Thirteen World Rally Cars feature in a high-quality 56-car entry for Arctic Rally Finland Powered by CapitalBox (26 – 28 February) released on Friday. The second round of the FIA World Rally Championship also boasts big numbers in the support categories, with a combined total of 33 WRC2 and WRC3 competitors lining up for the […]
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT WORDS BY LUKE BARRY AND COLIN CLARK ANDREA ADAMO SAYS HIS CHOICE OF DRIVERS FOR THE ARCTIC RALLY IS A REACTION TO A DISAPPOINTING MONTE CARLO RALLY Hyundai Motorsport team principal Andrea Adamo has told DirtFish that Oliver Solberg’s promotion to a WRC-spec i20 on the upcoming Arctic Rally Finland will help “wake […]
Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Ola Fløene are counting the kilos ahead of next week’s Arctic Rally Finland Powered by CapitalBox (26 – 28 February). The pair want to lose some weight ahead of the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship and have spiced up their efforts with a little friendly rivalry. Not content […]
ERR Ott Tänak – Martin Järveoja (Hyundai). Source: Hyundai Motorsport Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja won all eight special stages of the Otepää Winter Rally on Saturday. The Estonian pair’s lead over Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville grew to 33.4 seconds by the end of the rally. Georg Gross – Raigo Mõlder who also brought a WRC car […]
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL CARLSSON/EKS WORDS BY DAVID EVANS, DIRTFISH SENIOR STAFF WRITER THE 2016 WORLD RX CHAMPION WILL DRIVE A ŠKODA FABIA RALLY2 EVO ON THE ARCTIC RALLY FINLAND Not long back from Saudi Arabia and very much in the planning stages of another trip to Saudi Arabia, you could be forgiven for thinking a […]
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAANUS REE / RED BULL CONTENT POOL WORDS BY DAVID EVANS, DIRTFISH SENIOR STAFF WRITER FIA RALLY DIRECTOR YVES MATTON SAYS RALLY1 REGULATIONS MAY ATTRACT ANOTHER MANUFACTURER TEAM BUT NOT UNTIL 2023 FIA rally director Yves Matton has confirmed the potential for another manufacturer joining the World Rally Championship during the upcoming hybrid generation […]
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT WORDS BY DAVID EVANS, DIRTFISH SENIOR STAFF WRITER While M-Sport Ford and Toyota engage in the race to run their 2022 Rally1 cars, Hyundai Motorsport has yet to start work on its all-new hybrid motor for next season. In a month when its rivals are expected to start testing cars running to some of […]
ERR, ERR News After a five-year long absence, the Otepää Winter Rally is back with the organisatory team announcing on Thursday that Hyunday World Rally Championship (WRC) drivers Thierry Neuville and Estonian driver Ott Tänak have been added to the entry list. The rally’s return was announced last Thursday and will take place on February 13, the […]
Rising star to make WRC debut at Arctic Rally Finland Swedish youngster Oliver Solberg will make his first WRC appearance at the forthcoming Arctic Rally Finland, competing in an i20 Coupe WRC run by 2C Compétition. Oliver was previously announced as one our WRC 2 drivers for the 2021 season, and the 19-year-old will take […]
Which frontline WRC driver starts Arctic Rally Finland (26 – 28 February) with the most experience of Lapland’s frozen forests and on the back of a career-best result? While Sébastien Ogier rightly took the plaudits for his record-breaking Rallye Monte-Carlo victory, Toyota Yaris team-mate Takamoto Katsuta left the French Alps having bagged sixth place in […]
This year’s FIA Junior WRC champion can choose between driving a Ford Fiesta Rally2 or the Rally3 version next season in an exciting new-look prize package. The long-standing top prize of the keys to a brand-new M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, 200 Pirelli tyres, free registration for the 2022 WRC3 and free entries for five WRC […]
By Eddie Nsabimana Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC) has postponed the second round of the 2021 Africa Rally Championship that was scheduled in Rwanda from March 20-21. This year’s Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally race was suspended in a bid to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic. / Sam Ngendahimana. The decision, according to the motorsport governing body, follows […]
by Ryan Wood The route for the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Arctic Rally Finland, has been revealed and will be made up of ten stages covering 251.08km. The event, which will be based in Rovaniemi on the fringe of the Article Circle, was slotted into the 2021 WRC schedule at the last […]
Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah continued to rewrite his own history by securing a comfortable victory in the Qatar International Rally on Saturday. The Qatari and French co-driver Matthieu Baumel managed the pace perfectly over the closing stages and guided their Autotek Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 to a winning margin of 1min 48.4sec over Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and […]
by Ryan Wood Ott Tanak says he won’t appeal a suspended WRC ban, despite claiming it was a “harsh” penalty considering how the stewards handled other infractions during the Rallye Monte Carlo weekend. Tanak suffered two punctures on the Saturday of the opening World Rally Championship round, meaning that with just one spare, he was forced […]
The 2021 Qatar International Rally roars into life at Katara on Friday evening. The ceremonial start podium will be held at 20.15hrs and teams will then tackle two runs and two laps of a purpose-built super special stage from 21.30hrs. Then, ahead of an impressive field of drivers and co-drivers from 12 nations are two […]
Nine-time F1 Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas has a simple message for the WRC drivers, ahead of next month’s inaugural Arctic Rally Finland, powered by CapitalBox. The 31-year-old Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver was recently in Rovaniemi – the same location for next month’s Arctic Rally Finland – to participate in the Arctic Rally Lapland, finishing sixth […]
EUROPE WAS LOCKING DOWN AS THE MONTE CARLO RALLY APPROACHED BUT IT MANAGED TO RUN WITH NO CREWS LOST WORDS BY DAVID EVANS, DIRTFISH SENIOR STAFF WRITER Amonth out it wasn’t looking good. A fortnight away and it couldn’t happen, could it? A week away and still, nobody was completely sure the Monte Carlo Rally would […]
DIRTFISH EXAMINES THE PRECEDENTS THAT PROMPTED THE RULE, OTHER RECENT EXAMPLES, AND ASKS IF A SUSPENDED BAN WAS FAIR PHOTOGRAPHY BY HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT WORDS BY DIRTFISH MEDIA Ott Tänak’s suspended one-round ban from the 2021 World Rally Championship sparked plenty of debate across social media. There was an overwhelming feeling that this was incredibly unjust; that the […]
Sébastien Ogier took a huge step towards securing a historic eighth Rallye Monte-Carlo win on Saturday after recapturing the lead to head a clean sweep of the podium places for Toyota Gazoo Racing. After losing top spot due to a flat tyre yesterday afternoon, Ogier regained the initiative from Elfyn Evans with a stunning drive […]
Elfyn Evans led Rallye Monte-Carlo after Friday’s second leg – but the Welshman was under severe pressure from angry world champion Sébastien Ogier.Evans held a 7.4sec advantage over his Toyota Yaris team-mate, but Ogier is looming large in Evans’ rear mirror after a stunning recovery from a puncture which cost him the lead. With the […]
Esteban Ocon has described his rally debut as “an amazing experience” he hopes to repeat in the future On his first official outing as an Alpine F1 driver, the Frenchman drove the A110S sports car, sporting his 31 race number, across the first two stages of the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Starting 70 minutes before the official […]
Sébastien Ogier won all three Friday morning speed tests at Rallye Monte-Carlo to charge into the lead of this opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship. With the brake problem that hindered him yesterday resolved, the Frenchman was imperious through the mountain special stages west of Gap, returning to service with a 11.3sec advantage […]
Ott Tänak won Thursday afternoon’s opening two speed tests to claim the early lead at Rallye Monte-Carlo. The Estonian crashed heavily in the FIA World Rally Championship’s season-opener 12 months ago, but there were no mistakes today as he ended the short opening leg with a 3.3sec advantage over Kalle Rovanperä. Tänak, driving a Hyundai […]
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s new team principal is more than confident in his drivers’ abilities to deliver the goods at this weekend’s WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo (21 – 24 January). The Latvala name is synonymous with rallying and understandably so. With an eye-watering 209 WRC starts to his name, Jari-Matti knows just what it takes to be […]
Lewis Larkam | crash.net Alpine F1 driver Esteban Ocon will demo the Alpine A110S sports car on the first two stages of this year’s Monte Carlo Rally. By signing up to the newsletter you agree to receive emails from crash.net that may occasionally include promotional content Alpine Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon will demo the Alpine A110S […]
ERR NEWS The new World Rally Championship (WRC) season will take off in Monte Carlo at 3.08 p.m. Estonian time on Thursday. Estonian driver Ott Tänak (Hyundai) said his goal is to capture the season title and that last year’s complications have only made his team better. “Our approach is always to get the maximum […]
Hyundai Motorsport As we embark on our eighth season at the pinnacle of international rally, we have outlined our desire to compete for both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles in 2021. Rallye Monte-Carlo (January 21-24) will be the first test as we look to defend our championship victory. “The recipe for 2021 remains the same: […]
Defending FIA Middle East rally champion Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and WRC star Kris Meeke are the top seeds on an international 18-car entry with competitors from nine nations (subject to FIA approval) announced by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) for next week’s Qatar International Rally. The opening round of the 2021 FIA […]
By Jerry Williams Tommi Makinen and Sebastien Ogier (FRA) of team Toyota Yaris WRC Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Reigning and multiple World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier says that this coming season will definitely be his swansong in rallying’s top flight. After seven championships and with an eighth on the cards he was asked whether a record-equalling […]
One year after the first dynamic appearance of Clio Rally5, the range on offer from the customer racing teams in Viry-Châtillon and Dieppe is being expanded with Clio Rally4. Designed without compromise to become the best two-wheel drive car in its class, the new model will make its maiden public run this week on the […]
January 21-24. The oldest event on the WRC calendar will celebrate its 110th anniversary on this week’s edition. Over that time, the rally has formed a reputation as one of the most demanding in the world due to the unpredictable, wintery conditions in the French Alps, bringing ice and snow to the asphalt roads. This […]
Shared from PlanetF1 Valtteri Bottas completed an “amazing week” by finishing sixth in the Arctic Lapland Rally – his third straight top-10 result in that event. The Mercedes F1 driver is naturally a big rallying fan, hailing from Finland, and this is the third consecutive year in which he has taken part in an event held within the […]
By Steven Batey Arctic Rally Finland will join the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship as a replacement for Rally Sweden and take place between February 26-28. Sweden was forced to cancel its round of this season’s WRC after a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases throughout the winter, with the Rovaniemi based event having now been chosen as a replacement. As the name suggests, the new […]
By Steven Batey New Hyundai Motorsport signing Oliver Solberg says he’s “already very happy and comfortable” with his new surroundings ahead of his first competitive appearence for the team this weekend. Solberg, who has signed a two-year deal with the Korean manufacturer, will get behind the wheel of a i20 R5 in a rally for the first time this weekend […]
Eighty-four crews feature in a high-quality entry for the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship’s opening round at Rallye Monte-Carlo next week (21 – 24 January). Organiser Automobile Club de Monaco released the list on Monday. It features 10 starters in the headline World Rally Car category, as well as strong fields in the WRC2 and […]
By Steven Batey The Checkered Flag The Ypres Rally in Belgium will replace Rally GB on the calendar for the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship after official conformation was revealed earlier this week. Ypres, which had set to be a substitute round of the series last year following the COVID-19 pandemic before it was forced to be cancelled due to an increase […]
Gus Greensmith fronts a youthful M-Sport Ford squad in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship as he tackles his first full season in a Fiesta World Rally Car. The 24-year-old Briton is joined by Teemu Suninen and Adrien Fourmaux, who will share a second Fiesta. Suninen’s schedule is yet to be finalised but the 26-year-old […]
BY DAVID EVANS, World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier has told DirtFish next season will absolutely, definitely, 100% be his last year at rallying’s top flight. Seven championships in and with a solid shot at title number eight, DirtFish put it to him that a record-equaling ninth crown could be a reason to extend that Toyota Gazoo […]
BY DAVID EVANS, DIRTFISH SENIOR STAFF WRITER M-Sport Ford team principal Richard Millener has urged the World Rally Championship to learn from and embrace the Monza Rally round that concluded the 2020 season earlier this month. Millener, who was among those to highlight the benefits Monza could offer before the round was confirmed as part of the […]