Rally

The recently retired F1 driver discussed his fascination of rallying ahead of this weekend’s Race of Champions in Sweden, where he will compete alongside World Rally Championship drivers past and present in Sebastien Loeb, Thierry Neuville, Petter Solberg and Oliver Solberg. Vettel revealed that he regularly follows the WRC and is in awe of the skills required to compete in the ...Keep readingView the full article

Rallying’s top tier is currently in the process of formulating its immediate and long term regulations, with propulsion a key topic for discussion. Last year the WRC introduced a move to hybrid power, and became the first FIA world championship to use 100% sustainable fuel, through its Rally1 regulations, which will remain in place until the end of 2024. It is widely expected that these ...Keep readingView the full article

Latvala announced at the WRC 2023 launch in Monte Carlo that he is hoping to contest a round of the Japanese Rally Championship to assist with the development of the new Rally2 GR Yaris. Toyota revealed its Rally2 GR Yaris concept, its first entry into the Rally2 arena, at last year's WRC season finale in Japan. It has now been confirmed the car will undergo a year of development in 2023 ...Keep readingView the full article

The former Renault Formula 1 boss began his foray into rallying by leading the Hyundai squad for the first time at last weekend's WRC season opener in Monte Carlo. While Hyundai was comfortably beaten by Toyota, the Korean marque left the principality with a third-place finish through Thierry Neuville, albeit 44.6s behind winner Sebastien Ogier. Unlike last year, all three i20 Ns finished the ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC has long held an ambition to secure a foothold in the USA, with the American market deemed a key battleground for championship stakeholders and a region with growing support for rallying. Rallying's top tier last visited the USA in 1988 when the Olympus Rally in Washington was won by Lancia's Miki Biasion. Speaking to Motorsport.com at last weekend's Monte Carlo Rally, WRC event ...Keep readingView the full article

An unusual lack of wintry conditions transformed the WRC season opener into a flat out dry asphalt sprint, which led to several calls from drivers to move the rally further north to guarantee the traditional snow and icy stages of the past. This was the second year the rally has been largely devoid of snow. Only the Sisteron stage in 2022 was affected by snow and ice, and for this year that ...Keep readingView the full article

The eight-time world champion had been tight-lipped on his 2023 plans this year, but in an interview with French broadcaster Canal+ he confirmed his attendance at the gravel rally from 16-19 March. Mexico returns to the WRC this year for the first time since 2020, when the event was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will host the third round of the WRC season. The popular gravel rally ...Keep readingView the full article

Top Performer - Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais Much like Roger Federer's domination of Wimbledon in his prime, watching Sebastien Ogier master the Monte Carlo Rally year after year is one those awe inspiring sporting moments. At 39-years-old and a semi retired rally driver, Ogier was in a league of his own as he and new co-driver Vincent Landais delivered a Monte Carlo masterclass to ...Keep readingView the full article

New testing restrictions have been imposed on WRC teams this year in a bid to camp down on costs by limiting manufacturer teams to 21 days (a maximum of seven per driver) instead of 28 as stipulated last year. Speaking to Motorsport.com prior to the last weekend's season opener in Monte Carlo, Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville labelled the rule change as "ridiculous" and suggested it would ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC has been working alongside the FIA to develop the future pathway for rallying's top tier ever since the launch of the Rally1 hybrid rules last year. This has included a series of discussions with manufacturers already involved in the discipline and other marques not currently competing, to understand the required ruleset for 2025 onwards that will attract new brands to Rally1. It is ...Keep readingView the full article

Hyundai found itself trailing Toyota for outright speed on the Monte Carlo asphalt as the latter racked up 16 stage wins to the Korean marque’s two. Those two fastest stage times were delivered by Neuville on Saturday on his way to finishing third, 44.6s behind winner Sebastien Ogier. Both Hyundai and Toyota upgraded the aero on their respective i20 N and GR Yaris challengers for the new ...Keep readingView the full article

The Estonian steadily made progress in unlocking speed from the Ford Puma package in his first competitive outing in the car at Monte Carlo, but ultimately was unable to sustain a challenge at the sharp end. While hampered by an electrical problem on Thursday followed by an intermittent power steering on Saturday, a glimpse into the potential of Tanak/M-Sport package arrived on Sunday's ...Keep readingView the full article

Following Citroen’s departure at the end of 2019, rallying’s top tier has been contested by three manufacturers in Toyota, Hyundai and Ford, although the latter is a semi works relationship with British squad M-Sport. This season marks the second year of the WRC’s Rally1 hybrid regulations which were originally conceived to attract fresh manufacturer interest, but has only so far only ...Keep readingView the full article

The eight-time world champion produced a dominant performance on the Monte Carlo’s famous asphalt roads to take a comfortable 18.8s victory from reigning world champion and Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanpera. Ogier’s triumph makes him the most successful driver in the famous event’s history, as the 39-year-old pulled one victory clear of nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb’s record at ...Keep readingView the full article

Ogier and new co-driver Vincent Landais clinched nine of the 18 stages in what proved to be an unusually dry WRC season opener to claim a comfortable win by 18.8s from world champions Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen. Competing in only a partial campaign, Ogier once again outlined his supreme knowledge of the twisty Monte Carlo roads, and was never headed throughout the four days of ...Keep readingView the full article

The eight-time Monte Carlo winner managed to stave off his charging Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanpera to extend his overall lead to 17.2 seconds with two stages remaining at the alpine asphalt classic. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville held onto third position despite suffering a half spin and hybrid issues during Sunday morning’s loop. The Belgian was 38.1s behind Ogier but comfortably clear of ...Keep readingView the full article

Reigning world champion Toyota has so far dominated the rally, winning 12 of the 14 stages, occupying the top two positions courtesy of Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera, with Elfyn Evans in fourth and Takamoto Katsuta in sixth. After witnessing Toyota claim all the stages on Thursday and Friday, shared across three of its drivers, Hyundai managed to end its stage-winning drought on Saturday ...Keep readingView the full article

The Ford squad has seen power steering issues affect both Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet during the asphalt rally, which has dented the team's hopes of repeating last year's Monte Carlo double podium. Loubet lost his power steering following an off track excursion in Stage 5 on Friday and was forced to complete the day’s remaining stages on Monte Carlo’s infamous twisty roads without ...Keep readingView the full article

Ogier started Saturday’s leg with a 36.0s lead but a decision to preserve his advantage allowed Rovanpera to reduce the deficit across the afternoon to 16.0s ahead of Sunday's final four stages. Rovanpera inflicted the most damage to Ogier’s lead courtesy of a crushing Stage 14 win held in darkness. Hyundai finally ended Toyota’s stranglehold of the fastest stage times as Thierry ...Keep readingView the full article

The eight-time world rally champion was afforded the luxury of not needing to push during the morning loop, but still picked up a stage win as his lead over Rovanpera stood at 30.0s at the midday tyre fitting zone. World champion Rovanpera claimed two stage wins to apply some pressure on Ogier, while maintaining Toyota’s perfect stage win record at the rally to date. Hyundai’s charge was ...Keep readingView the full article