SÉBASTIEN LOEB HINTED AT A POSSIBLE WRC RETURN NEXT SEASON AFTER A REMARKABLE VICTORY IN SPAIN ON SUNDAY THAT HE LABELLED AS ONE OF HIS BEST EVER.The nine-time world champion edged Sébastien Ogier, his successor as title holder, by 2.9sec to win a thrill-a-minute RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España and then suggested he could […]
M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson admitted that his team “didn’t get the tyre choices 100% right”on Rally de España, but praised Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia for “pushing hard regardless.”The M-Sport boss saw two of his cars finish on the podium, with Ogier finishing second and Elfyn Evansthird behind winner Sébastien Loeb. The runners up spot in Spain was enough to give five-time champion Ogier a […]
With the top two slots of the Kenya National Rally Championship already determined, the battle for the remaining podium slot has boiled down to a contest between Eric Bengi, Onkar Rai, Manvir Baryan and Farhaaz Khan.The Multiple Hauliers Guru Nanak Rally to be staged in Athi River on November 18 will thus be the ultimate […]
Upcoming Welsh rally driver Osian Pryce is set to give the new VR4K Oreca FIA R4-spec rally car its international competition debut this weekend as he heads to the Rallye Ciudad de Granada with ASM Motorsport. Dale Furniss will team up with Pryce again, navigating in the Toyota Etios R4 on the Spanish gravel rally, marking their first overseas gravel rally since finishing fourth in the […]
Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport team look set to launch an audacious bid to sign nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb as part of its World Rally Championship team for 2019.Loeb’s future remains unclear after Peugeot’s decision to close his main programme in World Rallycross (World RX), although he has now secured a deal to contest the 2019 […]
Miss the hatchback-bodied WRX? Word is it’s coming back Subaru is reportedly working on a new subcompact hatchback for entry in the 2020 World Rally Championship season.Japanese publication Spyder7, which regularly publishes allegedly leaked materials, claims that Subaru’s brand has suffered in Europe as a result of its withdrawal from the WRC in 2008 and that […]
The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) is delighted to announce that 19 teams (subject to FIA approval) have entered next week’s Manateq International Rally of Qatar, the final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC).The three MERC, MERC 2 and MERC 3 titles were all decided at last weekend’s thrilling penultimate round […]
Loeb and Elena won WRC Spain against an army of younger talents. At the same time, an even more seasoned Tommi Mäkinen chose WRC’s second oldest driver for Toyota’s 2019 offense.During the second-to-last WRC weekend of the season, the only people that seemed quicker than the duo of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena was M-Sport’s crew of mechanics. But […]
Record-breaking Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah confirmed a 14th FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) title with a dominant victory in the 25th Kuwait International Rally at Kuwait Motor Town yesterday afternoon. The Qatari’s seventh win in Kuwait and his 69th career MERC win secured the record-breaking 14th regional title by the margin of 12min 19.2sec. […]
Volkswagen Motorsport returned to rallying in Spain after a two-year break. Here’s why Almost two years after it abruptly quit the World Rally Championship, Volkswagen Motorsport returned to the sport on Rally Spain last weekend, with a pair of brand-new Polo rally cars. A works Polo rally car hadn’t been seen on the stages since the end of […]
M-Sport will attempt to convince Sebastien Loeb to be part of its 2019 World Rally Championship team.Nine-time WRC champion Loeb’s future remains unclear after Peugeot’s decision to close his main programme in World Rallycross, although he has secured a deal to contest the 2019 Dakar Rally in a privately-run Peugeot. Shortly after Peugeot’s RX exit, […]
The third round of the Indian National Rally Championship will be flagged of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Arunachal Pradesh will serve as a scenic host for the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) from November 2 to 4. The special stages of the rally will be held along National Highway 425 from […]
Despite being 23 points behind Sébastien Ogier in the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship drivers standings, Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s Ott Tänak “will not give up” in his pursuit of a maiden WRC title. Tänak, who had been leading Rally de España until Saturday morning, salvaged sixth by the end of the event and the Estonian also won the Power Stage and […]
Nasser Saleh al Attiyah will be aiming to match one of the longest-standing records in world motor sport when he heads an international field of competitors from eight nations into Kuwait’s exciting return to the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) at Kuwait Motor Town on Thursday afternoon.While Kuwait celebrates its own milestone of hosting a […]
2018 RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España victor Sébastien Loeb is no stranger to the podium, especially in Spain where he has now won the event nine times, this time though he feels it was different, ranking it as possible his greatest win of his career. Before the event had even got underway Loeb was playing down the possibility of […]
Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s two drivers, Giniel de Villiers and Henk Lategan, are locked in a tight battle for the 2018 South African Cross-Country Series title, going into the final round of the season. With just ten points separating the two drivers at the top of the Production Category standings, and 30 points on offer […]
ERMELO – The battle for supremacy in the South African National Rally Championship culminated with the running of the Ermelo Rally, Round 7 of the championship, where Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s Guy Botterill and navigator Simon Vacy-Lyle were locked in a tussle with Volkswagen’s AC Potgieter and navigator Nico Swartz. The two crews started the […]
Sebastien Loeb claimed an incredible first World Rally Championship win since 2013 on an unpredictable Rally Spain, as Sebastien Ogier moved into the lead of the title race.The nine-time WRC champion carried a 7.1-second advantage over Ogier into the final two stages, but suffered issues on both that took the result down to the wire. […]
SÉBASTIEN LOEB CHARGED INTO THE LEAD OF RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA ON SUNDAY MORNING AS AN INSPIRED TYRE CHOICE REAPED HUGE REWARDS.The asphalt roads near Salou dried quickly after overnight rain and the nine-time world champion was the only front-running driver to gamble on Michelin’s hard compound tyres as his rivals chose the […]
JARI-MATTI LATVALA LED RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA ON SATURDAY NIGHT FOLLOWING AN ENTHRALLING PENULTIMATE LEG WHICH ENDED WITH SIX DRIVERS BATTLING FOR HONOURS.The Finn was the third leader of another dramatic FIA World Rally Championship day in which the pendulum swung back and forth between the title contenders. The Toyota Yaris driver headed […]
By: Matt Kew Rally Catalunya turned on its head during the Saturday morning stages, as a puncture for World Rally Championship title hopeful Ott Tanak gifted the lead to Hyundai’s Dani Sordo.Heading into the final stage of the morning, Tanak held a comfortable 32.9-second lead over Sordo courtesy of a Toyota strategy gamble that was fortunate […]
ERIC CAMILLI GAVE VOLKSWAGEN’S NEW WRC 2 CHALLENGER THE PERFECT DEBUT AS HE ENDED THE OPENING LEG OF RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA WITH AN 11.6SEC LEAD OVER KALLE ROVANPERÄ. The Frenchman won three of the leg’s seven tests in his Polo R5 to ensure a memorable first day for the German manufacturer on […]
OTT TÄNAK BOOSTED HIS WRC TITLE HOPES BY TAKING A DOMINANT LEAD IN FRIDAY’S OPENING LEG OF RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA.The outsider in a thrilling three-way FIA World Rally Championship battle promised an all-out attack in his efforts to close on series leader Thierry Neuville and second-placed Sébastien Ogier, and he did not […]
DANI SORDO (PICTURED) AND JARI-MATTI LATVALA SHARED THE SPOILS IN FRIDAY AFTERNOON’S OPENING SPEED TESTS AT RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA – BUT OTT TÄNAK CONTINUED TO PULL AWAY AT THE HEAD OF THE LEADERBOARD.Sordo delighted the home fans by edging Latvala by half a second in the repeat pass of Gandesa. But the […]
OTT TÄNAK CAPITALISED ON A PROBLEM FOR TEAM-MATE JARI-MATTI LATVALA TO INCREASE HIS LEAD OF RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA AT THE MIDPOINT OF FRIDAY’S OPENING LEG.The Estonian finished second in the difficult La Fatarella – Vilalba speed test, a tenth slower to prove decisive than a rejuvenated Andreas Mikkelsen, to head Elfyn Evans […]
OTT TÄNAK FULFILLED HIS PRE-EVENT PROMISE OF ALL-OUT ATTACK TO CHARGE INTO THE LEAD OF RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA ON FRIDAY MORNING.The Estonian must win this weekend to keep his WRC title hopes alive. Fastest time in the short opening Gandesa speed test and second quickest in the longer Pesells left his Toyota […]
M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson says that the championship battle his driver Sébastien Ogier is in “could not be closer.”Speaking ahead of this weekend’s RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España, Wilson was adamant that his team are doing all they can to help Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia claim a sixth straight drivers title. He said: “The championship fight could not […]
SÉBASTIEN OGIER PUT DOWN A MARKER TO HIS WRC TITLE RIVALS WITH A BLISTERING DRIVE TO WIN RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA’S OPENING SPEED TEST IN BARCELONA ON THURSDAY NIGHT.A clever tyre strategy enabled the Frenchman to win the 3.20km street test in the centre of the city by 3.7sec in his Ford Fiesta. […]
In WRC2 it was Petter Solberg who topped the timesheets in his return to the World Rally Championship for the first time since 2012 in the brand-new Volkswagen Motorsport Polo GTI R5, team-mate Eric Camilli finished just 0.3 seconds off of the pace in second in a strong showing of pace in the one-off appearance. Stéphane Lefebvre rounded out the top three […]
FIA World Rally Championship leader Thierry Neuville had his morning shakedown in Salou disrupted when he rolled his car on a tight low speed section, 0.5km in to his second pass of the mixed surface test.The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver was forced to sit out the rest of the session as the car was recovered and returned […]
THIERRY NEUVILLE’S STUTTERING CHALLENGE FOR A MAIDEN FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE REACHES A KEY POINT IN SPAIN THIS WEEKEND WITH HIS FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO SEAL THE CROWN. To do so he must improve on disappointing results from the previous rounds in Turkey and Britain. His 23-point lead has been slashed to seven over Ogier […]
For the first time since the end of the 2016 season, Volkswagen Motorsport are back in the FIA World Rally Championship in a one-off event to début their Polo GTI R5 at Rally de España with former WRC champion Petter Solberg and Frenchman Eric Camilli taking on driving duties this week. The event this week marks the shift in focus the German manufacturer made at the end […]
The nine-time world champion was unbeatable on Spain’s roads in his heyday, winning eight times in a row between 2005 and 2012, after which he retired from full-time WRC action. Loeb returns to the mixed surface RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España (25 – 28 October) for the first time since 2012 in a Citroën […]
CHILE IS AN EXCITING ADDITION TO AN ENLARGED 2019 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR ANNOUNCED IN PARIS ON FRIDAY.The 14-round calendar retains all 13 rallies from 2018 and gives an increasingly global look to the world’s most prestigious motorsport series for production-based cars, with five events outside Europe.Chile becomes the 32nd country to host the […]
In rally circles all eyes will be on the two front-running crews of the 2018 SA National Rally Championship, after an unexpected setback in last month’s penultimate round for the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Class R2N Toyota Etios crew Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle. Botterill/Vacy-Lyle have won four of the six rounds on the trot in […]
DANI SORDO HOPES TO END HIS 2018 WRC CAMPAIGN WITH A HOME ROUND HIGH AT RALLYRACC CATALUNYA – RALLY DE ESPAÑA (25-28 OCTOBER).Sordo, who hails from Torrelavega in Northern Spain, will be on home ground for his seventh and final WRC appearance of 2018 and is targeting his third podium of the year at the […]
2018 National Rally Champions to be crowned at Ermelo Rally & Motorshow finale. Following a dramatic Lake Umuzi Rally in Secunda, Mpumalanga, the penultimate round of the SA National Rally Championship 2018, the final Ermelo Rally & Motorshow (25-27 October) will see the two top contenders on equal points and the gloves now officially off […]
After about two years of development and over 10,000 kilometres of testing, the wait is over: the Polo GTI R5 will make its competitive debut in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at the Rally Spain (25 to 28 October). The 200-kW (272-PS) Polo GTI R5 will be driven by the Norwegian duo of Petter […]
The penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally de España (25-28 October), is unique in being the only mixed surface event on the calendar, combining one day of primarily gravel stages with two solely on tarmac. After the first full day on Friday teams need to convert their cars from gravel to asphalt […]
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will defend its leadership of the FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers’ standings on the penultimate round of the season in Spain (October 25-28). As the only truly mixed-surface event on the calendar, it will provide a thorough test for the performance of the Toyota Yaris WRC, driven by Jari-Matti […]