Rally

The collision between another vehicle is understood to have happened on a section of dual carriageway, with the impact causing significant damage to the co-driver’s side of Ogier’s Toyota Yaris World Rally Car. Both Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia escaped the shunt uninjured but were forced to carry out remedial work on the supermini, which was subsequently deemed safe to continue ...Keep reading View the full article

Four stages totalling 50 competitive miles remain tomorrow and Andrea Adamo believes Neuville can still take maximum points. An incorrect tyre choice for this morning’s opening loop cost the Belgian the lead of the Tarmac event. He went for two hard and three soft shoes, while Sebastien Ogier chose five hard compound Pirelli tyres. As a direct result, Neuville dropped from first place to ...Keep reading View the full article

Elfyn Evans is second in a Toyota 1-2, with overnight leader Thierry Neuville and his Hyundai teammate Ott Tanak trailing behind. Neuville, Tanak and fellow Hyundai driver Craig Breen all started the day on two of Pirelli’s hard compound tyres and two of the softer compound with a single soft spare. The soft rubber had been the way to go in the cooler conditions on Friday, as proven by the ...Keep reading View the full article

The 2019 WRC champion reached the end of the Friday leg over 30 seconds shy of overall leader and team-mate Thierry Neuville having conceded time for most of the day’s eight marathon stages. Tanak appeared decidedly off colour on the first asphalt event of the new season and reached midday service already 25.3s in arrears of Neuville, but did provide damage limitation during the afternoon run ...Keep reading View the full article

The seven-time WRC champion made history by chalking up his 600th at Rally Croatia this afternoon, arriving at the milestone by negotiating the ‘Jaškovo to Mali Modruš Potok’ test three-tenths of a second quicker than Thierry Neuville, who provisionally leads the Zagreb-based event overall by 7.7s. Ogier continued his purple patch into Friday’s closing stage, completing it 1.2s faster ...Keep reading View the full article

Based in the capital city of Zagreb, and with stages on the narrow lanes in the north of the country, Rally Croatia marks the WRC’s first all-asphalt rally since Germany in 2019. The stages brought huge variations in the quality of the surface from one corner to the next, along with jumps and tight, technical sections. The biggest feature of the event so far, however, has been mud and ...Keep reading View the full article

The young Finn crashed out heavily around three miles into the asphalt event's 'Plesivica' test – the shortest of the weekend at 4.31-miles. As Rovanpera approached a tightening right hander, his Toyota Yaris ran wide and was sucked off the road. Both he and co-driver Jonne Halttunen managed to walk away unhurt, although their car sustained considerable panel damage. Just moments prior ...Keep reading View the full article

From 2022, the top-level Rally1 cars will marry a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with a hybrid set-up that has been developed by German company Compact Dynamics. The new plug-in system comprises a battery that sends its energy to a 100kW e-motor, with this extra power capable of being deployed either on the stages or road sections. Last week it emerged that M-Sport, Toyota and Hyundai ...Keep reading View the full article

A disappointing start to the defence of Hyundai’s WRC crown at Rally Monte-Carlo left the South Korean manufacturer 22 points adrift of Toyota and led Adamo to publicly criticise his staff midway through the event. A marked improvement followed at February’s Arctic Rally in Finland following a “deep rethink” by the Italian, with this contributing to Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja winning ...Keep reading View the full article

The long-range forecast for this weekend’s tarmac battle gives for largely dry and sunny conditions. During his pre-event test, Ogier got to sample the Italian company’s hard compound P-Zero offering. It will make its first appearance at the event which starts on Friday – alongside the Cinturato rain tyre. “We have new tyres this season and we have not had the chance so far to ...Keep reading View the full article

Originally, the Jyvaskyla-based rally had been pencilled in to take place from 29 July to 1 August – but it will now run from 30 September to 3 October in the hope that people can spectate. In response to government guidelines in the country last summer, the event was called off to help contain the spread of COVID-19. However, the introduction of several new vaccines since then – and an ...Keep reading View the full article

The manufacturers view both nations as untapped markets that could be exploited and talks are ongoing between the WRC Promoter, the FIA and teams about incorporating the countries into future calendars. The subject has been on the agenda for some time, with the United States and China also targets. Matton believes introducing the competition to new territories is one way of ensuring the WRC ...Keep reading View the full article

Ostersund, Lulea and Umea were all considered as possible venues for the WRC's regular winter event, with the latter attracting the most support. Rally Sweden CEO, Glenn Olsson, said Ostersund and Lulea had both "presented strong bids" to stage the WRC counter but, following discussions with stakeholders, "Umea is a more attractive concept". "All officials and other enthusiasts who have put ...Keep reading View the full article

Benavides led Honda’s first 1-2 in the prestigious rally raid since 1987 earlier this January, beating last year’s champion Ricky Brabec and a fleet of KTMs. The result made him only the second Argentine to win the Dakar after Marcos Patronelli in 2010 (quads), and first in the ultra-competitive motorcycles class. The 32-year-old has been associated with Honda since 2015 when he received ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak scored only his second World Rally Championship win as a Hyundai driver at February's Arctic Rally Finland where he defeated the Toyota Yaris of Kalle Rovanpera by 17.5 seconds. The result moved him up to fifth in the standings and was in stark contrast to the opening round at Rally Monte-Carlo where he retired after suffering two flat tyres on the penultimate morning. Although he made ...Keep reading View the full article

The German manufacturer announced in December that it would pull out of Formula E at the end of the 2020/21 campaign, bringing an end to a seven-season stint dating back to the very beginning of the championship in 2014. The news coincided with Audi launching two new motorsport programmes: a return to the Le Mans 24 Hours with an LMDh car and an electric project in the Dakar Rally. At that ...Keep reading View the full article

The German manufacturer will make use of the technologies it has developed in both Formula E and the DTM, two championships it is incidentally pulling out of to return to off-road competition for the first time since 1987. Audi has derived the MGU from its successful Formula E project, which has delivered multiple victories and a title for Lucas di Grassi in 2016/17. The new MGU05 that Audi ...Keep reading View the full article

Adamo made the comments as it was announced that the South Korean company will be joining M-Sport Ford and Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA championship until the end of the 2024 season. The news ends weeks of speculation as to whether Hyundai was committed to the introduction of electrification, despite Adamo telling Motorsport.com this month he was “optimistic” about its plans. The ...Keep reading View the full article

The decision will also protect jobs at M-Sport’s new state-of-the-art facilities at Cockermouth in the UK and ensures that its working ties with Ford’s competition arm, Ford Performance, are strengthened. Since joining forces in 1997, the two brands have been a constant in the series and have gone on to claim over 60 wins, 262 podium results, and a record 258 consecutive points scoring ...Keep reading View the full article

Hybrid power will be introduced into the top tier of the WRC next season and a new three-year agreement means the system will be developed with the FIA and the three biggest competitors working together, funding work done by Compact Dynamics and Kreisel Electric. The announcement confirms Hyundai’s continued participation, which is believed to have been a topic of discussion at board ...Keep reading View the full article