Rally

Ogier heads into the final day of the iconic Greek gravel event sitting a comfortable third, 9.4 seconds behind Hyundai's Ott Tanak, who is 30.8s behind rally leader Kalle Rovanpera. Seven-time champion Ogier began the rally with a 38-point championship lead over rivals Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), both of whom are unlikely to take away strong points after mechanical ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn recorded four stage wins to open up a 39.7s lead before Tanak responded by winning the final test of the day to reduce the margin to 30.8s heading into Sunday’s final three stages. Championship leader Sebastien Ogier ended the day third, 40.2s adrift of Rovanpera, but only 9.4s behind Tanak, while Hyundai’s Dani Sordo is in no man’s land in fourth position. The M-Sport ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn was in a league of his own winning all three stages in the Greek mountains as he transformed a 3.7s overnight lead into a 21.4s advantage over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak. Toyota’s Rovanpera produced a masterclass display barring a lucky escape on the final morning stage when he clipped a bank at high speed. Championship leader Sebastien Ogier started the day 3.9s adrift of the lead in ...Keep readingView the full article

Last year’s championship runner-up was in need of a strong result to stay in touch with points leader Sebastien Ogier, but is now left fighting for the minor placings after a transmission issue plagued his Friday. Evans headed into the day sitting second overall after Thursday night’s Super Special and remained firmly in the hunt after the first of Friday’s gravel stages. However ...Keep readingView the full article

The title contender's victory hopes were dashed after Stage 3 when his i20 initially suffered an electrical issue and then developed a power steering failure at a tyre fitting zone. Neuville copped a four-minute penalty for checking in at a time control 24 minutes late and then had to navigate Stage 4 without power steering. Luckily, the Belgian was able to partially fix his power steering ...Keep readingView the full article

The Toyota driver finished fourth and second fastest on the two afternoon stages, won by teammate Ogier and Hyundai’s Tanak respectively, leaving the Finn with a 3.7s lead over Tanak, while Ogier is 0.3s further back in third. Hyundai’s Dani Sordo produced a solid drive to sit fourth overall, some 23.9s in arrears, ahead of M-Sport Ford duo Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith. Elfyn ...Keep readingView the full article

Rovanpera opened up a 3.8s lead over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak as the pair shared the stage victories on the opening loop, with the former taking two wins. Championship leader and road sweeper Sebastien Ogier ended the trio of stages 7.5s adrift in third ahead of Hyundai’s Dani Sordo (23.4s), who was handed a 10s jump start penalty in Stage 3, and M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith (45.8s). It was a ...Keep readingView the full article

The championship leader put on a spectacular yet slick performance to chalk up a stage win by 0.6s from Toyota teammate and title rival Elfyn Evans. The rally's return after eight years away from the WRC began with a fan-friendly blast around an 0.98km asphalt super special stage in the centre of Greece's capital in the shadow of the famous Parthenon. It is the event's only tarmac stage ...Keep readingView the full article

Suninen released a statement last month announcing his exit from the British squad last month which confirmed he would leave the team mid-season to pursue other challenges. The announcement arrived after a difficult split WRC2 and WRC campaign punctuated by high-profile opening stage crashes at Monte Carlo and Sardinia. While Suninen’s statement confirmed the decision to depart was a ...Keep readingView the full article

Unseasonal heavy rain threw a curveball to WRC crews this week with the conditions delaying recce, while heavy fog and slippery mud made making all-new pace notes a difficult process. With many of the crews new to the event, given the event last featured on the WRC calendar in 2013, the voyage into the unknown has been made increasingly difficult. Usually the Acropolis Rally is known for its ...Keep readingView the full article

The Hyundai Motorsport driver has been among those to criticise the championship’s new rule set, built around cars fitted with a 100kW hybrid systems and a stronger tougher chassis. While the 2022 cars are expected to receive a power boost to 500 horsepower when electric power is engaged alongside the 1.6-litre internal combustion engine, the vehicles will have reduced aerodynamics ...Keep readingView the full article

Toyota confirmed this morning that the pair will withdraw from the Greek classic due to a family emergency for Williams that has required the Brit to return home immediately. Williams has been standing in as co-driver for Katsuta while regular co-driver Daniel Barritt recovers from a back injury sustained in Rally Estonia, that forced the pair to withdraw from the event prematurely. Given ...Keep readingView the full article

Next year sees the WRC enter a new hybrid era following the formation of new Rally1 regulations which Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford have committed to for at least three years. The championship’s new ruleset will feature cars fitted with a Compact Dynamics-designed 100kW plug in hybrid units, producing 514 horsepower when combined with its 1.6 litre internal combustion engine. WRC chassis ...Keep readingView the full article

The British squad in conjunction with Ford has designed and developed the all-new Puma in accordance with the WRC’s Rally1 regulations shift that will see all cars fitted with a 100kW plug in hybrid system. After launching the car at July’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, the team has been conducting tests across Europe to ensure the car is ready for its debut at the 2022 season opening Monte ...Keep readingView the full article

Japan was set to host the championship season finale from 11-14 November but the event had been under pressure due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country. WRC organisers had hoped that the successful running of the Olympics in Tokyo would pave the way for the event to go ahead. However, after Formula 1's decision last month to cancel its Japanese Grand Prix, it seemed increasingly ...Keep readingView the full article

The Japanese driver that has come through Toyota's junior driver programme has emerged as one of 2021's surprise packages, highlighted by a maiden WRC podium after finishing second at June's Safari Rally. In fact, up until an uncharacteristic crash at Rally Ypres last month, Katsuta was the only driver to have finished every rally inside the top six this season, such has been his improved speed ...Keep readingView the full article

Once again the Hansen squad had to work hard through qualifying as other teams and drivers set the pace, this time Finn Niclas Gronholm and then reigning title winner Johan Kristoffersson topping the order through Saturday and Sunday morning. But, Timmy Hansen made setup changes to his Peugeot 208 ahead of Q4, and by implementing new tyres to help lift him up the order, he climbed onto the ...Keep readingView the full article

Due to the highly abrasive nature of the track surface at the Loheac venue, all of the front-running World RX contenders conducted limited running in the morning practice sessions to save tyres. Then, having changed the front differential setup and the rear anti-roll bar among other changes on his GRX-SET Hyundai i20, Gronholm set the best time in Q1. Kristoffersson also won his Q1 ...Keep readingView the full article

The factory Toyota drivers have been testing the all-new Rally1 Yaris in France as development of the Japanese marque's 2022 WRC challenger ramps up. Up until now testing has been conducted by Toyota's test driver Juho Hanninen, but this week's tarmac test in France, held near to the Monte Carlo rally route, saw Evans and Rovanpera take the wheel for the first time. That is significant as ...Keep readingView the full article

The Finn announced his shock departure from M-Sport last Friday leaving the British squad with immediate effect despite being rostered to pilot the team’s WRC2 entry at the Acropolis Rally later this month. Suninen was also set to jump back behind the wheel of a M-Sport WRC Ford Fiesta at Rally Finland in October. In a statement confirming his sudden WRC exit he mentioned that “it's time to ...Keep readingView the full article