahead of M-Sport’s Pierre-Louis Loubet, who led ...Keep readingView the full article