It’s early days in Safari Rally Kenya, the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship with just two stages and 12.91km run on Thursday, but it was Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja heading the score sheets in their Hyundai i20 N, 2.4 seconds ahead of Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston in their Toyota GR Yaris.

Katsuta out braked himself in stage two, sliding through a field and threading his Yaris between a pumphouse and an irrigation system, losing a handful of seconds.

“I’m very happy to be back in Kenya. It’s going to be a big challenge, more than in previous years, but I try to do my best. The second stage was already quite challenging after the rain; it was hard to judge which corners were slippery and I went quite wide at one point, but I’m still here. We could have this situation in many stages during the weekend, so it was a good reminder of what can happen. Tomorrow with some proper stages I’m sure we will see a lot of drama, but I feel comfortable with the car and just need to stay calm and be patient”, Katsuta said.

After taking a pounding in the media after his lacklustre Swedish performance, M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka lie in third position, 0.2 seconds behind his Japanese rival.

Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen – double Safari winners – are a further 0.4 seconds adrift with the championship leader Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin lying in fifth despite winning the opening super special stage by 1.5 seconds.

Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy won the rookie battle, ending sixth with Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen trailing behind by one second; first to seventh is covered by 9.8 seconds as can be expected with minimal timed running.

Thierry Neuville suffered a technical issue in stage two after a wild two-wheeled moment and lies in eighth place overall, 19.7 seconds behind Tanak.

There was drama for Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria who failed to get to the start of SS2 after their Hyundai’s engine refused to fire up after the re-group.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz leads WRC2 in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 debut with Oliver Solberg lurking 1.3 seconds behind.

There were comical scenes at the end of the opening stage when drivers either refused to give an end of stage interview or spoke in their native tongue in protest against the FIA’s swearing clampdown and Adrien Fourmaux’ s €10k fine on Rally Sweden.

The action resumes on Friday morning with the first of the day’s six stages. The biggest challenge will be the 31.40km Camp Moran test – the longest of the rally – which opens the morning and afternoon loops.

The post Ott Tanak the early leader on Safari Rally Kenya appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin lost the lead of Rally Sweden twice, once to Takamoto Katsuta and once to Ott Tänak, but by the time the crews rolled into the stop control on the final Friday stage, the Toyota Gazoo Racing crew held a 0.6 second lead over Katsuta who won stage five and took the overall lead.

Evans struck back one stage later before succumbing to Tanak’s flying Hyundai i20 N on stage seven, dropping to third overall.

The final stage may have only been 5.1km long but it was enough for Evans to end the day clinging on to the lead from his on-form Japanese teammate.

The Welshman started the day in fine form, with the temperatures recording -12°C, bagging the opening stage scratch time before Hyundai’s coming man Adrien Fourmaux took two stage wins on the trot to keep Evans very much on his toes and under pressure.

Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak both complained of understeer, as did Kalle Rovanperä and Grégoire Munster in the lead M-Sport Ford Puma. All four bled time throughout the morning.

At the midday service, Evans led Fourmaux by 1.9 seconds with Tänak 4.3 seconds behind and 2.2 seconds ahead of Katsuta, the top four blanketed by 8.4 seconds. The leading Ford Puma belonged to rookie Rally1 driver Josh McErlean and Eoin Tracey, something of an indictment on Munster’s performance.

After service and some tweaking Katsuta, Tänak, Neuville and Evans each took a stage win and by the end of the day’s action, the top five were covered by 9.1 seconds!

Sami Pajari was flying on the day’s opening stage but gave a Valentine’s kiss to a snow bank, pulling a tyre off the rim which cost 40 seconds as the Yaris limped through the stage.

The other youngster in the field, Latvian Martins Sesks built up his speed over the day, recording the third fastest time on stage five as well as stage six as he builds his confidence of rallying on snow and ice and ended the day the fastest of the M-Sport quartet.

In Rally2, Oliver Solberg has a 20.7 second lead over Roope Korhonen having won five of the day’s seven stages. Georg Linnamäe lies third, some 45 seconds off the pace in spite of winning stage six.

Positions after SS8:

1. Evans, Katsuta +1.9, Tänak +3.6, Fourmaux +9.3, Neuville +14.3

The post Elfyn Evans clings on to Rally Sweden lead appeared first on Motorsport Week.

In spite of running first on the road, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin took the 5.16km Umeå Sprint stage win by half a second from their Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led the Hyundai charge, tying with Rovanperä, with Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria 0.7 seconds back in fourth place.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe set the fifth fastest time, 3.7 seconds off Evans’ time, followed by Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston and Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen.

M-Sport Ford’s rookie, Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy in only their second Rally1 start, lead the four-car strong Puma attack with the eighth fastest time, three seconds quicker than Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka while Martins Sesks/Renars Francis rounded out the top ten.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg – chasing a hat trick of Rally2 wins – and co-driver Elliot Edmondson beat fellow Swedes Pontus Tidemand/Jorgen Eriksen by 1.4 seconds to lay down an early marker.

Earlier in the day, Neuville topped the shakedown stage times, from Sesks, Tänak, Fourmaux and Evans.

There’s a long way to go…

The post Elfyn Evans leads Rally Sweden after Umeå sprint appeared first on Motorsport Week.

With an overnight lead of 12.6 seconds in his back pocket, Sebastian Ogier spent Saturday gradually building his advantage to 24.4 seconds with one stage remaining. Running in 10^th position on the road, his final stage was run in darkness and he conceded 4.1 seconds to his second placed teammate Elfyn Evans, leaving the eight-time champion with 20.3 seconds with three Sunday stages remaining.

“I tried to manage the risk, which is not easy in Monte-Carlo,” the eight-time world champion reflected. “In these conditions you need to be prepared to lose a bit of time.”

Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were involved in a frenetic battle with Hyundai’s new signing Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria for second position overall. Fourmaux ended Friday’s action just 1.6 seconds behind the GR Yaris crew.

Saturday’s first stage saw the warring drivers tied on time. On stage 11, Fourmaux pipped Evans and took second place by half a second which became 2.8 seconds on the final stage of the morning loop.

The Welshman put his head down and re-took his runner-up place with a 1.7 second gap to the Frenchman but on the penultimate stage, the positions changed yet again, with Fourmaux 0.7 seconds ahead.

With light fading fast on the final stage, Evans did what he had to do and blitzed Fourmaux’s time to end the day with a 4.8 second advantage.

While the focus was on the fight for second, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja wrung the neck of their Hyundai, taking four stage wins to move to within 2.5 seconds of the podium. He’d closed in on Kalle Rovanperä during the morning loop, narrowing the gap to one second before surging ahead after the midday service.

After completing the final stage on Friday, Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka were forced to retire from the rally after encountering an electrical problem on the way back to the service park. The M-Sport Ford crew repaired the car and Munster thanked them by claiming his first ever WRC stage win, powering his Puma to the fastest time on the day’s opening stage by 0.8 seconds, beating Ogier and Rovanperä.

“Really good feeling”, beamed Munster. “Everyone was a bit gutted yesterday but I think this is a really big thank you for them, all the team that worked really hard last night. Years of commitment and work that finally get a reward, it is a very nice feeling.”

Rovanperä prefers fast, open stages and he was struggling to find the time, and ended the day in fifth, one position up on his flu-ridden teammate Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston, who set the fastest time on stage 12.

Sami Pajari continued his considered approach to the tricky rally, and held a solid seventh overall while the other novice, Josh McErlean entered the top ten in ninth place at the end of the longest day of the rally.

Neuville’s woes persisted in the morning when a mysterious power loss slowed him 1.4km into the opening stage. A quick system reset restored performance, but by that point the Belgian had already leaked another 50sec.

“I had to do a reset. The car went and then I lost the power like in Japan, we thought the trouble was gone. In the situation we were in we said to do a reset and we were fine since. No idea, no alarm, nothing. Now it is working,’ Neuville reported.

The three problem’s Neuville encountered over Friday and Saturday left the Belgian over five minutes off the lead.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin held tenth but wasn’t eligible to score points, leaving Yohan Rossel with more than 2 minutes in hand over Gus Greensmith.

The post Sebastian Ogier extends Monte lead; Grégoire Munster takes maiden stage win              appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe are the 2024 WRC Champions!

The opening stage of the final day of WRC Forum8 Rally Japan saw Ott Tanak crash out of the lead 19.1km into the stage, one km from the flying finish.

Tanak approached the corner a full speed but encountered debris on the apex and understeered off the road; a road junction flipped the car into the air and the car landed well off the road. The crew is unharmed.

The impact on the Manufacturers’ Championship is huge. Hyundai and Toyota Gazoo Racing are tied on points and the all-important title will be decided on the Wolf Power Stage, the final stage of the year!

After SS19, Elfyn Evans leads by 1.30 with Sebastian Ogier in second and Adrien Fourmaux in third.

Sami Pajari remains second in WRC2 and on track to clinch the title.

Heikki Kovaleinen, 4th in WRC 2, crashed in identical circumstances, landing on the stricken Hyundai’s bonnet.

The post Thierry Neuville is WRC Champion! Ott Tanak crashes appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Ott Tanak and Martin Järveoja completed Saturday’s six stages with a healthy 36 second lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin with just the super special stage still to run.

The championship leaders, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe stormed through the field from 15^th overall to seventh to provisionally earn four of the six points they need to secure their and Hyundai’s first Driver’s and Co-Driver’s Championships.

Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais are currently in third, followed by Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria in the Ford Puma.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston are fifth after spinning in stage 12, dropping out of the podium fight.

Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka are sixth.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov are safe in the lead with Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen comfortable in a championship-winning second.

The post Ott Tanak in command in WRC Japan appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja have a 20 second lead on WRC FORUM8 Rally Japan after a dramatic opening day of the season finale.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe suffered a power loss in their Hyundai i20 N in stage four, losing over six seconds per kilometer over the afternoon stages to their Estonian teammates and plunged down the order to 15^th overall and 7 minutes 41 seconds off the lead.

“Obviously we couldn’t solve the issue that is for sure. I have no clue, we keep fighting like we always do, try and limit the time loss. The hard work of the year is really valuable now, because those 25 points are really valuable now,” said Neuville at the end of stage five.

Their goal of clinching the six points required to win their first WRC crown leaves the Belgians with a mountain to climb over Saturday and Sunday.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin remain in second overall after setting some scintillating times and winning three of the day’s eight stages.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria are in a superb third overall in the M-Sport Ford Puma, just a tenth of a second ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta. Fifth, after climbing back from 15^th after a puncture in the morning’s first stage, is Sebastian Ogier/Vincent Landais in their GR Yaris.

Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka complete the top six in their Puma.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin holds sway in his Citroen C3 with Sami Pajari in second.

The post Ott Tänak in charge in WRC Japan appeared first on Motorsport Week.

The opening morning of the final round of the WRC season started with a bang when Sebastian Ogier dropped two minutes with a puncture in the day’s opening stage, dropping the French crew to 18^th overall.

Takamoto Katsuta also had a puncture in the same stage and was ninth overall at the end of SS2, not what Toyota needed in their fight for the Manufacturers’ Championship.

Thierry Neuville suffered a loss of power in the final stage of the morning loop, setting the 10^th fastest time but still in third overall, some 40 seconds off the lead. However, the crew was unable to fix their power problem in the tyre-fitting zone and it will stay with them over the remaining five stages.

Neuville dropped 2½ minutes in stage five and in stage six, a faster flowing stage, the Hyundai could barely top 100km/h.

Stage five was red-flagged after Andreas Mikkelsen crashed out of the rally just after km 11, blocking the stage.

In WRC2, Sami Pajari still holds second place which is where he needs to finish to bag the WRC2 title.

Gus Greensmith, who was hoping to win WRC2 to help his teammate Oliver Solberg win the title, slid of the road and caused significant damage to the front-end of his Skoda.

Ott Tänak leads Rally Japan from Elfyn Evans

The post Drama at FORUM8 Rally Japan appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja won the 12^th and penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the unique Central European Rally after overnight leader Sebastian Ogier made a rare mistake in the day’s opening stage, losing 10 seconds and the lead of the rally.

“Let’s see for the championship, obviously what happened to Seb [Ogier]…it is always difficult to fight a friend and then something like this happens so it is difficult to find feelings. Everything changed, especially in the manufactures’ championship. We took care to have a clean stage and bring the points home,’ said the 2019 champion.

Tänak now trails Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville by 26 points with 30 available from the final round.

Ogier, on a mission to regain the lead he’d lost earlier in the morning, crashed out in the penultimate stage when he understeered off the road and into an electricity pole

“Another example that the gravel crew are doing a crucial job for us, the only stage of the weekend where they were not allowed to go through, we did not have the notes on the evolution of the stage.

This first corner, this long corner under the trees, people were cutting more than anticipated and the corner became very muddy and greasy and I couldn’t turn, so I understeered and hit the trees at the side.

I feel angry with myself at the moment, very sorry for my team. I tried my best and I repeat I that I tried my best to meet my target. I think we’re doing a good job so far, but that’s three weekends in a row it is not going my way. Tough times,” Ogier said afterwards.

Elfyn Evans brought his Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris home in second overall, much to his delight, while Neuville completed the podium, ahead of Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston, who topped the Super Sunday standings.

Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka equaled their personal best result, bringing their M-Sport Ford Puma home in fifth.

Nikolay Gryazin dominated WRC2 and ended sixth overall, ahead of the non-points scoring Oliver Solberg/Elliot Edmonson.

Miko Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk took second ahead of Filip Mares/Radovan Bucha

Read the full report in Motorsport Monday tomorrow

The post Ott Tänak tames Europe as Ogier crashes out appeared first on Motorsport Week.

The fierce battle for the lead of WRC Central Europe Rally raged over Saturday’s six stages where Sebastian Ogier emerged at the end of the day with a 5.2 second lead over Ott Tänak with Elfyn Evans giving Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Manufacturers’ Championship hopes a boost in third.

The overnight leader, Thierry Neuville suffered  a major setback in stage 11, the third of the day when he spun his Hyundai i20 N and a minute slater, went off the road altogether and got stuck in a ditch which cost the Belgian nearly 40 seconds which knocked him out of the lead and down into fourth position overall.

Neuville, hoping to claim his long awaited maiden WRC title needs to outscore Tänak by two points, but facing a 39.8 second deficit, may have to put the champagne back in the fridge until Rally Japan.

Four stages and 54km await on Sunday and as today’s action proved, nothing is certain in the WRC!

Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari held fifth and sixth places overall respectively, with Grégoire Munster in seventh. Adrien Fourmaux had a spin in stage nine, the first of the day, and was later forced to retire his Ford Puma with a differential problem.

Nikolay Gryazin and Citroen rule the WRC2 roost from the non-points scoring Oliver Solberg by 31 seconds, leaving Filip Mares in second and Miko Marczyk third in the premier support class.

The post Ogier on top as Neuville suffers hellish Saturday         appeared first on Motorsport Week.