Rally

It must feel as if Christmas has come early for M-Sport. Months of negotiations have finally yielded the present they all wanted: the signing of 2019 world rally champion Ott Tanak. Tanak rejoining the Ford squad that launched his WRC career would have prompted a collective sigh of relief, not only from an M-Sport team looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2022, but from the Estonian's ...Keep readingView the full article

Last week the 2019 world champion completed a move to rejoin the Ford squad after leaving Hyundai at the end of the season with a year remaining on his contract. The switch has seen Tanak reunite with the British team that launched his WRC career in 2011. It was at M-Sport where the Estonian claimed a maiden podium in 2012 [Sardinia], and the first of his 17 top-flight wins in 2017. The ...Keep readingView the full article

The Ford squad is continuing to push to reach an agreement with the nine-time world champion, who claimed an 80th career win and record equalling eighth triumph at the famous asphalt rally this year. Loeb enjoyed a partial WRC campaign with M-Sport this season which he dovetailed around successful campaigns in the World Rally-Raid Championship and Extreme E. During the season the Frenchman ...Keep readingView the full article

During his sabbatical from Formula 1 after a difficult second stint at McLaren, Alonso ventured into a wide variety of motorsport disciplines including endurance racing, but arguably faced his toughest challenge when he entered Dakar at the beginning of 2020. Driving the factory Toyota Hilux in the prestigious cross-country rally in Saudi Arabia, the Spaniard exceeded expectations by finishing ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver produced a dominant run to a maiden world title this season, recording six wins and 70 fastest stage times to become the championship’s youngest ever world champion. The 22-year-old Finn smashed the previous record set by the late 1995 world champion Colin McRae by five years and 88 days. While Rovanpera dominated the 2022 season, Tanak emerged as the Toyota driver’s ...Keep readingView the full article

The 2019 world champion has emerged as key part of the WRC silly season after exercising a clause to end his Hyundai tenure with a year remaining on his contract after a challenging 2022 campaign. Today’s announcement has ended the speculation surrounding Tanak’s future with the Estonian penning a deal to return to the Ford squad that ignited his WRC career in 2011. Tanak had been facing ...Keep readingView the full article

Motorsport.com sources understand Abiteboul has emerged as the successful candidate after the brand’s lengthy search for a new leader. Hyundai has been searching for a new leader since long-time boss Andrea Adamo left the South Korean marque in December last year. The Frenchman will effectively take over from countryman Julien Moncet, the team’s former powertrain boss, who was promoted ...Keep readingView the full article

Rovanpera won six rounds on his way to the crown with Toyota to become the youngest WRC champion at the age of 22. Autosport readers have voted the Finn the top rally driver of 2022, ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville, and M-Sport’s Sebastien Loeb. It is the first time Rovanpera has won the honour. Rovanpera’s victory was announced on 4 December at the Autosport Awards ...Keep readingView the full article

The Yaris was victorious on seven of the 13 World Rally Championship events in the first year of the hybrid Rally1 regulations and scooped both the manufacturers’ crown and drivers’ title with Kalle Rovanpera. Autosport readers have voted the Yaris the best rally car of 2022, ahead of its WRC rivals the Ford Puma Rally1 and Hyundai i20 N Rally1, and the Dakar Rally-winning Toyota GR DKR ...Keep readingView the full article

Solberg has found himself without a drive for 2023 after Hyundai elected to drop the 21-year-old from its factory Rally1 operation at the end of the year, citing a wish to field a more experienced driver line-up. The South Korean marque has since announced that Craig Breen will fill the position after the Irishman left a two-year deal with M-Sport a year early. As previously revealed ...Keep readingView the full article

The entire rally-raid will take place in Saudi Arabia for a fourth year in succession, with attempts to expand it to other countries in the Gulf having come to a nought. However, the route has been significantly altered and expanded, with the rally running to 14 stages in 2023 as compared to 12 this year. The action will commence from a dedicated Sea Camp on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, with ...Keep readingView the full article

SA has emerged as a leading contender to host Rally Australia should it return to the WRC schedule. The event, which was mostly recently held in Coffs Harbour in New South Wales, has been absent from the calendar since 2019. It has long been expected that for Australia to return to the WRC schedule a new event would be required, with Coffs unpopular with the teams due to its distance from ...Keep readingView the full article

Earlier this season, the WRC announced plans to launch a revamped visual platform for rally fans in bid to grow the discipline in new markets. "We want to reach new markets, we want to enter new markets and implement in new countries so this is our plan to develop the TV so we are very, very confident," said WRC Promoter managing director Jona Siebel at Rally Portugal in May. The WRC has now ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC had indicated earlier this year a desire to add a desert event in the region, which has been described by the championship’s event director Simon Larkin as a "missing piece" from the series schedule. It was anticipated that an event, understood to be held in Saudi Arabia, would be included in next year’s schedule but it was absent from today’s confirmation of a 13-round 2023 ...Keep readingView the full article

As previously reported, the WRC has been keen to re-establish a more global calendar akin to its schedule prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a lengthy delay the FIA has now ratified a reshuffled 2023 schedule with an anticipated round in the Middle East, thought to be Saudi Arabia, absent from the calendar. The season will feature four tarmac and eight gravel rallies, alongside the ...Keep readingView the full article

Nine-time world champion Loeb rejoined the WRC this year to contest four rallies behind the wheel of an M-Sport Ford Puma. The 48-year-old claimed a famous 80th career WRC win in January's Monte Carlo Rally, which proved to be M-Sport's only victory this season. Loeb outlined the Puma can match its WRC rivals by leading in Portugal, Kenya and Greece, but hopes of further podiums were ...Keep readingView the full article

The Japanese brand revealed its 2023 driver line-up on Friday, which will see Takamoto Katsuta promoted to the factory team’s third entry for a series of rallies next year. Katsuta’s promotion to the main factory team arrives after finishing 12 of the 13 rallies this year inside the top eight on his way to a career-best fifth in the championship standings. The 29-year-old will share the ...Keep readingView the full article

The world championship-winning constructor has Friday officially revealed its 2023 line-up, and will continue to field this year's world champion Kalle Rovanpera alongside Elfyn Evans, Katsuta and Sebastien Ogier, the latter again contesting a partial campaign. Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala hinted that Katsuta could be in line for a promotion from the development team after the Japanese driver ...Keep readingView the full article

The South Korean manufacturer on Friday revealed that Esapekka Lappi will, as expected, replace 2019 world champion Ott Tanak, alongside Thierry Neuville, while Dani Sordo and former M-Sport driver Craig Breen will share the third i20 N entry. Hyundai sparked the start of the WRC silly season when it announced it was to part ways with Oliver Solberg, who had been sharing the third i20 N with ...Keep readingView the full article

The Irishman had joined the British squad on a two-year deal starting this season, but today the team has confirmed an amicable decision between both Breen and the operation has been reached to part ways. Breen has endured a difficult season behind the wheel of the Fiord Puma that has been plagued by crashes, resulting in a run to seventh in the championship. The partnership started on ...Keep readingView the full article