Tanak explains «proper disaster” WRC title deciding crash
Ott Tanak has explained the crash he described as a “proper disaster” that handed team-mate Thierry Neuville the World Rally Championship crown and dented Hyundai’s manufacturers’ title bid. Tanak started Sunday with a commanding 38 second rally lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans but his Rally Japan victory bid unravelled in the most spectacular fashion on […]
Tanak crash hands Neuville the WRC title
Ott Tanak has dramatically crashed out of the lead of Rally Japan which has handed Thierry Neuville the World Rally Championship and swung the manufacturers title battle towards Toyota. Tanak started Sunday with a 38 second rally lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans which he needed to maintain to keep his WRC title hopes alive. However, […]
“I still need to drive fast” on Sunday to clinch maiden WRC title
Thierry Neuville says he cannot afford to cruise through the Rally Japan’s final leg to secure a maiden World Rally Championship title following a stirring Saturday fightback. The WRC points leader started Saturday outside the points-paying positions in 15th after Friday’s costly turbo failure dashed hopes of a relatively comfortable run to score the six points […]
Toyota “may need support from Ford” to win WRC title at Rally Japan
Toyota will need a “maximum performance” from its drivers and “a little bit of support” from M-Sport Ford to deny Hyundai the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title in Japan. This year’s championship will go down to the wire with Toyota trailing Hyundai by 11 points heading into the final five stages of the Rally Japan […]
Investigation underway into «very serious» WRC Rally Japan safety breach
An investigation into how an unauthorised vehicle entered a live World Rally Championship stage at Rally Japan is underway, an incident which the FIA has described as «a very serious issue.» A minivan entered stage 12 (Ena) on Saturday morning, forcing officials to cancel the test after six of the eight Rally1 crews posted times. […]
Neuville salvages points in fightback, Tanak extends lead
Thierry Neuville boosted his World Rally Championship hopes by provisionally claiming more than half of the points needed to secure the title, while rival Ott Tanak extended his Rally Japan lead. Six points from the Japan season finale will secure a maiden title for Neuville, but that task was hanging in the balance after a […]
Officials cancel Rally Japan stage 12 due to unauthorised vehicle
The 12th stage of the World Rally Championship season finale was cancelled due to an unauthorised vehicle entering the closed road. Six of the eight Rally1 crews successfully completed a run through the 16.47km Ena test but officials were forced to abandon the stage before rally leader Ott Tanak and Toyota Elfyn Evans could begin. […]
Evans trims Tanak’s lead, Neuville closes on points
Thierry Neuville kickstarted his Rally Japan recovery on Saturday morning to close in on the World Rally Championship points-paying positions, while title rival Ott Tanak witnessed his lead trimmed by Elfyn Evans. Neuville, now driving a fully-functioning Hyundai i20N after Friday’s power issue, managed to haul himself up tot 11th spot as Tanak kept […]
Hyundai apologises to Neuville after WRC title blow in Rally Japan
Hyundai has apologised to Thierry Neuville and is planning to change “everything” on his car after a suspected turbo related issue dented his World Rally Championship title hopes in Japan. Championship leader Neuville can clinch the crown by scoring six points at the season finale, but that prospect has been made much tougher after his […]