Rally

Overnight leader Ogier adopted a no risk approach to Sunday morning’s three stages to protect his position. As a result, the eight-time world champion’s 35.8s advantage decreased to 22.5s over Evans. Evans just about managed to hold off a charging Neuville, although the pair were split by 2.7s heading into the final stage. Kalle Rovanpera remained in a lonely fourth, 1m50.8s adrift, but ...Keep readingView the full article

Ogier will head into the gravel event's final day equipped with a 35.8s advantage over Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans, as the eight-time world champion goes in search of a record seventh WRC win in Mexico. Ogier moved into the lead after Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi crashed out on stage 11, but it was Ogier’s performance on stage 16 that blew away the opposition. The Frenchman managed to win ...Keep readingView the full article

The eight-time world champion, competing in a partial WRC campaign, assumed the lead on Saturday morning after Hyundai rival Esapekka Lappi crashed out on stage 11. Once ahead, Ogier was able to extend his advantage to 35.8s over Toyota’s team-mate Evans, who came under attack from Hyundai’s Neuville. Evans managed to hang onto to second, albeit with a slender 4.3s margin. World champion ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn declared Friday as one of the best days of his World Rally Championship career after holding off eight-time world champion Sebastian Ogier to build a 5.3s lead into Saturday. However, Lappi's hard work was undone in an instant when he misjudged a left-hander that resulted in a heavy crash on Stage 11 (Ibarrilla), the first test of the day. The former Toyota driver ran wide and ...Keep readingView the full article

The eight-time World Rally Championship title winner had been locked in a fight with Lappi throughout Friday, and faced a 5.3s deficit to the Finn heading into Saturday. However, Lappi’s exit on the morning’s first test, stage 11, promoted Ogier to the lead, which he took into Saturday’s midday service. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans trailed his part-time team-mate Ogier by 28.5s, with an ...Keep readingView the full article

The Hyundai driver lost control of his i20 N, 10 kilometres into the Ibarrilla test and speared into a bank. The force of the impact flicked the car around before rear ending a telegraph pole as it came to a halt in the road. Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm emerged from the heavily damaged i20 N unscathed before smoke began to pour from the front of the car as a small fire ignited. The telegraph ...Keep readingView the full article

Tanak endured a difficult start to the first gravel rally of the season after ending Friday in 18th position, 14m05s behind rally leader and Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi. The 2019 world champion already faced the daunting task of opening Mexico’s dusty gravel stages as championship leader, before a turbo failure cost the Estonian 12 minutes across the morning loop. After ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn, competing in only his third event for Hyundai after moving from Toyota, won five of the day’s eight stages to lead six-time Rally Mexico winner Sebastien Ogier by 5.3s. Lappi found himself locked in an intense fight with former Toyota team-mate Ogier as the pair broke away from the chasing pack across Mexico’s challenging gravel stages. Lappi headed into Friday's midday ...Keep readingView the full article

Lappi lit up the timing screens across the afternoon’s stages, winning three of the five tests, to turn a 1.4s margin into a 5.3s advantage over six-time Rally Mexico winner Ogier. Ogier managed to close to within 0.3s early in the afternoon before Lappi reeled off a string of times to pull clear of the eight-time world champion, before a mini fightback on the last stage. Toyota’s Elfyn ...Keep readingView the full article

Lappi made the most of an advantageous road position on the rough gravel stages to win two of the three tests that made up the morning loop. The Finn headed to the midday service with a 1.4s lead over Ogier, who won Stage 4 after starting the day a position ahead of Lappi on the road order. The pair surged to the head of the field after overnight leader Ott Tanak suffered turbo failure on ...Keep readingView the full article

Stage 3, the first of the day’s eight tests, was halted after the third M-Sport Ford Puma driven by privateer Jourdan Serderidis blocked the narrow El Chocolate road and was stuck facing in the opposite direction. It is unclear exactly how the Greek driver ended up stranded on the stage. Former M-Sport driver Gus Greensmith was the first driver to reach the Puma and was forced to stop before ...Keep readingView the full article

M-Sport driver Tanak clocked the fastest time through the two passes of the famous street stage held around the Unesco World Heritage site in downtown Guanajuato. Tanak’s times moved the Estonian into a 1.7s advantage over Toyota’s reigning world champion Rovanpera, while Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi will head into Friday’s gravel stages, 2.2s adrift in third. "Today was a bit of fun ...Keep readingView the full article

This weekend marks the first gravel rally of 2023 and the third different surface in as many rounds, following the asphalt of Monte Carlo in January and the snow of Sweden last month. It is also the third round since former Caterham and Renault Formula 1 boss Abiteboul took over as team principal at Hyundai in January. Hyundai’s new boss has begun to make changes to the squad, beginning ...Keep readingView the full article

This weekend will see Rally1 cars tackle high altitude for the first time courtesy of Mexico's iconic mountainous stages located as high as 2,800 metres above sea level, which return to the WRC for the first time since 2020. In previous years, the thinner air has reduced internal combustion engine power by as much as 30%, although this season the effect will be less thanks to the 100kW hybrid ...Keep readingView the full article

The reigning world champion squad has been working to solve its pace deficit on rough gravel which was highlighted in Sardinia and Greece last yearm, the only events a Toyota failed to score a podium in 2022. Toyota team boss Jari-Matti Latvala says its problems stemmed from the GR Yaris’ suspension, but after a successful pre-event in test in Spain earlier this month, the Finn believe ...Keep readingView the full article

As reported in January, Rally USA emerged as a genuine candidate to join the calendar next year when the WRC stated its desire to run a test event this year, which has now come to fruition. Chattanooga, located in southeast Tennessee, has been selected to host a Rally Tennessee demonstration event from 7-8 April, followed by a test rally in September, the exact date is yet to be ...Keep readingView the full article

It's not often that beer and sporting success go hand in hand. However, wind back the clock to Rally Mexico 2014 and this popular beverage played an unlikely, yet vital cameo in saving Hyundai from the heartbreak of throwing away a first World Rally Championship podium at the final hurdle. The moment is among motorsport's strangest stories and has earned a rightful place in WRC folklore. This ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota is among the pioneers of hydrogen power in motorsport having invested heavily into developing the fuel as a future environmentally sustainable power source. Last year, the Japanese marque entered a hydrogen-powered GR Corolla into the Fuji 24 Hours, which was driven by then-Toyota CEO and president Akio Toyoda and Latvala. Toyota also used the hydrogen powertrain it has developed in ...Keep readingView the full article

Following a a discussion during last week’s World Motor Sport Council in Bahrain, the world motorsport governing body has ratified a new rule which will be enforced from 1 May. The new regulation will require WRC teams Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport-Ford to fit a sound module to their respective cars, which must produce a minimum of 80dB of sound in an open area at two metres from the front and ...Keep readingView the full article

Motorsport is dangerous. It's an exploit to be taken seriously, and nothing less than peak physical fitness is expected of drivers to reach peak performance. But motorsport is also a highly competitive business, and the stakes are high. When money has been invested, taking the decision to prioritise health over competition isn't easily made and history is littered with cases of drivers throwing ...Keep readingView the full article