Rally

The local hero produced a masterclass, dominating the evening loop of stages as the sun began to set in Belgium, winning all three tarmac tests to open up a 7.6s lead over Breen. Neuville and Breen proved the class of the field making the the most of their knowledge of Rally Ypres’ peculiar tarmac roads as previous event winners in 2018 and 2019 respectively. After winning the last stage ...Keep readingView the full article

The famous Belgian tarmac event has joined the WRC schedule for the first time this weekend adding to what has become a diverse 2021 calendar. To close out the rally on Sunday, organisers have created two stages away from the rally’s base in Ypres, incorporating the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The move has divided opinion among competitors given the two-hour plus drive from Ypres ...Keep readingView the full article

Local hero Neuville was embroiled in an enthralling battle with Breen, but after finishing second in the first three stages, a win on the final stage of the loop secured a 0.4s lead as crews returned to service. Hyundai has employed a “no stone unturned” approach to the event, completing four pre-event test days, and its preparation paid off by winning the opening quartet of ...Keep readingView the full article

The M-Sport Ford driver lost the rear of his Fiesta in a fast, long, left-hander, resulting in a high-speed crash almost within sight of the finish. Such was the violence of the crash the in-car cameras cut out. The car eventually came to rest in a ditch at the side of the muddy tarmac road in the 23.62km Kemmelberg stage. Fourmaux and co-driver Renaud Jamoul emerged from the incident ...Keep readingView the full article

The Korean marque has led the last four rallies, three of those comfortably, only for misfortune and reliability to strike resulting in rivals Toyota picking up the win. Suspension frailties struck Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak in Portugal, Sardinia and Safari, while a double puncture stymied pre-event favourite Tanak on home soil in Estonia last month. The team’s only win this season ...Keep readingView the full article

The championship’s top two are among a majority of WRC drivers tackling Ypres' famous asphalt roads for the first time this weekend as the famous Belgian event finally joins the WRC calendar. Ypres is known for its fast and narrow tarmac roads featuring several surface changes punctuated by several junctions that provide plenty of opportunities for cuts. These conditions, coupled with the ...Keep readingView the full article

Double MotoGP race winner Petrucci has lost his place at the Tech 3 team for 2022, along with teammate Iker Lecuona, to make way for Moto2 graduates Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner. Petrucci told Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview during the German Grand Prix weekend that, should he lose his place in MotoGP, he would like to switch to motorcycle rallying and targeted competing in the ...Keep readingView the full article

The M-Sport Ford driver enlisted the services of the four-time Ypres winner and seven-time Belgian rally champion in the build up to the rally, which is a brand new event for Greensmith and many of the WRC field. The connection with Snijers, who won the Ypres event every year between 1991 and 1994, came via the Belgian wife of Greensmith’s co-driver Chris Patterson. Snijers has been ...Keep readingView the full article

The event is the first time Neuville will perform on home soil in the WRC as the famous tarmac rally finally joins the calendar following its cancellation due to COVID-19 last year. The Hyundai Motorsport driver is the most familiar with Belgium’s unique asphalt roads and is a former Ypres winner in 2018, while teammate Craig Breen triumphed at the event the following season. Armed with ...Keep readingView the full article

The British squad scaled down its WRC entry from three to two cars this season, with Gus Greensmith piloting one Fiesta, while the second is shared by Teemu Suninen and Adrien Fourmaux. However, with the introduction of new hybrid regulations for 2022, and increased support from Ford to develop the all-new Puma, revealed at June's Goodwood Festival of Speed, Malcolm Wilson's squad is planning ...Keep readingView the full article

Regions of Belgium and Germany have been ravaged by some of the heaviest rainfall recorded last month, resulting in flash floods that have destroyed communities and claimed more than 200 lives. It is estimated that the cost of recovery will run into billions of euros. Given the plight that faces parts of Belgium, Fourmaux has called on the WRC family to help raise funds for those affected by ...Keep readingView the full article

The WRC has been absent from Great Britain since 2019 after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of last year’s event amid reduced funding from the Welsh government. Rally GB then lost its place on last year’s schedule to Belgium’s Ypres Rally, which was eventually postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. After the cancellation of the 2020 event, a bid fronted by promoter Bobby Willis attempted ...Keep readingView the full article

Barritt was advised by doctors to withdraw from last month’s Rally Estonia following four stages after sustaining neck and back pain, that necessitated a trip to hospital for precautionary checks. While Toyota confirmed the Briton was ok following his hospital visit in Estonia, Barritt is a notable omission on the entry list for Rally Ypres from August 13-15. In Barritt’s place is ...Keep readingView the full article

The FIA recently announced new T1+ regulations for the Dakar Rally in an attempt to help equalise the performance of the four and two wheel drive cars in the top T1 class. As a result of this and lessons learned from its Dakar debut in January, Prodrive has completed an overhaul of its BRX Hunter, resulting in several changes to the vehicles Sebastien Loeb and Nani Roma will drive next ...Keep readingView the full article

Audi Sport's project for the 2022 Dakar Rally is something so unique that it brought all its departments together to work on it. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented the crew from returning home for several months, the team led by Andreas Roos presented the RS Q e-tron 4x4 hybrid on July 23, more than five months ahead of its Dakar debut. The prototype with which Carlos Sainz ...Keep readingView the full article

The nine-time WRC champion last appeared in the championship in 2020 when the Frenchman joined Hyundai Motorsport for the Monte Carlo and Turkey rounds, finishing sixth and third respectively. This year is the first time since 2017 that Loeb has been absent from the championship as the most successful driver in WRC history has focussed on a Dakar rally programme with Prodrive, and a campaign in ...Keep readingView the full article

The seven-time WRC champion is set to scale down his rally commitments in 2022 with the Frenchman only likely to undertake a partial campaign as the WRC welcomes its new hybrid Rally1 regulations. Ogier has stated a wish to remain within the Toyota group next year and has flagged a possible outing with the brand in the World Endurance Championship. While his plans for 2022 are yet to be ...Keep readingView the full article

The Team Hansen driver, who had claimed a debut win at the 2019 Abu Dhabi round in the stewards room post-race, crossed the finished line first at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after a close battle in the final with the highest qualifier, his brother Timmy Hansen, and triple World RX title-winner Johan Kristoffersson. The Hansen duo had topped the qualifying order, in part thanks to ...Keep readingView the full article

The Swede had topped the overall order having set the fastest time in each of the first two sessions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but Stewards Decision No.10 at 20.45 announced Car #1’s disqualification from Q1 for the FIA Data logger not being connected, and thus no data could be read by the FIA technical delegates after the session. The Stewards received a report from the FIA ...Keep readingView the full article

Starting from the outside grid slot in his Q1 race, Kristoffersson took an early joker lap then delivered what would be the fastest laps of the day to eventually overcome 2019 Drivers’ Champion Timmy Hansen for the race win, and the fastest time. Having headed the Q1 classification, ahead of Kevin Hansen and Timo Scheider, Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen started on the inside of the grid in ...Keep readingView the full article