Round 2 of the World Rally Championship sees the World Rally Championship move north into the Vasterbotten region of Sweden, the only snow event on the WRC calendar and one of the fastest and most challenging. Coming into the event drivers were already talking up the possibility of this year’s Rally Sweden being the fastest WRC event ever run, due to the fast sweeping stages and the new Hybrid cars being quicker than anticipated. Speaking of which, the hybrid cars would face a real test of reliability in Sweden, the…
Read MoreAuthor: Stephen Hodges
WRC Rally Monte Carlo, Sebastien Loeb & Ford victorious in electrifying curtain raiser for WRC’s new hybrid era.
2022 is a year of change for the World Rally Championship. The biggest news, the new regulation cars. Gone are the high downforce record breaking monsters that ran from 2017 to 2021, replaced by a new breed of hybrid rally cars, more on that later. Sebastien Ogier, who has won 8 drivers championships, steps back from full season competition for 2022; Welshman and 2 time championship runner up Elfyn Evans now leading the Toyota world rally team. 9 time world champion Sebastien Loeb returns to do a partial season at…
Read MoreWRC Safari Rally Kenya, Sebastien Ogier clinches last gasp victory as Thierry Neuville falters.
After a 19 year hiatus, the Safari Rally returns to the WRC calendar, once again the event headquartered out of Nairobi just as it was back in 2002. Compared to 2002 though, the event is somewhat shorter and doesn’t tackle the same brutal stages; this doesn’t mean that the Safari Rally has gone soft, with punishing dusty high speed stages & enormous bumps & ruts all along the stages. Add in the punishing arid heat and you have a perfect recipe for a car breaking rally. The opening day of…
Read MoreBTCC Snetterton, Turkington, Sutton & Ingram shine in Snetterton sizzler.
The 2nd round of the 2021 BTCC championship see’s the series move to the challenging flatlands of Snetterton; more significantly, it is the first time fans have been able to attend a BTCC race event since the Brands Hatch season finale in October 2019. 4000 fans were permitted entry to the event, in line with the most recent easing of Covid19 restrictions in the UK. The championship would also welcome a new driver to the series for the Snetterton race weekend, Jessica Hawkins replacing Andy Neate in the Motorbase Ford…
Read MoreWRC Italy, Sebastien Ogier triumphs in battle of attrition in Sardinian thriller.
Sardinia’s punishing gravel stages play host to round 5 of the 2021 World Rally Championship, the Italian round of the WRC has become synonymous with high drama and close battles. 2020 winner Dani Sordo will be looking to score Hyundai’s first win in what has been a difficult year for the Korean manufacturer, who have struggled in the face of an all conquering Toyota Gazoo Racing squad so far 2021. Thursday saw Hyundai pace the shakedown, going 1st & 2nd with Thierry Neuville setting the pace, giving the team momentum…
Read MoreWRC Portugal, Elfyn Evans fends off Hyundai charge to take victory.
The famed gravel roads of Portugal played host to round 4 of the 2021 World Rally Championship. Portugal is one of the anchor events on the calendar, the rough dusty gravel stages punish the cars & drivers and reward the brave. Elfyn Evans paced the shakedown prior to the start of the events, but there was an expectation that this might be Hyundai’s event, given their strong track record on gravel events. The opening day on Friday saw Hyundai stealing a march on the chasing Toyota’s & Ford’s, tyre choice…
Read MoreBTCC Thruxton, double bubble for Josh Cook & victory in the rain for Ash Sutton in BTCC curtain raiser.
After an eventful off season, with plenty of changes up and down the grid, the 2021 BTCC season kicks off on the high speed sweeps of Thruxton. Qualifying on the high speed venue was a tricky affair with rain falling for the duration, a handful of people switched to slicks at the end of qualifying but to noneavail. 2020 BTCC champion Ashley Sutton clinched pole position for the opening race of the season in the difficult conditions. The 2021 season burst back into life in race 1, pole sitter Ash…
Read MoreSebastien Ogier victorious in wild Rally Croatia thriller.
After a seeming eternity since the last round of the World Rally Championship in the winter wonderland of Northern Finland, the series moves onto the tight, winding tarmac stages of Croatia. It marks the first time that Croatia has played host to the WRC and the first all asphalt rally since 2019, the covid affected 2020 calendar didn’t feature a full asphalt event as Germany & Ypres were culled from the calendar & Rally Monza was affected by snow & ice, along with muddy conditions around the Monza circuit itself.…
Read MoreWRC Arctic Rally Finland, Ott Tanak takes commanding victory as Kalle Rovanpera claims championship lead.
The second round of the 2021 WRC season sees the championship move onto the frozen lands of northern Finland. The cancellation of Rally Sweden at the end of 2020 due to Covid19 restrictions necessitated a change on the calendar, the aptly named Arctic Rally Finland taking Sweden’s place, with sub zero temperatures and huge swathes of snow characterising the event, which gained fame due to Mercedes F1 driver Valterri Bottas using the event to keep his skills sharp, prior to the start of the F1 season. Friday saw the event…
Read MoreWRC Monte Carlo, Ogier clinches victory from Evans & Neuville.
Round 1 of the 2021 World Rally Championship kicks off on the winding, icy roads in the snow capped alps above Monte Carlo. It’s a miracle in itself that the event is taking place at all this year, the current rate of covid19 infections, travel restrictions as well as the mandatory 6pm curfew in France presented a massive challenge to teams, drivers & organisers. Add in the travel issues in & out of the UK along with the bureaucratic nightmare generated by Brexit, it made things extremely challenging for Ford…
Read MoreWRC 2021 season preview
The 2021 World Rally Championship is primed to get underway, just 7 weeks after the close of the 2020 season at Monza. It’s one of the shortest time lapses between 2 seasons due to the delayed 2020 season finale. Technical regulation changes are set to take come into force in 2021, the major one being the change of tyre supplier from Michelin to Pirelli, who will now supply both the WRC & WRC2 cars for the duration of the 2021 season & beyond. The change in tyre suppliers could throw…
Read MoreWRC Rally Monza, Sebastien Ogier clinches 7th WRC title & victory in Monza thriller.
The 2020 WRC season finale took place in and around the temple of speed, Monza in northern Italy. It’s the first time Monza has hosted a round of the WRC. Friday saw the first running at the Monza circuit itself, the stages using the circuit itself along with the access roads along with the old Monza banking. The championship finale sees Elfyn Evans leading the points with Sebastien Ogier in second, just 14 points adrift. Thierry Neuville & Ott Tanak both come in as rank outsiders for championship glory, the…
Read MoreBTCC Brands Hatch finale, Ash Sutton crowned BTCC champion. Dan Cammish, Ash Sutton & Rory Butcher claim race wins.
The final round of the 2020 BTCC season wraps at the short, quickfire Brands Hatch Indy circuit with Colin Turkington entering the final round as the championship leader with Ash Sutton in close contention. Dan Cammish & Tom Ingram stand a chance of taking the championship, both requiring race victories to bring themselves into contention while Rory Butcher, very much a wildcard is mathematically in with a shout of the title providing he wins and those ahead of him come to grief. Coming into the weekend news was already breaking…
Read MoreWRC Rally Ypres cancelled due to Covid19.
The ongoing global Covid19 pandemic has once again struck the 2020 World Rally Championship. Belgium’s first time hosting the WRC, with Rally Ypres playing host on 19th-22nd November would have been the first full tarmac event on the calendar. The event characterised by fast flowing stages around the flats of the Belgian countryside. Event organisers following consultation with the Belgian authorities were left with no choice but to pre-emptively cancel the event. Europe is currently in the throes of the second wave of Covid19, other series have already fallen prey…
Read MoreBTCC Snetterton, back to back wins for Colin Turkington as Ollie Jackson picks up race 3 victory.
The penultimate round of the 2020 BTCC rolls into Snetterton in the South East of England,once again held behind closed doors without spectators. Colin Turkington snatched pole position for race 1 on Sunday, needing a good weekend of results to strengthen his championship defence, Starting from the pole, Turkington put the rear wheel drive traction of his BMW to good use off the line, leaping away from Jake Hill’s Honda who lost ground and was swallowed up by Tom Ingram’s Toyota Corolla, who then attempted to pass Turkington but was…
Read MoreBTCC Croft, Josh Cook doubles as Tom Ingram triumphs in race 3.
Croft plays host to round 7 of the BTCC, seeing the championship heading north once more. Josh Cook stormed to a commanding pole position in his FK8 Honda Civic Type R for race 1 on Sunday, but not after drama, with Tom Ingram initially taking pole, but losing it due to a ride height infringement. The Saturday morning saw drama as Jac Constable, slated to drive the PMR Vauxhall Astra fell ill overnight on Friday and as a result withdrew from driving duties, leaving the grid one car down. Racing…
Read MoreWRC Sardinia, victory for returning Dani Sordo.
The sun drenched italian isle of Sardinia offers itself up for the sixth round of the 2020 WRC calendar, the event was the penultimate event on the calendar, but on Friday, with Rally Monza added to the calendar in December; Opening the championship fight back up. Further broke on Friday as the provisional 2021 WRC calendar was shown for the first time. Notable changes include Wales Rally GB moving to an end of August date, away from the traditional October date. Shakedown saw drama before the event got underway as…
Read MoreBTCC Silverstone thriller, redemption for Cammish & Turkington, victory for Ollie Jackson.
The BTCC moves from the high speed sweeps of Thruxton to the stop start Silverstone National circuit. Silverstone is a real power circuit, the slow corners leading onto long straights favouring the manufacturer backed entries with their torquier & more powerful engines from the likes of BMW, Ford & Honda. Dan Cammish clinched a second pole position in a row in his FK8 Honda Civic Type R, hoping to further bolster his championship challenge after a strong weekend at Thruxton. Dan Cammish made a strong start in race one, leading…
Read MoreBTCC Thruxton, Tom Ingram scores double; Josh Cook breaks victory duck.
BTCC once again visits the fastest circuit in the UK, the fearsome Thruxton. The weekend would see a returning BTCC stalwart, Tom Onslow-Cole racing for Team HARD & in the following round at Silverstone. Onslow-Cole more recently has plied his trade in GT3 cars, competing with plenty of success with Ram Racing in recent times. The big driver news was fan favourite Jade Edwards. Jade has worked tirelessly for many years with plenty of success in junior formulas, but finally Jade realises her dream of becoming a BTCC driver. Jade…
Read MoreWRC Rally Turkey, Elfyn Evans takes surprise victory.
Turkey played host to round five of the 2020 World Rally Championship, the infamous rough roads have seen plenty of drama over the years, with the rocky gravel stages & searing heat sealing the events reputation as a real carbreaker. The action got underway on Friday, it was Sebastien Loeb who would set the pace throughout the Friday. Loeb, a three time winner of the event in the past knows the event well, but had never driven the stages on Friday, in the process fending off teammate Thierry Neuville &…
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