WRC Rally Sardinia is «maybe the trickiest for me»
The defending world champion is leading the standings heading into this weekend’s Italian round, but will face a tall order to repeat the drought-breaking victory he scored in Portugal last month. Sitting atop the standings will mean Rovanpera will be disadvantaged by road cleaning on Sardinia’s rough and dusty roads. The 22-year-old also has openly […]
The important WRC discussion triggered by Neuville’s outburst
No matter what the business, if you stand still and fail to innovate as markets change there is a risk of being left behind and the prospect of not achieving the potential. This is the crux of Thierry Neuville’s comments made in the lead up to Rally Portugal. The Hyundai driver claimed that the WRC […]
Ex-Williams F1 technical director Demaison joins Hyundai
The experienced engineer has previously held the technical director role at Volkswagen during its domination of the World Rally Championship, where it scored four drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles form 2013-2016. He then joined former VW motorsport boss Jost Capito as technical director at Williams before leaving the F1 team last year. His appointment at Hyundai […]
Toyota announces Ogier as part of Kenya WRC line-up
Toyota has today announced that the eight-time world champion will join the reigning world champion squad for the championship’s annual visit to Africa, from 22-25 June. The rally will be Ogier’s fifth appearance of the season, having elected to sit out Sweden in February and the gravel round in Portugal earlier this month. The Frenchman […]
Safari Rally Kenya added to Sordo’s WRC programme
The team’s plans for its third car for the remainder of the WRC season are yet to be determined following the tragic passing of Craig Breen, who had been sharing the entry with Sordo this season. Veteran Sordo had been announced to pilot the third i20 N for Portugal two weeks ago, where he finished […]
WRC closing in on 14-round 2024 calendar
The championship had hoped to roll out a 14-round schedule for this season, although plans to add an event in the Middle East failed to come to fruition. However, the target to add a desert based round in Saudi Arabia remains a key goal for 2024, with plans for a test event to be held […]
M-Sport has the data to tackle «big job» of developing Puma WRC
The 2019 world champion once again showed flashes of speed during last weekend’s WRC round in Portugal, but ultimately finished fourth, 2m04.1s adrift of the eventual winner Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera. The event was Tanak’s second on gravel following Mexico where a turbo issue was among the problems that halted his charge. Last weekend the Estonian […]
WRC, FIA considering cost cap in bid to attract new brands
Cost caps have recently been introduced to Formula 1 in 2021 and Formula E last season to prevent costs spiralling out of control to the detriment of the disciplines. Currently WRC’s top Rally1 class operates without a cost cap, meaning manufacturers Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport-Ford are free to spend what they wish on rally programmes. […]
WRC invites drivers to share ideas on future of the category
The move arrives following Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville’s comments prior to last weekend’s Rally Portugal where he called for the WRC to «react» after stating that rallying’s top tier is at a critical point and requires change to appeal to fans and attract new manufacturers. The WRC’s senior sporting director Peter Thul says he has […]