Chasing his record-breaking 10^th Rallye Monte Carlo victory, Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais slithered their Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris to the top of the leaderboard after the first full day of action at the opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The six stages – five were run after SS5 was cancelled due a spectator medical event – had it all. Dry tarmac, wet tarmac, wet mud, and of course, black ice, making grip levels unpredictable at best and a nerve-wracking lottery at worst. Teams had a wide array of Hankook’s new rubber to choose from and countless variations abounded. Full studs, studded crossed with full winter, or even super-soft rubber all round.

Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen set the timing sheets alight and set the benchmark time on stage four, but the most impressive drive came from Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka in the their M-Sport Ford Puma,  only 1.4 seconds behind the double WRC Champion.

All the top runners had the same storyline; difficult to predict how much and where, grip was available.

Stage six saw the first of several incidents: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe arrived at a sharp right-hand corner and couldn’t slow down enough. The Hyundai slithered over a mound on the apex of the corner which pitched the i20 N into a ditch on the opposite side of the road. The left-rear corner was wrecked, but the reigning champion dragged his car through the rest of the stage and back to the service park.

 “I think we paid the price for not having enough experience with the tyre for the dry section, it felt like the tyre was quite stable then suddenly I lost the brakes, saw the ditch and lost the rear’”, the Belgian explained.

Hyundai teammate Ott Tanak and Martin Järveoja also had a moment, understeering into a ditch, missing a pole by inches and running along the ditch until he could floor the throttle to get back on to the road. At the stage end, after surveying what was left of his car, the Estonian said: “There is a lot missing but I am happy to be here. Some black ice was there.”

Ogier too, had a moment, a briefly ‘ditched’ his GR Yaris as well, but he got away with it. Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen went off in exactly the same place as Ogier, pulling a tyre off the rim.

Adrien Fourmaux/Alex Coria won the stage with another team-leader-esque drive from Munster, who went second quickest, beating such luminaries as Ogier, rally leader Elfyn Evans, Rovanpera and Tanak.

The afternoon loop went relatively quietly, except for Evans and Neuville. The Welshman had a spin in SS8. “I was proper steady, it just started to go and I couldn’t recover. I was on the ice, we just went a margin too far, we were almost there. We had the information, it was Bambi on ice,” he shrugged.

The spin cost Evans the lead which was now in Ogier’s hands.

Neville had a carbon copy incident on SS9 at the same corner as his stage six faux pas. This time though, he’d suffered a puncture beforehand but with the same result, bouncing over the mound and across the road into the same ditch nose first, albeit without further damage. He elaborated: “I was punctured far before, left front puncture since the beginning. We tried to go as far and as fast as we could but at some time the tyre just went and we went straight again.”

It was a French one-two in stages eight and nine with Ogier heading Fourmaux on the timesheets. At the close of business, Ogier led teammate Evans by 12.6 seconds with Fourmaux threateningly close, 1.6 seconds back in third.

Rovanpera, Tanak and Munster rounded out the top six.

In WRC2, Yohan and Leo Rossel’s Citroen C3s sandwiched Eric Camilli’s Hyundai, although Nikolay Gryazin – who is not registered to score points on this round – was keeping Skoda’s flag flying, 21.4 seconds behind Rossel (Y).

The post Monte master Sebastian Ogier leads after tricky Friday appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Hot on the heels of the revised 2025 WRC points refinement comes the announcement of the 2027 WRC regulations which have been formulated with a ten-year life span and are underpinned by three key pillars; cost-reduction – estimated to be 50% cheaper, flexibility of car body types – hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and concept cars – all with a common safety cell, which has been designed to increase competition and attract new manufacturers to the sport.

The regulation set also follows motor industry trends allowing for the use of multiple different power plants – sustainably-fueled internal combustion engines, hybrid and fully electric propulsion with technology used to ensure power and torque parity between the various configurations.

The massive cost savings will be achieved though component cost specifications rather than financial regulations as well as in the technical designs of certain components that will make them more durable over the course of a rally.

In addition to reducing the cost of the cars themselves, running costs for teams are set to be reduced by limiting personnel, reducing logistics transport costs, increasing the use of local infrastructure and increasing data connectivity to aid off-site engineering.

“The regulations that we have approved today are critical to the long-term growth of the FIA World Rally Championship,” expressed FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem at Wednesday’s announcement. “Just one year ago, we identified that there was the need for the rally stakeholders to come together and begin a more coordinated way of working. That we have published these regulations for 2027 highlights that the work we have done has been a success.”

Echoing the thoughts of President Ben Sulayem and Peter Thul was FIA President of the WRC Commission, Pernilla Solberg: “I would like to thank all the Commission members and the WRC Technical Working Group for the significant amount of work that has got us to this stage. We set some clear objectives based on what the competitors, organisers and fans were telling us, and this has resulted in a set of regulations that will massively reduce costs while giving the WRC the flexibility to remain relevant regardless of the shifting automotive landscape.

“We still have some work to do, but I’m really excited for this future.”

The post 2027 WRC regulations revealed appeared first on Motorsport Week.

The FIA World Rally Championship will feature a simpler points system next season which aims to reward overall rally winners with the most points across a weekend, while retaining Super Sunday’s excitement with a slightly reduced allocation as well as the Wolf Power Stage which has kept fans on the edge of their seats since its introduction.

A perfect rally weekend will earn 35 points, five up from this year’s 30, with the overall top ten earning 25-17-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 respectively. Super Sunday has been trimmed back to the fastest five who will receive 5-4-3-2-1, while the Wolf Power Stage remains unchanged at 5-4-3-2-1.

The FIA World Motorsport Council approved the changes on 11 December.

“This updated system builds on the general success of the 2024 format, which delivered unforgettable moments and fierce title fights,” explained Peter Thul, Senior Director of Sport at WRC Promoter. “We’ve made subtle but meaningful adjustments to further reward rally wins and ensure the competition remains as thrilling as ever. Fans can expect even closer battles and dramatic finales in 2025.”

The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship calendar, unveiled in July, features a spectacular 14-round schedule and includes exciting new stops in Spain, Paraguay, and Saudi Arabia.

The post Revised WRC points for 2025 season 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.

Thierry Neuville leads the WRC Central European Rally by 6.9 seconds from Sebastian Ogier at the end of Friday’s six stages and 111km of racing across sometimes damp and treacherously slippery roads in the Czech Republic, coated with leaves as Autumn sets in over the northern hemisphere.

If the CER was to end on Friday, Thierry Neuville and Martin Wydaeghe would be World Rally Champions. It hasn’t ended, but he is the required two points ahead of his teammate Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja, who lie third overall.

Neuville powered into the lead of the penultimate round of the WRC in stage five, enjoying a 2.7 second advantage over the leading Toyota GR Yaris of Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais, who lost a few seconds after running wide in the stage when conditions were a combination of damp roads and slippery autumn leaves.

“We stopped so nothing happened”, said Ogier at the end of stage interview. “We lost a bit of time. Wasn’t a good stage for me.”

Neuville inched away over the afternoon loop of three stages with two second fastest times in stages six and eight and winning stage seven, ending his visit to the Czech Republic in the pound seats.

“I am happy to be at the end. It is easy to make a mistake and I knew the only thing that was important to us was to make it to the end. Some spots are falling of rain, but it is quite greasy in there, so we played it safe and came through,” said Neuville.

The margins between the top four are tiny: Tänak is three seconds adrift of Ogier and Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin are 0.8 seconds behind Tänak.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston were in the fight – the Japanese driver won stage six – but he fell away as the day progressed to end fifth overall.

Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen ended sixth overall, ahead of the two M-Sport Ford Puma’s of Adrien Fourmaux/Alex Coria and Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka, both suffered hybrid issues in stage four, as did Andreas Mikkelsen and Sami Pajari.

Mikkelsen exited stage left, or more accurately, stage right when he understeered off the road and through a fence in the high-speed fifth stage. With his wrecked Hyundai resting well into the road, the stage was red flagged.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov lead the way 3.1 seconds ahead of the non-points scoring Oliver Solberg, with Filip Mares/Radovan Bucha in a net second in WRC2.

Yohan Rossel/Florian Barral are fifth, but 1:36.7 away from the lead of a rally they must win to stay in title contention.

There’s still 177.5km and ten stages remaining and in spite of his “It’s over now” comment at the end of Thursday’s stages, it clearly isn’t.

The post Thierry Neuville in charge in Europe appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Hybrid Rally1 cars will continue in the World Rally Championship until the end of 2026, the FIA has confirmed following Tuesday’s World Motor Sport Council.

It was widely expected that the FIA would make a U-turn on its February proposal to phase out Rally1 cars in their current guise, a decision ratified on Tuesday’s WMSC meeting

The proposal made earlier this year by the FIA’s working group centred on the removal of the Rally1 car’s  hybrid power as early as next year as part of a plan to close the performance gap to Rally2 cars with a modified rear wing and a smaller air restrictor.

A proposal was added for manufacturers to produce an optional upgrade kit for Rally2 cars to increase their performance to allow some competitors to battle at the sharp end of rallies.

It was hoped this could increase entries and provide a smooth transition to all-new technical regulations in 2027.

Changes to Rally1 and Rally2 were strongly opposed by teams and manufacturers which resulted in a letter being penned to the FIA in April requesting for the current rules to remain in place.

The key concerns among the teams centred around the short timeframe to redesign, test and validate changes to cars for next season as well as substantial  investments that have already been made in the current cars which was expected to be amortised across a five-year homologation cycle.

“Technical stability has been agreed between all stakeholders for the 2025 and 2026 FIA World Rally Championship seasons. The World Council has confirmed that, following extensive feedback and discussions, the WRC Technical Regulations for Rally1/2 cars will remain unchanged for the coming two years,” read a statement from the FIA.

“All stakeholders are working positively together on the direction of the regulations for 2027 and beyond, and there is a good consensus between the World Council members and the manufacturers on the key targets that are aimed primarily at increasing participation at the highest level as previously set out by the FIA.

“It is a strong expectation of the World Council that the current manufacturers will commit to the long-term future of the sport well in advance. These regulations will be presented for approval at the December meeting of the World Council, allowing more than two year’s lead time for manufacturers to adapt.

“Following a clear pledge to invest from the WRC Promoter, the FIA will strengthen its team across the Commercial and Communications Departments to extend their support for the Promoter and the key stakeholders around the Promotional Working Group.

“There will be a strong focus on managing the sporting regulations following the creation of the WRC Sporting Working Group, with a key emphasis on increasing the opportunities for media activation and reducing the costs for its competitors. The final versions of these Sporting Regulations are to be proposed in the October session of the WMSC.”

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem added: “The WRC is hugely important to the FIA, it is the pinnacle of the rally discipline and I have had a lot of conversations with the manufacturers over the past weeks about its future direction.

“It is clear now that we all need to have technical stability for the next two years, but at the same time it is important for the FIA that, in providing this stability, we receive the same positive commitment from the manufacturers.”

The reaction to the decision has been positive from both the WRC Promoter and teams with the former describing the move as a “hugely important moment”.

“As the WRC Promoter this is a hugely important moment for us, as we can move forward with unity and consistency over the next two years from a technical perspective while we are investing heavily in new and exciting ways to grow the fanbase of the sport and deliver for our fans, said WRC Promoter Managing Director Jona Siebel.

It is a move that Toyota believes will save teams money and allow more time to focus on the 2027 regulations.

“It is very good news because if we think about this cycle the investment which have been made it makes sense to run through a cycle which is normally five years,” said Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala. “If we had done changes now we would have needed to do a big investment so it is very clever choice to do and concentrate on stability and then do the new regulations for 2027.”

Hyundai has been most affected by the upheaval having to abandon plans to deliver a whole new car for 2025 under the current rules due to the uncertainty.

“We have worked very closely together with the FIA over the past months and while we all believe that stability of the technical regulations for 2025 and 2026 is the right thing, the very substantial steps made on the governance will provide for a more unified and positive approach towards the short term improvements and long term breakthroughs that we all agree the sport needs,” said team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

While pleased by a vote for stability in regulations, M-Sport Ford boss Malcolm Wilson says that is now time for proposals to improve the championship’s promotion to be enacted.

“This is a really positive step for us in the coming years,” said Wilson. “We have seen some good proposals on the promotion side, on the marketing side and the plans for event operations and now the work to make those things happen needs to start, and with a consistent proposition on the technical side, I think the scope is there to achieve our ambitious targets for the WRC.”

The FIA also confirmed plans to extend its exclusive Junior WRC car supply contract with M-Sport Poland for the Ford Fiesta Rally3 EVO for 2025.

The post Hybrid-powered Rally1 cars remain until end of 2026 appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais reeled off the remaining four stages on Sunday to take the Frenchman’s tally to six of the famous gravel Rally de Portugal and his career tally to 60 WRC victories.

Starting the day with an 11.9 second lead over Hyundai’s Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja, Ogier quickly gapped another 6.2 seconds on the day’s opening stage, allowing the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver to control the pace in the early morning foggy stages.

Tänak threw caution to the wind in Fafe 1, clawing back 4.5 seconds and another 3.5 seconds in the penultimate stage, but with just 11km left, Ogier had it in the bag barring any unforeseen last minute moments.

The Wolf Power Stage was the scene for the final showdown which was won by Thierry Neuville/Martin Wydaeghe, just 0.1 seconds ahead Tänak.

Tänak took the Super Sunday spoils and the seven points that go with it and while Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin still hold second in the standings, the heat has been turned up as the Estonian is only seven points adrift.

Neuville’s third place podium finish opens up the gap in the championship standings over Evans – who was six points adrift heading to the Iberian Peninsula to 24.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria continued their fine form, snatching fourth place in the day’s first stage, powering their M-Sport Ford Puma through the fog with confidence, something lacking in Dani Sordo with limited visibility.

Evans was a lackluster sixth after myriad problems including Scott Martin mislaying his pace notes, a puncture and an overheating engine.

Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov was the first WRC2 car home but he had not nominated the event for Driver’s Championship points.

Taking a maiden WRC2 win – and a first for Toyota’s GR Yaris WRC2 machine, was a delighted Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan who pipped the Irish pair of Joshua Mcerlean/James Fulten’s Skoda Fabia RS, which was also the Irishman’s first WRC2 podium as was third placed Lauri Joona/Janni Hussi in another Fabia RS.

The post Ogier sets another new record with his 6th Rally de Portugal victory appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Thierry Neuville set the quickest time around the 2.94km opening stage of Rally de Portugal 0.6 seconds quicker than Sebastian Ogier.

The championship leader knows he’s in for a tough day sweeping the roads in his Hyundai.

Earlier in the day, Dani Sordo, competing for the first time since the Forum8 Rally Japan last year, was quickest in the shakedown stage.

Tyres will play an important role over the two days: on Friday, two loops of 63.45km are scheduled; a tyre fitting zone will be welcomed by the crews after the first four stages but there’s no service across the 126.9km of gravel stages.

Let battle commence…

The post Thierry Neuville takes early WRC Portugal lead appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Hybrid will be abandoned from the World Rally Championship’s premier Rally1 category from the end of this season as part of a range of proposed technical regulation changes following the World Motor Sport Council’s meeting this week.

The hybrid technology adds significant costs to a Rally1 car which cost around €1m each; dumping the expensive technology makes the current crop of Rally1 cars museum pieces at the end of this season.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who established the Working Group in December, said: “The WMSC members carefully considered the recommendations of the WRC Working Group and were united in their support of the series of objectives that have been established.”

In order to make the WRC more sustainable and attractive to new manufacturers, the Working Group is looking to revamp both the sporting and technical regulations as well as ways to increase the promotion and return on investment for manufacturers involved in the spectacular sport.

New regulations will be drafted by the WRC Commission and presented at the June meeting of the World Motor Sport Council for approval.

Some earlier suggestions to kill off the Rally1 cars altogether and replace it with a more cost-effective Rally2+ class were canned in favour of overhauling the Rally1 technical specs. Besides dropping the uber-expensive hybrid system, other proposals include using a smaller turbo restrictor to reduce power and limit aero.

The WRC2+ suggestion has been suggested as a new category with the aim of reducing the gap between the top two tiers of rally cars.

A ‘WRC kit’, which includes a bigger restrictor, a bigger exhaust, added aerodynamics and a paddle shift has been recommended in time for the start of the 2025 season.

Looking ahead to 2026, a cost cap comes into play, dropping the bill to €400,000 while a further power reduction is envisaged. A common safety cell has been proposed so manufacturers can add whatever body style they choose to promote on the world stage.

With electrification top of mind in global motorsport, a class with appropriate rules will be established to accommodate EVs.

The sporting changes offer greater freedom to individual events in deciding their itineraries. While events will be allowed to decide when their rallies start, they still have to finish with the Sunday afternoon Power Stage.

Overall mileage will remain largely the same, whether the event organiser opts for an endurance or sprint format.

To reduce operational costs, manufacturers will be limited in the number of personnel allowed to work in a three-car team while locally sourced structures that are used for the teams’ base have been recommended, further reducing operational costs.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem concluded: “To be at the point where the WRC Commission can now work on finalising proposals that will go a long way towards cementing the WRC’s future course, once approved by the WMSC, is a significant moment for the championship, its stakeholders and the rallying community in general. It’s also important to note that the results of the WRC Fan Engagement Survey will be carefully considered by the WRC Commission during the process of drafting the final proposals. I thank all those who took part as we continue the process of delivering a WRC that’s relevant for the present and fit for the future.”

The post WRC abandons Hybrid in sweeping regulation overhaul appeared first on Motorsport Week.