Tag: Ford

WRC Rally Monte Carlo, Sebastien Loeb & Ford victorious in electrifying curtain raiser for WRC’s new hybrid era.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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WRC Safari Rally Kenya, Sebastien Ogier clinches last gasp victory as Thierry Neuville falters.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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BTCC Snetterton, Turkington, Sutton & Ingram shine in Snetterton sizzler.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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WRC Portugal, Elfyn Evans fends off Hyundai charge to take victory.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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WRC Monte Carlo, Ogier clinches victory from Evans & Neuville.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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WRC 2021 season preview

Stephen Hodges

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…

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BTCC Snetterton, back to back wins for Colin Turkington as Ollie Jackson picks up race 3 victory.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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WRC Sardinia, victory for returning Dani Sordo. 

Stephen Hodges

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…

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BTCC Silverstone thriller, redemption for Cammish & Turkington, victory for Ollie Jackson.

Stephen Hodges

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…

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WRC Rally Turkey, Elfyn Evans takes surprise victory.

Stephen Hodges

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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