Rally

Loeb took each of his 79 WRC wins between 2002 and 2018 with Elena by his side, and together the Citroen pair won the WRC title every year between 2004 and 2012, Loeb's final full season in the championship. They had subsequently competed together on all five of Loeb's Dakar Rally starts, however a fraught 2021 event with the Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme BRX1 that resulted in retirement led ...Keep reading View the full article

Taking the place of Rally Chile – which has been cancelled due to COVID-related restrictions in the country – the classic gravel event will host round ten of the WRC from September 9-12. Famed for its unforgiving rocks and high temperatures, the Acropolis was one of the first events to sign up to the WRC for its inaugural season in 1973, and has been staged as part of the world championship ...Keep reading View the full article

The FIA World Motor Sport Council had revealed a 10-round schedule in December, but the season is now set to be run over seven weekends between June and October, with series bosses citing challenges related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the reasons for the changes to the roster. “The continued challenges of the pandemic required pragmatic and strategic decisions regarding the ...Keep reading View the full article

The move comes eight years after ben Sulayem planned to challenge Todt in the 2013 election, only to withdraw at a late stage. No other contenders have shown their hands yet, but the Emirati may face a candidate endorsed by Todt, who is keen to ensure that his legacy is continued. Other notable figures mentioned in connection with the FIA presidential role in recent months include Motorsport ...Keep reading View the full article

Little is known about the Zagreb-based meeting, which is a new addition to this season’s WRC 12 round calendar. However, Daniel Saskin, the President of the organising committee, has promised that it will be “a big challenge”. It is the first pure asphalt WRC event since Rally Germany back in 2019, and is also the first time Pirelli’s hard compound tyre and full-wet rubber will be ...Keep reading View the full article

The UK “definitely has its place” in the World Rally Championship's future, according to FIA rally director Yves Matton, despite Rally GB losing its slot in the schedule for 2021. Plans to relocate the UK event to Northern Ireland for 2021 collapsed as the move hinged on Bobby Willis – the event’s promoter – securing £2 million in government funding, but in January it was confirmed ...Keep reading View the full article

From 2022 onwards, the 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine used by the current generation of World Rally Car will be carried over and paired to an electric motor supplied by Compact Dynamics. The hybrid element was outsourced to the German company, after it won an invitation to tender in March of last year, in an attempt to cap costs and ensure parity across the WRC’s service park. The ...Keep reading View the full article

Even though he lost his regular co-driver due to an incorrect COVID-19 test result and had to draft in Sebastian Marshall at short notice, Solberg went on to complete the winter event in seventh place on his class debut with Hyundai. That led to Hyundai Motorsport team principal Andrea Adamo having to field repeated questions about when the 19-year-old might return to the series’ top flight ...Keep reading View the full article

Breen entered round one of the Italian Rally Championship to bring him back up to speed on asphalt, but a promising run alongside Paul Nagle ended when they left the road towards the end of the fifth test. Their Hyundai i20 R5 ended up on its roof but both Breen and Nagle managed to walk away uninjured - although both were taken to hospital for follow-up checks and later discharged. It later ...Keep reading View the full article

Loeb admitted “it wasn’t an easy decision” to make and it is understood that he called Elena around midday today to deliver the news to him, having most recently competed together at this year’s Dakar Rally for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team. The Prodrive-build BRX1 car’s debut at the Dakar Rally was marred with mechanical problems, including a broken suspension arm on stage six and a ...Keep reading View the full article

Speaking at the inaugural Autosport International Connect on the Motorsport after COVID panel, a digital networking event for the motorsport industry organised and promoted by Motorsport Network, the WRC chief reflected on both a successful completion of the suspended 2020 season as well as the start of the ongoing campaign while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. After seeing last season ...Keep reading View the full article

This year’s campaign consists of 12 rounds, with Matton “confident” that number can be fulfilled. While acknowledging the challenges ahead, Matton says the global COVID-19 vaccination roll-out and the “tireless work and commitment of the entire FIA rally family”, can help to minimise possible disruptions. The 2020 WRC season was stopped during Rally Mexico because of the speed at ...Keep reading View the full article

Paddon was forced out of the series at the end of 2018 after the Alzenau team signed nine-time WRC champion, Sebastien Loeb. A programme had been tabled by then Hyundai Motorsport boss Michel Nandan but it was deemed too limited by Paddon. Recent attempts by the New Zealander to plot a course back into the series have been stymied by a testing accident that prevented him from starting Rally ...Keep reading View the full article

Former World RX champion and EKS team owner Mattias Ekstrom recently announced an increased collaboration with reigning World RX teams’ champion JC Raceteknik to form the new EKS JC squad, which ran Ekstrom in a Skoda Fabia R5 last weekend on the Arctic Rally Finland World Rally Championship round. The team has now revealed its first new project, an A1 rally machine built in cooperation with ...Keep reading View the full article

Led by the squad's Technical Director Tom Fowler, Toyota is developing the all-new specification car around the road-going GR Yaris. M-Sport Ford already has high hopes for its latest project, while Hyundai Motorsport has started work on its challenger despite the company’s board still undecided about his plans beyond the 2021 season. “The 2022 Rally1 car is mostly in the design phase at ...Keep reading View the full article

Adamo demanded better from his colleagues in Finland after the defence of their manufacturers’ title kicked off in poor fashion at January's Rally Monte Carlo, which the Italian intimated on Sunday had been the result of burnout. The Alzenau-based squad won the World Rally Championship's only snow event thanks to a faultless display by Ott Tanak, with Thierry Neuville maintaining his strong ...Keep reading View the full article

Fellow Belgian Wydaeghe’s pronunciation of instructions at the snow event were hampered by intercom issues on Saturday morning’s opening loop of stages, with this leading Neuville to second guess a number of corners. But with the technical glitch cured, their persistence over the course of the Saturday afternoon stages was rewarded as they moved ahead of Craig Breen and Paul Nagle into ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak bounced back from his Monte Carlo Rally misdemeanours by taking a comprehensive victory around Rovaniemi. Despite easing off slightly in the closing stages, the Hyundai i20 Coupe driver finished with a 17.5s cushion over Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera. Team boss Andrea Adamo spoke publicly before the second round of the World Rally Championship about the need to win, with this leading to an ...Keep reading View the full article

The final day consisted of two passes through the 22.47 km Aittajarvi stage and Toyota claimed a 1-2 on its morning run as Elfyn Evans claimed his second stage win of the event from Rovanpera, with the Hyundai of Thierry Neuville just 0.1s behind in third. The battle between Rovanpera and Neuville for second place on the rally would also determine the provisional championship lead. The points ...Keep reading View the full article

Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja lead the second round of the World Rally Championship by 24.1 seconds after today’s six stages. Their grip on top spot at the winter event was strengthened thanks to fastest times on three of those stages. It means that only two Sunday tests – one of which is the bonus points Power Stage – stand between the Estonians and a first win of 2021. Read ...Keep reading View the full article