Rally

Carrying his impeccable form into the final days of the two-week rally-raid, Loeb picked up his fifth consecutive stage win on Friday’s 185km test between Empty Quarter and Shaybah, beating Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom to the top spot by 3m19s. As was the case in the first half of the two-day marathon stage on Thursday, the Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver led from the very beginning in his ...Keep readingView the full article

The Japanese brand has today unveiled the latest version of its championship-winning GR Yaris, which features revisions to its engine and aerodynamics. Last year the GR Yaris emerged as the machine to beat as the WRC adopted new Rally1 hybrid regulations. The car scored seven wins from the 13 events with Kalle Rovanpera scoring six victories on his way to becoming the youngest-ever world ...Keep readingView the full article

Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver Loeb was untouchable in the 274km special between Shaybah and Empty Quarter, throwing caution to the wind in the first part of the two-day marathon stage to score a 2m16s victory over GCK Motorsport’s Guerlain Chicherit. Loeb had pulled out of a lead of over a minute just 63km into the stage and his advantage peaked at 3m06s at two-thirds distance, but he lost some ...Keep readingView the full article

As reported last month, the Frenchman has emerged as the successful candidate to lead Hyundai’s motorsport projects following a lengthy search to replace Andrea Adamo, after his departure in December 2021. Abiteboul will now lead the South Korean marque’s World Rally Championship and customer programmes, taking over from Julien Moncet, who was promoted from powertrains boss to deputy team ...Keep readingView the full article

The Dakar Rally 2023 is well underway. It is the 45th edition of the world's most famous rally raid, and for the fourth consecutive year it will cross the Arabian Peninsula from west to east. Weather conditions are as unpredictable as they are prohibitive, forcing the brave participants and teams to prepare in the best possible way, using top quality equipment. The Side by Side buggies that ...Keep readingView the full article

The Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver led from start to finish on the 114km Haradh to Shaybah stage, the shortest contest at this year’s Dakar Rally, eventually taking the win by 3m04s over Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom. It marks Loeb’s fourth stage win at the Dakar Rally this year. Stage nine was marred by drama due to Carlos Sainz’s retirement from the event due to car damage and tragedy ...Keep readingView the full article

Tuesday saw the running of the ninth stage of the 2023 Dakar, with WRC legend Sebastien Loeb taking victory in the stage. However, the action has been marred by an announcement from Dakar organisers this evening that a spectator died following an incident on the stage. Organisers confirmed that the spectator was from Italy and was airlifted to a hospital following an incident on a dune ...Keep readingView the full article

Driving for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team, Loeb led a 1-2-3 result for the Prodrive Hunter on the 358km special between Riyadh and Haradh, with Teltonika Racing’s Vaidotas Zala and GCK Motorsport driver Guerlain Chicherit rounding out the podium spots. Loeb led early on over the gravel terrain that greeted competitors at the resumption of the rally-raid following a day’s rest in the Saudi ...Keep readingView the full article

"Passion sometimes is perhaps more important than winning all the time," said 2003 World Rally champion Petter Solberg when asked during an Autosport podcast last week to sum up the career of the late Ken Block, who died aged 55 in a snowmobiling accident. Solberg couldn't have hit the nail on the head any harder. Block wasn't a world champion and, while a look over his career shows that he was ...Keep readingView the full article

The South Korean marque has become the first WRC team to reveal its 2023 challenger, which will be piloted by a new-look driver line-up as new signings Esapekka Lappi and Craig Breen join Thierry Neuville and the experienced Dani Sordo. The latest specification i20 N features updated bodywork to the front and rear of the car. The bonnet has been flattened and extended while the front arches ...Keep readingView the full article

The Irishman has returned to the South Korean marque in the role he held from 2019-2021, sharing the third i20 N with Dani Sordo. Breen's return to Hyundai was among several unexpected twists of the WRC silly season, having agreed a two-year full-time deal with M-Sport at the end of 2021. However, Breen endured a difficult time at M-Sport last season, with a third on debut at Monte Carlo and ...Keep readingView the full article

The part-time WRC driver has made sporadic appearances in rallying’s top tier since 2015, although each drive has been behind the wheel of an M-Sport Ford Fiesta or Puma. Last season Bertelli piloted an M-Sport Puma at Rally New Zealand, where the 34-year-old finished seventh overall. Bertelli revealed the news of his switch to a Toyota in a post on social media, where he showcased a mock ...Keep readingView the full article

Sainz had looked like the man to beat in the 367km special between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, the Spanish driver leading from the very first checkpoint to take a provisional 1m39s victory over Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver Loeb. However, the celebration at Audi turned out to be short-lived as Sainz was soon handed a five-minute time penalty for speeding, stripping him of first ...Keep readingView the full article

Klein, the 21-year-old who is contesting only his second Dakar on a privateer KTM, secured his first stage win on the second day of the Saudi Arabian event to announce himself as a potential contender for victory a year on from finishing ninth overall and top rookie in 2022. A fuel pump failure in the fourth stage and then a pair of crashes on the sixth stage saw Klein slip to seventh overall ...Keep readingView the full article

With the stage for bikes and quads cancelled due to weather conditions, Al-Attiyah had to open the road in the 333km special between Riyadh and Al Duwadimi in his Toyota Hilux. Carrying a lead of more than an hour into the day, and with external assistance prohibited as part of the ‘marathon’ rules that cover both stages 7 and 8, the Qatari driver played it safe in his bid to defend his ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA World Rally-Raid Championship’s Committee announced a change in the Balance of Performance on Wednesday to give cars in the T1.U class for prototype cars using renewable energies – which includes Audi’s RS Q e-tron E2 – an extra 8kW, which is believed to be worth 11bhp. Al-Attiyah was outraged by the measure, however, and appeared to accuse the organisation of favouritism on ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota’s Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel fought tooth and nail for much of the shortened 358km special between Ha’il and Riyadh, with Peterhansel reversing Al-Attiyah’s early advantage to grab the lead at the second checkpoint. Peterhansel had built a buffer of well over a minute after crossing the timing mark at 207km, but disaster struck just minutes later when his Audi RS Q e-tron was ...Keep readingView the full article

Block famously run under #43 throughout a career that included 25 starts in rallying's top tier, where he recorded a best result of seventh at Rally Mexico in 2013. He died on 3 January from injuries sustained in a snowmobile incident. The American, who shot to fame thanks to his hit Youtube Gymkhana video series, also used the number when competing in the US Rally Championship, Global ...Keep readingView the full article

Greensmith will return to the WRC2 class this season after a three-year stint driving for M-Sport Ford's top-flight WRC team. The 26-year-old's move to the WRC2 arrives after a deal couldn't be reached to stay at M-Sport for 2023, ending an eight-year partnership in the process. The Ford team will field only two full-time entries in the WRC this year for Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet. As ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver was furious at a Balance of Performance tweak which gave cars in the T1.U class using renewable energies – effectively main rivals Audi – an additional 8kW which equates to 11bhp ahead of Thursday's stage, stating it would "kill the race early". But on the 373km sand and dune-covered stage, the second loop around Ha'il, the defending Dakar Rally champion saw off ...Keep readingView the full article