Author: Stephen Hodges

WRC Rally Estonia, Ott Tanak wins as WRC roars back into life.

Stephen Hodges

It has been a long time since the WRC’s last competitive action, almost six months since the last round at Rally Mexico, which was cut short due to the developing Covid19 outbreak to enable officials and competitors to travel home; in the wake of ever tightening travel restrictions. That was then, this is now. After a huge amount of work by the FIA & event organisers in the wake of numerous cancelled events, the most recent being Rally Germany in October; Italy has also been shuffled back 3 weeks in…

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BTCC Knockhill, Ash Sutton claims back to back wins; Rory Butcher wins on home turf.

Stephen Hodges

The fifth round of the 2020 BTCC championship sees the sole Scottish round on the championship, at the undulating Knockhill circuit. Race 1 would see Ash Sutton from pole position, the Laser Tools Infiniti working well on the undulating rollercoaster that is Knockhill. The race start saw Sutton leap away from Jake Hill’s FK2 Honda Civic Type R which qualified in second place, a fast starting Colin Turkington was able to leapfrog Hill’s Honda.  Hill was able to challenge Turkington’s BMW 330 for second position briefly, but a charging Dan…

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BTCC Oulton Park – 3 winners and a disqualification

Stephen Hodges

The third round of the 2020 BTCC season fires into life at the beautiful parkland circuit of Oulton Park in Cheshire. Once again, the BTCC being held behind closed doors due to the ongoing Covid19 restrictions. The weekend also saw the return of the PMR Vauxhall Astra to the grid, PMR announcing prior to the start of the post covid season they would only contest selected events. Mike Bushell fills PMR’s sole seat for the weekend. Saturday saw a mix or wet and dry running, with Rory Butcher clinching a…

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BTCC Brands Hatch. Cammish, Turkington and Oliphant victorious in blistering brands heat.

Stephen Hodges

The second round of the BTCC’s condensed schedule gets underway this weekend at the Brands Hatch GP circuit. It marks a change to proceedings, the precovid BTCC calendar would have seen round 2 taking place on the quickfire Brands Hatch indy layout; instead, the weekends racing will take place on the fast, flowing GP layout. Saturday saw Rory Butcher clinch pole position for Race 1 on Sunday, giving the new Ford Focus ST its maiden pole position and continuing to show the strong potential of Motorbase’s new chariot. Race 1,…

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BTCC Donington Park, Cammish, Turkington and Sutton triumph.

Stephen Hodges

294 days, that’s how long it has been since the last BTCC race meeting. The recent, and continuing Covid19 has pushed back the start of the BTCC season by over 4 months, but finally, it’s back for the opening round at Donington Park. There was drama before the weekend began however. A late decision by the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports saw fans denied the opportunity to attend the season opener. Fans were disappointed, but due to a resurgence in Covid19 cases, Toca & MSV had…

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BTCC Snetterton test & news round up, Rory Butcher fastest as a new age dawns.

Stephen Hodges

The 7th and 8th of July saw the first track running for the BTCC since the Covid affected media day at Silverstone on March 16th, yes it really has been that long. It was also the dawn of a new age in the BTCC, whilst much has been made of the upcoming hybrid regulations, the two day test was the first running of the new Toyota Corolla Hybrid. Whilst the car is at the beginning of a long and exhaustive development programme, it was a historic moment being the first…

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WRC season set to restart in Estonia.

Stephen Hodges

It’s been a long time since there has been some good news in the world of WRC, but after much consternation and waiting, we finally have an official restart date for the 2020 World Rally Championship.  September 4th, 5th & 6th will see Rally Estonia, which was originally going to run as Rally Dirtfish has become part of the WRC calendar. Estonia was already primed to join the WRC calendar from 2021 onwards, but with Rally DIrtfish going ahead and a number of WRC teams and drivers competing, the decision…

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WRC news round up, Rally GB cancelled, additional rounds being evaluated.

Stephen Hodges

The latest casualty on the WRC calendar was confirmed this week as Wales Rally GB. The anchor event on the WRC calendar was cancelled for much the same reasons as the other events so far, organisers unable to guarantee the health and safety of spectators & series personnel due to the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. Travel restrictions in place in the UK for the short term mandate a 14 quarantine for those arriving into the UK. With the majority of teams, personnel and a large number of fans coming from overseas,…

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M-Sport announced as new BTCC control engine partner.

Stephen Hodges

After a long period of conjecture as to who would be selected to provide the coveted TOCA control engine in the BTCC, we finally have the answer. M-Sport, the group behind Ford’s WRC programme and Bentley’s GT3 programme have been selected to provide the TOCA control engine.  M-Sports announcement comes amid news that they will also cancel their Intercontinental GT Challenge programme with Bentley with immediate effect, this piece of news breaking shortly after the TOCA engine deal being announced. M-Sport’s new engine will compete from 2022-2026, which will also…

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WRC news round up, Rally New Zealand and Finland cancelled, Ford making progress on new reg car

Stephen Hodges

Organisers have confirmed that the predicted return of the WRC season in Rally New Zealand will no longer take place in 2020. Event organisers Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) confirmed on june 4th the cancellation of Rally New Zealand. The events CEO, Mike Goldstein stated “It became clear that with our borders closed to international travel and the logistics required to host thousands of international visitors as part of the World Rally Championship, that the September 2020 date was not practical.” New Zealand has effectively eradicated Covid19 from…

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Revised BTCC 2020 calendar unveiled.

Stephen Hodges

In a day wrought with motorsport announcements, some good; Formula 1 targeting a return to racing at the Red Bull Ring in July and some not so good; Audi departing DTM after 2020, leaving DTM with a calamitous situation to deal with from 2021 onwards. One of the biggest pieces of news though; Toca, organisers of the BTCC announced a revised calendar which will hopefully see the first race action for the series in 2020. The news followed shortly after the announcement that the British Grand Prix is slated to…

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WRC Rally Mexico, Ogier triumphs amidst Covid-19 shortened event

Stephen Hodges

The third round of the World Rally Championship once again plays host to Rally Mexico, high temperatures and challenging gravel conditions faced the teams and drivers once again. The event going ahead was a surprise following mass cancellations of global motorsport events due to the ongoing Coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak, Formula 1, IMSA Weathertech, WEC & Indycar amongst others have cancelled events en-masse due to government containment conditions and travel restrictions. The WRC has not escaped the grip of Covid-19, with the fourth round of the championship, Rally Argentina already being cancelled…

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Elfyn Evans triumphs in shortened Rally Sweden.

Stephen Hodges

Sweden played host to the second round of the World Rally Championship this weekend, but there was something different, something unusual for those watching and attending. Yes, it’s a distinct lack of snow. Rally Sweden’s USP has always been the massive amounts of snow, giving unique scenery and a unique challenge for the drivers and teams as the cars run on studded tyres. There was drama before the rally even got underway, with talks of the event potentially being cancelled due to the lack of snow. The decision was taken…

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WRC Monte Carlo, Thierry Neuville victorious in Monte thriller.

Stephen Hodges

After a long and dramatic off season, the 2020 World Rally Championship began in earnest in the hills above Monte Carlo. The conditions for the event were unusually good, with dry conditions and not an awful lot in the way of snow and ice on the mountain roads. The 2020 season sees three manufacturers in the series, Ford, Hyundai & Toyota. Citroen announced a shock exit from the sport in the off season which has seen a game of musical chairs for many drivers. Ott Tanak has moved from Toyota…

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World Rally Championship 2020 season preview

Stephen Hodges

It only felt like yesterday that the 2019 World Rally Championship came to a close amid unusual circumstances in Australia, the event being cancelled before it got underway due to the bushfires around the New South Wales area. Those fires, even after more than 2 months are still raging and have ravaged Australia in one of the worst natural disasters the country has ever seen. Onto more pleasant topics though, and on January 23rd, the WRC winds itself back into life for the first round of the championship in Monte…

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Autosport international Show 2020 and the big BTCC catch up.

Stephen Hodges

The Autosport international show rolled in its traditional venue of the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in the UK, once again providing fans the opportunity to get up close and personal with the cars, drivers and people behind many different championships.  There were a number of headline events for fans to enjoy, from the Live Action Arena where a huge variety of cars would complete demonstrations in one of the largest indoor areas in Europe, to driver forums and team and driver announcements ahead of the start of the 2020…

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WRC news: Ford M-Sport confirms 2020 driver line-up.

Stephen Hodges

After a long period of speculation within the WRC paddock and community, Ford M-Sport has confirmed its driver line up for the 2020 WRC season. Former Citroen driver Esapekka Lappi is confirmed as the teams new lead driver, replacing Elfyn Evans who completed the move to Toyota at the end of 2019. Ford confirmed that they will retain young Finnish driver Teemu Sunninen for a second season as their second driver. Sunninen showed flashes of brilliance in the 2019 season and Sunninen will likely build on the steady form he…

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Toyota confirms Ogier, Evans & Rovanpera for 2020 WRC season.

Stephen Hodges

Toyota have confirmed their driver line up for the 2020 season earlier this week, confirming the long held rumour that they had signed Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans. There was an additional surprise as Toyota also announced that they had signed Kalle Rovanpera as well, son of Harri Rovanpera and WRC2 ace for Skoda for the past couple of years. It is also sees Ogier & Evans reunited as team-mates once again, both drove together for Ford in 2018. Toyota has also signed Ogier, Evans & Rovanpera for the 2021…

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Citroen announces WRC departure, Ogier joining new team for 2020.

Stephen Hodges
Ogier

In a surprising turn of events, Citroen announced this morning that they will be discontinuing their WRC programme with immediate effect. The news came prematurely amid widespread speculation that Citroen would depart the WRC before the new 2022 hybrid regulations, but the shock came as Citroen announced they will not contest the 2020 season. Citroen cited the reason as being the departure of Sebastien Ogier from the team and the lack of a high quality driver to lead the team into 2020. There are background factors that may have influenced…

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WRC Rally Australia cancelled amid state of emergency due to wildfires

Stephen Hodges

The final round of the WRC, scheduled to take place in the area of New South Wales in Australia, headquartered out of Coffs Harbour has been cancelled. As many will have seen, New South Wales and other parts of Australia are being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades, with conditions in some regions being described as ‘catastrophic’ with serious danger to life and property. Earlier in the week, the event organisers, FIA, Emergency Services, Government and the local community liaised as a collective to determine whether the event…

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