Rally

The Norwegian driver, who won the World Rally Championship's WRC2 crown last year and won Rally Portugal outright in 2012, was hit with FIA sanctions for swearing multiple times during a TV interview at the stop control after Stage 18 last Sunday. His comments came seconds after he had finished a stage in which he had suffered a front-left puncture, which robbed the 33-year-old of the WRC2 ...Keep reading View the full article

Top Performer After a truly punishing rally run over some of the most brutal roads on the calendar, you could argue that the four top- flight WRC crews that completed the full distance deserve the Top Performer gong. However, in truth there are two contenders, rally winner Toyota's Sebastien Ogier and Hyundai’s Ott Tanak. On this occasion Ogier edges it as the seven-time world champion ...Keep reading View the full article

Abbring will become the first Dutch driver to compete in a full World RX campaign, driving under the UNKORRUPTED team banner. GCK Motorsport, which had fielded the Meganes since their World RX debut in 2018, having been originally built by British firm Prodrive, has taken a step away from top-flight rallycross as part of its move away from internal combustion engine motorsport. While Abbring ...Keep reading View the full article

Since making his Dakar debut with the Austrian marque in 2015, Price has gone on to become of the most familiar faces in cross-country rallying, winning the bikes category in 2016 and ‘19 and bagging three other podium finishes. The Australian was again KTM’s top rider in 2021 in a rally dominated by Honda before he suffered a major crash on the ninth stage, breaking his collarbone in the ...Keep reading View the full article

For the second rally in a row Hyundai went from dominating event to salvaging a podium as Toyota capitalised on the Korean marque's misfortune to score a one-two in Sardinia. Hyundai once again showed the impressive speed of i20 winning the first nine stages of the rally, as Tanak opened up a commanding 40s lead over teammate Dani Sordo. However, in a similar situation to Rally Portugal ...Keep reading View the full article

The seven-time world champion recorded his 52nd WRC win in what was a brutal Rally Sardinia that saw only four WRC cars complete the distance. The championship leader extended his advantage to 11 points after beating teammate Elfyn Evans by 46s, despite having the challenge of sweeping the tricky rough gravel roads throughout the opening day. Taking several risks, Ogier impressively managed ...Keep reading View the full article

The Toyota driver was sitting in a comfortable second overall heading into the Power Stage, but his podium soon came under threat when his Yaris stalled after navigating a water splash. Evans was stationary for several seconds having ingested a "quite a lot of water" leaving the Welshman to frantically try to re-fire car. Luckily he was able to get the car going after losing 18.1s to reach ...Keep reading View the full article

The son of 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg was set to contest this weekend’s WRC round in a top flight Hyundai WRC car but was forced to sit out after his father contract COVID-19. As a result, Oliver was required to quarantine for 14 days in Porto after Rally Portugal as per WRC COVID-19 protocols. Hyundai boss Andrea Adamo confirmed to Motorsport.com that Solberg would receive another ...Keep reading View the full article

The Norwegian made an extraordinary outburst during a live television interview at the end of Stage 18 after he had suffered a front left puncture that robbed him of the class lead. As he crossed the finish of the stage cameras cut to an onboard of Ostberg shouting and banging his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. A television reporter then interviewed the Citroen driver who ...Keep reading View the full article

The reigning world champion and co-driver Julien Ingrassia managed their advantage over Evans in the event's final four stages on Sunday to claim a 52nd career win and Toyota's first at Sardinia. Evans finished 46s in arrears, but not without a scare on the final stage when his Yaris briefly stalled after ingesting water from a water splash. Luckily, he was able to fire up the car and only lost ...Keep reading View the full article

The Toyota driver finds himself in second following a much stronger showing on Saturday after struggling for confidence on Friday that left him adrift of the podium places. Evans also benefitted from high drama as comfortable rally leader Ott Tanak retired on Stage 12 after hitting a rock while his second placed Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo crashed out on Stage 15. Read ...Keep reading View the full article

The reigning world champion won three of the four afternoon stages and is now armed with a comfortable 38.9s lead, after nearest rival Sordo rolled on Stage 15, ending his victory hopes. Sordo clipped a culvert on the exit of a corner ripping the right rear wheel from the Hyundai i20 before pitching the car into a roll. Sordo and co-driver Borja Rozada, who were in a tight battle for second ...Keep reading View the full article

Sordo, sitting a relatively comfortable second, rolled his i20 Coupe when he ran wide and hit a culvert that ripped the right rear wheel from the car and pitched it into a roll. The crash came just hours after the team witnessed Ott Tanak retire from a comfortable 40.5s lead when the Estonian hit a rock on Stage 12 that proved terminal for his Hyundai i20. It is the second event in a row ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak started the day by claiming his sixth stage win of the event but faced a strong response from Toyota as Ogier and Elfyn Evans shared the stage wins for the remaining three tests of the morning loop. But drama struck on Stage 12 when the Estonian hit a large rock that damaged his Hyundai i20 Coupe enough to force him to stop mid-stage. Tanak had held a comfortable lead of more than 40s ...Keep reading View the full article

The Hyundai driver had been imperious for the majority of Friday, winning five of the eight stages to build up a 19.4s lead over team-mate Dani Sordo, with Toyota’s Sebastian Ogier 36.2s back in third. However, the Estonian suffered a Pirelli tyre delamination towards the end of the second run through the 14.97km Erula-Tula stage. Tanak finished 5.6s behind team-mates Sordo and Thierry ...Keep reading View the full article

After dominating the morning loop, the Hyundai driver reeled off another series of impressive stage times, making the most of his favourable road position on the rough and slippery gravel roads. The Estonian heads into Saturday with a 19.4s lead over team-mate and two-time Sardinia winner Sordo, who with Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville, prevented him from recording a clean sweep of stage ...Keep reading View the full article

The 2019 world champion came out of the blocks fast, sweeping a quartet of tricky hot, rough gravel stages to hold an early 16.9s lead over Hyundai teammate Dani Sordo. Two-time Sardinia winner Sordo, who had been struggling with a tyre problem, was elevated to second after Toyota’s Rovanpera hit trouble in the second pass through Terranova. The Finn damaged his front right suspension and ...Keep reading View the full article

WRC2 driver Mikkelsen has emerged as one of the candidates M-Sport is evaluating for 2022 as it looks to bring in a driver capable of winning the WRC title for next year’s Rally1 hybrid regulations. Team principal Richard Millener confirmed yesterday that it is looking at every P1 driver for 2022, revealing that it would be eager to lure Toyota’s out of contract Elfyn Evans back to the ...Keep reading View the full article

The Hyundai driver threw away a strong shot at victory in Rally Portugal two weeks ago when he hit a bank during the Mortagua stage and damaged the rear suspension on his i20 Coupe WRC. Neuville was sitting second at the end of Friday as Hyundai held the top three positions, with Dani Sordo leading and Ott Tanak third. However the rally imploded for the Korean marque on Saturday as first ...Keep reading View the full article

Last year’s WRC runner-up has remerged as a key player in the championship’s silly season now Thierry Neuville and 2019 WRC champion Ott Tanak have put pen to paper on new deals at Hyundai. Toyota is keen to retain Evans who would be likely to secure the number one driver status in the team next year should Sebastien Ogier reduce his WRC commitments to a partial campaign as the WRC ushers ...Keep reading View the full article