Rally

Ogier is contesting a part-time campaign for the second consecutive season after bowing out as a full-time driver to spend more time with his family following his eighth world title in 2021. The 39-year-old competed in six rallies last year and has already participated in three events this season, winning rounds in Monte Carlo and Mexico to lead the championship. Last weekend, Ogier finished ...Keep readingView the full article

Breen was complementing his WRC third driver commitments for the Hyundai factory squad by running the Portuguese national series for the Hyundai Portugal squad in an i20 N Rally 2 car. Following Breen’s tragic passing in preparation for last weekend’s WRC round in Croatia, the Hyundai Portugal squad has now confirmed it will continue to field two cars in the championship with Meeke to ...Keep readingView the full article

Neuville left nothing on the table as he produced a blistering run to edge Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera by 0.9s in stage 20 to claim the five bonus World Rally Championship points on offer. It was an emotionally-charged run following the disappointment of falling short of the overall rally victory, that he and the team were dreaming of to honour Breen, who died in crash during pre-event testing ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver scored a first WRC win since Finland in October 2021 after he and co-driver Scott Martin came through to chalk up a comfortable 27.0s victory over M-Sport’s Ott Tanak on Croatia’s asphalt stages. Evans labelled the win as “insignificant” as he crossed the finish line at the final stage, as the rally community mourns the loss of factory Hyundai driver Breen who died in ...Keep readingView the full article

Evans and co-driver Scott Martin delivered a faultless drive to score a first win since Rally Finland in October 2021 by a margin of 27.0 seconds from Tanak on Croatia’s challenging asphalt stages. Esapekka Lappi secured third, 58.6s adrift, to score his first podium of the season for Hyundai, who fielded a reduced two car line-up following the tragic death of its third Craig Breen in a ...Keep readingView the full article

The two-time championship runner-up produced a measured drive across the morning’s three stages to push his advantage over M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak out to 28.1s ahead of the final stage. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi maintained third position, 1m02.7s adrift, while his team-mate Thierry Neuville returned to action after crashing out of the lead on Saturday morning. World champion Kalle ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2019 world rally champion produced an impressive push at the start of the afternoon loop, resulting in the 2023 Rally Sweden winner cutting Evans’ rally lead from 19.1 seconds to 12.5s, before drama struck on the day's penultimate stage. Tanak initially reported in stage 15 that he had suffered an issue with his handbrake which left the Estonian frustrated as it allowed Evans to ...Keep readingView the full article

Evans inherited a 19.1s lead on Saturday morning after Friday’s pacesetter Thierry Neuville retired for the day after crashing out in stage 11 in the morning loop. However, Evans faced a stern challenge from Tanak in the afternoon, who reduced the gap to 12.5s before a mechanical issue struck his car in the day's penultimate stage. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi struggled for outright pace ...Keep readingView the full article

Evans started the day 5.7s behind leader Neuville but the Welshman inherited the rally lead when his Hyundai rival went off the road in stage 11, which forced Neuville to retire from the day’s action. The sole remaining Hyundai of Esapekka Lappi headed to service in third, 44.8s adrift. Only 4.7s covered fourth to seventh with M-Sport’s Pierre-Louis Loubet leading the best of the ...Keep readingView the full article

The Belgian ran wide at a medium-speed right hander in stage 11 (10.13km) and clipped a rock with the rear of his I20 N, which sent the car off the road and into the trees lining the road. Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe emerged from the incident unscathed but the damage to the car was too severe to continue. Neuville had started the day with a 5.7-second lead over Toyota’s Elfyn ...Keep readingView the full article

The breach occurred on stage 2 when the Toyota pairing were forced to change a wheel after hitting a compression while leading the rally. Ogier and Landais were able to change the wheel in a little over a minute and only lost 1m32s on the stage following the stoppage. However, it has been deemed that Ogier and co-driver Landais didn’t have their safety harnesses correctly fastened while ...Keep readingView the full article

The South Korean marque is running a reduced two car entry following the tragic death of its third driver Craig Breen in a testing accident in the lead up to the asphalt event. The team only elected to compete in the rally after careful consideration and discussions with the Breen family, the Irishman’s surviving co-driver James Fulton, and team members. Both cars driven by Neuville and ...Keep readingView the full article

Neuville held a 16.1s rally lead on Friday morning after early leader Sebastien Ogier suffered a wheel failure on his Toyota during stage 2, but the Belgian faced a stern challenge from Toyota's Evans in the afternoon. Neuville, piloting a Hyundai carrying a tribute to the late Craig Breen, witnessed his lead reduce to 5.7s over Evans heading into Saturday. M-Sport-Ford's Ott Tanak completed ...Keep readingView the full article

The Belgian, driving one of two Hyundai's carrying a special tribute livery to the late Craig Breen, ended the morning loop at the asphalt rally with a 16.1s lead over Toyota's Elfyn Evans. M-Sport's Ott Tanak managed to reach the service park in third, 22.1 seconds adrift despite struggling with his Ford Puma, while the sister Hyundai of Esapekka Lappi was fourth, 34.9s in arrears. Toyota's ...Keep readingView the full article

The rally world has been shocked by the death of Hyundai driver Breen, who died in a testing crash last week in preparation for the asphalt event. The fourth round of the world championship has continued albeit in a subdued and sombre manner with all drivers and teams paying tribute to the 33-year-old Irishman. After careful consideration, which included discussions with Breen's family ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning world champion won last year’s visit to Croatia after coming through a thrilling final stage showdown with then Hyundai driver Ott Tanak. While the route is largely unchanged from last year, Rovanpera believes the roads are rougher and will feature more cuts with more sharp edges on the sections of differing tarmac compared to 12 months ago. Significant rain in the lead up to ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul read a prepared statement to media in Croatia on Wednesday explaining what happened in the incident in which Breen died last Thursday during a pre-event test on Croatian roads. Co-driver James Fulton was unharmed in the incident. Abiteboul confirmed that the accident occurred at a relatively low speed and that the car had collided with a wooden fence which ...Keep readingView the full article

The South Korean marque announced earlier this week that it would honour Breen, who died in Rally Croatia testing crash last Thursday, by running a special colour scheme on its entries for the fourth round of the WRC. After careful consideration, which included discussions with Breen's family, surviving co-driver James Fulton, and Hyundai Motorsport’s crews and team members, the team decided ...Keep readingView the full article

Under WRC regulations, teams can register three crews to be eligible to score constructer points, with only the highest-finishing two crews scoring points. However, following the tragic death of Hyundai driver Craig Breen in testing crash last week leading up to the event, Hyundai will only field two cars this weekend, after deciding to contest the event following careful discussions with ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC heads to Croatia in a sombre mood following the death of Hyundai driver Craig Breen, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a testing crash ahead of the event last Thursday. The 33-year-old was set to make his second WRC start of the season in the third Hyundai entry, which has now been withdrawn from the event. As a mark of respect and after discussions with Breen’s family and ...Keep readingView the full article