World Rally Championship drivers have doubled-down on their stance regarding the FIA’s rules on drivers swearing by refusing to answer questions in interviews.

The World Rally Drivers’ Alliance [WoRDA] has issued a statement ahead of this weekend’s Safari Rally Kenya, which says drivers will choose to either remain silent in any obligatory media duties, or answer questions in their respective language, rather than English.

This comes after a similar statement, penned three weeks ago, rebuking a €10,000 fine handed to Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux – €20,000 suspended – for swearing in a television interview at January’s Rally Sweden.

The Frenchman’s fine was the catalyst for WoRDA being established, and is, in effect, the WRC’s equivalent of Formula 1’s Grand Prix Drivers’ Association [GPDA], which has also been at loggerheads with the FIA and its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, regarding his directives which takes a similar no-tolerance approach to drivers’ language at race weekends.

It urged the sport’s governing body for a “mutually agreeable and urgent solution,” and with no apparent communication opened with WoRDA, the new WRC driver alliance has felt it necessary to promulgate a further explanation for its intended upcoming actions.

WoRDA statement in full

“We all agree to keep rudeness at the microphone to a minimum,” the statement read. “At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a certain freedom of expression and to keep emotions alive while drivers don’t need to be afraid of getting punished in any way. 

“We have asked the president of the FIA for some positive changes in the rules to help us achieve this goal.

“For the reasons explained in our statement, it is impossible for us to guarantee that we (drivers and co-drivers) will be able to follow these rules perfectly and systematically.

“This is why we – WoRDA members –  are now taking the responsible decision to remain silent at the end of the interviews or to answer in our mother tongue.In the own interest of our sport, such an action is unfortunately needed, and we apologize to all the rally fans, even though we know they support us in this.”

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World Rally Championship drivers have penned a strongly-worded statement directed at the FIA regarding its swearing penalties, following a similar act taken by Formula 1 drivers last year.

The World Rally Drivers Alliance [WoRDA] has issued the statement, directed at the sport’s governing body’s President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, making its stance clear on its measures on drivers swearing.

This comes after an incident at this month’s Rally Sweden, at which Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmoux was fined €10,000 and €20,000 suspended for swearing in a television interview.

The incident was adjudged to have contravened Article 12.2.1.l of the FIA International Sporting Code, also broken by Max Verstappen at the Singapore Grand Prix last year, the Dutchman being handed a community service penalty for the offence.

The statement says that whilst “competitors must abide by the Referee’s decision,” it goes on to say “In recent months, however, there has been an alarming increase in the severity of the sanctions imposed for minor, isolated and unintentional language lapses. This has reached an unacceptable level.”

The statement also lists four key beliefs from the drivers, which are:

• Common colloquialism cannot be considered and judged as equal to genuine insult or an act of aggression.
• Non mother-tongue speakers may use or repeat terms without full awareness of their meaning and connotation.
• Seconds after an extreme adrenaline spike, it is unrealistic to expect a perfect and systematic control over emotions.
• Rally is Extreme: risk level for the athletes, intensity of the focus, length of the days… all the limits are reached. 

The statement goes on to raise the question of where the money paid in fines by the drivers ends-up.

“In such a case we question the relevance and validity of imposing any sort of penalty.

“Moreover, the exorbitant fines are vastly disproportionate to the average income and budget in rallying. 

“We are also concerned with the public impression these excessive sums create in the minds of the fans, suggesting this is an industry where money doesn’t matter. 

“This also raises a fundamental question where does the money from these fines go?”

It concludes by urging for “a direct communication and engagement between the FIA President and WoRDA members to find a mutually agreeable and urgent solution.”

WRC statement mirrors GPDA action on Ben Sulayem

The WRC drivers’ statement takes a similar approach to that of the statement issued by the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association last November, in which it urged Ben Sulayem to “consider his own tone and language” after the President stated that F1 drivers were sounding like “rappers.”

It creates a further bone of contention between another FIA-backed championship and Ben Sulayem, who has been under fire for such alterations of the rulebook.

Another issue that has been raised is the apparent lack of consistency in its penalties being handed-out to drivers.

At this month’s Jeddah E-Prix, Cupra Kiro driver Dan Ticktum swore on his team radio after being informed by his engineers that he would have to reset his car during a Pit Boost recharge, effectively destroying his hopes of scoring any points in the race.

The Brit escaped without punishment, but it is believed that it was due to the broadcast not being aired on the race’s TV coverage.

This however could play into Ben Sulayem’s threat, made at an FIA Officials summit earlier this month, that he is considering looking-into the possibility of a form of ‘shutdown’ of radio communications between driver and team.

READ MORE – Elfyn Evans wins Rally Sweden by a whisker

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The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship got underway with three night stages high up in the French Alps. Under the gaze of tens of thousands of spectators who lit up the night sky with fireworks and flares, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe ended the trio of stages on top of the standings by two seconds after cautiously threading their Hyundai i20 N through the tricky mountain pass roads.

Conditions ranged from dry and wet tarmac to hidden patches of black ice which Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais conquered to lead after two stages. An expensive spin into a pole in the final stage saw the multiple champion lose 12 seconds and drop to third overall.

“On the first part [of SS3] I was painting the road, and in the last part I was cleaning the road!” Neuville smiled. “Super tricky to keep it on the road. I’m happy with the first day. Overall, our target was to finish today.”

“[It was] difficult of course. A lot of mud on the road and we hit a pole sideways. It’s always lucky to get away with that,” said Ogier at the stop control.

Sandwiched between the Hyundai and Ogier was Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin in their GR Yaris, two seconds off the lead.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja ended fourth, some 27 seconds adrift of the reigning World Champion with Hyundai’s third crew Adrien Fourmaux/Alex Coria finishing in fifth. The Frenchman shone on stage two, beating Tanak’s time by 3.1 seconds.

Kalle Rovanpera, returning for a full season campaign with Toyota was a little rusty and ended down in sixth position with M-Sport Ford’s new team leader Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka slotting into seventh in the standings. The Luxembourger hustled his Puma to the fourth fastest time in the final stage of the evening, narrowing the gap to Rovanpera to 4.9 seconds.

Fighting a bout of flu, Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston ended eighth, 4’30” behind the Ford.

Sami Pajari, making his Monte Rally1 debut and with Marko Salminen reading the notes finished a cautious ninth ahead of the top Rally2 team of Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov, now Skoda mounted.

Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy, making their Rally1 debut in the second M-Sport Ford Puma, ended in 12^th position after taking a sensible approach to the start of their new career path.

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Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas! Tis the season to be jolly and reminisce on a great season of motorsport with the festive issue of Motorsport Monday!

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF MOTORSPORT MONDAY FOR FREE

This week’s magazine sees our writers look back on their favourite moments of a record-breaking, history-making season of motorsport.

To top it off, we have blockbuster motorsport trivia for you to sink your teeth into with a series of quizzes.

In this week’s Start Your Engines, Dan Lawrence looks back on the year of motorsport and he’s not the only one in a reflective mood.

Kevin Dejewski reviews the highs and lows of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series whilst Phil Oakley and Mo Rehman review the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA campaigns.

In the world of MotoGP, Henry Cheal and Eden Hannigan count down their top five riders of 2024, but in F1, things were looking glum for Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda. Taylor Powling writes why Red Bull let go of Checo and promoted Liam Lawson over a spurned Tsunoda, who also gets the Agony Aunt treatment in Carla’s Corner.

And, as always, we have all the usual news, views and stories in this week’s edition of the most widely read weekly motorsport magazine in the world!

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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

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It’s early days in the WRC season finale with just the opening 2.15km super special stage being completed in a packed-to-the-rafter Toyota Stadium.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria powered their M-Sport Ford Puma into the rally lead – a first in his WRC career – by besting Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja’s Hyundai i20 N by 0.5 seconds.

A short stage always delivers close results; Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Takamoto Katsuta set the third fastest time in his GR Yaris much to the delight of his home fans, and only 0.8 seconds off the lead.

Fourth was Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin followed by Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais in fifth, the eight-time WRC Champion tied with the champion-elect Thierry Neuville and Martin Wydaeghe.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin (Citroen C3) heads title favourite Sami Pajari by two seconds.

The action resumes on Friday with eight stages covering more than 125 kilometres of competitive distance.

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Thierry Neuville holds a 52.6 second lead over teammate Dani Sordo after stage 11 of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece. Sebastian Ogier is third, ahead of Ott Tanak. Sami Pajari leads WRC2 from Robert Virves who had a puncture on the final stage gravel stage of the day.

Elfyn Evans rolled his GR Yaris on a slow hairpin in stage 11 where fortunately, a group of spectators could get him back on his wheels. Tanak almost rolled his Hyundai in the exact same manner, but saved the car.

The final Saturday stage is the EKO Super Special at 21:05 tonight.

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WRC2 star Robert Virves is going to WRC EKO Acropolis Rally Greece this weekend after a stellar crowdfunding effort raised €52 000!

The 24-year-old Estonian, who clinched the FIA Junior WRC title in Greece in 2022, has been under financial distress as he tries to maintain his WRC2 challenge, having sufficient funding only to compete up to Rally Finland.

Spearheaded by Rally Estonia director Urmo Aava and Estonian sports commentator Kalev Kruus, the fund-raising campaign saw Estonian fans dig deep and raised over €50,000, ensuring Virves could compete in Greece.

“First of all, I am very grateful to Mr. Jüri Käo, Aivar Mäemets and Marek Mägi. These are the key people who gave me a chance to compete in WRC again, and of course there are many other supporters as well who are behind us,” Virves said.

“Greece was not in my initial plans but, after Rally Poland, sports commentator Kalev Kruus and Rally Estonia director Urmo Aava decided to go public with their Estonian Next Rallystar fundraising campaign to get us to Greece and they managed to raise over 52,000 Euros.

“The support from Estonian rally fans and community is unbelievable and the fact that people care about what we do and want to help us means a lot,” he added.

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Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja have crashed out of Secto Rally Finland 2km into stage three. Both crew were out of the car. A statement from Hyundai said: “Ott and Martin went off the road on SS3 of Rally Finland. Ott is ok, however Martin will be taken to hospital for further checks. We will provide more updates when possible”

It is raining in Finland and after SS4, Evans leads Rovanpera, Ogier and Katsuta with Lappi and Neuville in fifth and sixth. Neuville had an overshoot into the forest in SS3

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It has been 50 years since the ‘Queen of Speed’ Michele Mouton debuted as a driver in the 1974 World Rally Championship.

Before driving the iconic Audi Quattro, Mouton began her rally career in the Alpine A110 as a co-driver.

From law student to motorsport icon, Mouton first jumped in a rally car to help her friend Jean Taibi practice the Tour de Corse route in 1972.

Mouton made her official debut in the opening event of the World Rally Championship in 1973 at the inaugural Monte Carlo Rally, co-driving the Peugeot 304S for Jean Taibi.

After showing her prowess as a racer, Mouton’s father pushed her towards the driver’s seat and offered to provide her with a rally car so that she could prove her talents in France.

Mouton entered the 1973 Saint-Raphaël Féminin Rallye Paris, an all-female car rally, before competing in the Tour de France Automobile the same year which she would one day win in 1978.

Developing her experience as a driver before turning her head to the big stage, Mouton proved her speed and power across a number of rally events.

In 1974, the Frenchwoman made her official debut as a driver in the WRC.

Finishing 12th on her debut in the Tour de Corse driving an Alpine A110, many drivers accused Mouton of having an illegal engine.

Cleared of any wrongdoings, she dominated the French and European ladies’ categories throughout the season to be crowned champion in both categories.

The following year Mouton re-entered the Tour de Corse as the defending champion, finishing in seventh place and retaining her title as the French and European ladies’ champion.

That same year, the rally icon made an unexpected appearance in Le Mans with female teammates Christine Dacremont and Marianne Hoepfner.

Securing her first endurance race win, Mouton won the two-litre prototype category of the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 1977 Mouton partnered with French rally driver Jean-Claude Andruet for Fiat France, competing in the bulky Fiat 131 Abarth.

Putting the Abarth in fifth place at the Tour de Corse for three years in a row from 1978 to 1980, Mouton clocked consistent results in the WRC.

She progressed quickly through rally in 1977, securing podium finishes driving the Porsche Carrera RS in the RACE Rallye de España and Tour de France Automobile.

Winning the Tour de France Automobile in 1978 with the 131 Abarth and finishing second in the 1979 French Rally Championship, the Frenchwoman was ready for the next big step.

Signed to the new Audi factory team, Mouton was set to make her debut with Audi Sport in 1981 to drive the Audi Quattro.

The Audi Quattro. One of the most iconic race cars of all time, the Quattro was the first four-wheel-drive machine to boast over 300 bhp in the WRC.

Without homologation from the FIA, the Quattro was only entered into events as zero cars, losing them both stage and event wins.

At the 1981 Rally de Portugal, the Frenchwoman took seven stage wins to secure a fourth-placed position despite electrical issues plaguing her race.

Silencing all criticism thrown towards Audi for signing a female driver, Mouton was setting the fastest times across different stages at the 1981 Acropolis Rally before the FIA excluded the Quattros due to homologation procedures.

History was made at the Rallye Sanremo in northwestern Italy when Mouton became the first female driver to win a WRC event in only her sixth start in the Quattro.

Beating out champions Henri Toivonen, Hannu Mikkola and Ari Vatanen, Mouton and co-driver Fabrizia Pons paved the way for women in motorsport.

Earlier that weekend, the eventual champion Vatanen famously said: “The day I will be beaten by a woman, I will stop racing.”

Mouton went on to become the most successful female driver in the history of motorsport, coming devastatingly close to winning the 1982 WRC season.

Winning outright in Portugal, Greece and Brazil despite ongoing mechanical issues, the Frenchwoman entered the penultimate rally at the Côte d’Ivoire with the championship in sight.

Fighting against the championship leader and Rothmans Opel driver Walter Röhrl, she was told the heartbreaking news that her father had passed away from cancer the morning of the rally.

Speaking to Hagerty, Mouton shared: “My father died at 7 am and the race started at 8:30 am, I wanted to go home but my mother said to drive.

“I was 1 hour 20 minutes up on Röhrl, then lost 1 hour 15 minutes on a gearbox change, then had more problems. I lost the world championship, but I missed my father more.” 

Securing herself second place in the championship, while gifting Audi the manufacturer’s title, Mouton was just inches away from the title.

The rally icon found success outside of the WRC, beating out American drivers to win the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 1985 with over 30 seconds to spare.

Mouton set a record time of 11:25.39, despite receiving a time penalty for driving ‘too fast’’, Mouton smashed American racing legend Bobby Unser’s record by 13 seconds.

In 1989, Mouton retired from rallying after picking up 162 stage wins, 9 podiums and 4 rally wins. 

Helping to found the Race of Champions in 1988 to honour the death of Henri Toivonen, she stayed in the realm of motorsport for decades.

The Frenchwoman was appointed president of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission in 2010, serving until her retirement in 2022.

One of the most iconic figures in rallying, Mouton made history and set various records in motorsport, cementing herself as one of the greatest drivers of all time.

Celebrating 50 years of Michele Mouton’s legacy as the “Queen of Speed” showcases her pioneering career in motorsport. Likewise, exploring a new foreign casino opens doors to exciting new gaming experiences, with cutting-edge features and international opportunities that deliver speed and thrills.

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