Wrc

Listen to this article Ogier and Loeb rejoined the WRC with respective Toyota and M-Sport-Ford teams for their third starts of partial campaign this season in Kenya last weekend. Both endured their fair share of misfortune tackling Kenya’s unique tough gravel roads, with Ogier leading the rally until a puncture late on Friday cost him two minutes, which dropped last year’s Safari winner to fourth where he remained for the duration, to complete a Toyota 1-2-3-4 headed by Kalle Rovanpera. Twenty years on from his first Safari, Loeb claimed three stage wins overall and was in the fight for the podium places when an engine fire broke out on his Ford Puma after Stage 4. A depleted battery forced him into retirement before rejoining the rally to finish eighth overall. However, it is likely the pair will compete again in the WRC this year, with Ogier already eyeing up outings in New Zealand and Japan, following confirmation he won’t contest the full FIA World Endurance … [Read more...] about WRC legends Ogier, Loeb eyeing more outings in 2022

Listen to this article The 21-year-old produced an almost perfect drive in arguably the toughest stages the WRC encounters across its 13-round championship. Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen completed the 19 stages with a 52.8s margin over teammate Elfyn Evans , while Toyota locked out the top four positions, with Takamoto Katsuta third and Sebastien Ogier fourth. A fourth win from six rounds came despite starting first on the notoriously difficult roads that feature sections of deep fesh-fesh sand that require careful navigation. “I have to say, this was the hardest rally I have ever done and to be honest we just have to thank the team,” said Rovanpera. “Of course it [the win] is quite important because it is a special event. You know, if you manage to win it, it is quite nice and for Toyota it has been an important race. “I think it is the toughest because of how much you have to concentrate and manage the car to keep it moving over the fesh-fesh sand, … [Read more...] about Rovanpera: Safari Rally win the “hardest” of my WRC career

Listen to this article Rovanpera once again proved the class of the field as the 21-year-old completed 19 brutal gravel stages (363.44km) to take his fourth win from six events this year. Despite opening the roads, the Finn led home Elfyn Evans by 52.8s with teammates Takamoto Katsuta third (1m42.7s) and eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier fourth (2m10.3s) to score Toyota’s first 1-2-3-4 in WRC since the 1993 Safari Rally, won by Juha Kankkunen. Only six of 12 WRC Rally1 cars completed the full rally distance in what proved to be the toughest event of the season by far. Rovanpera’s only blemish arrived on the Thursday’s opening Super Special stage in Nairobi when he almost rolled his GR Yaris, picking up a puncture in the process. On Friday he fared admirably opening the roads as Kenya’s deep fesh-fesh sand wrecked havoc with WRC crews, ending the day with a 14.6s lead over Elfyn Evans. Evans emerged as a genuine rally contender on Saturday as he closed to … [Read more...] about WRC Safari Rally: Rovanpera wins as Toyota scores 1-2-3-4

Listen to this article The 26-year-old Kenyan managed to win the WRC’s third tier class by 25 minutes and 27s, and finished the event 16th overall, one place behind M-Sport Rally1 driver Gus Greensmith. The event marked exactly a year since the motocross convert took up rallying at the Safari Rally. Wahome’s victory was made even more impressive given the event was her first outing in the M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta Rally3 car, having previously piloted a Subaru Impreza N12 in the African Rally Championship. Wahome ended Friday sitting in second position behind countryman and Junior WRC regular McRae Kimathi, but her hopes of a podium were thrown into doubt by am ECU issue. It meant the Wahome had to rejoin the rally under Super Rally rules but was able to drive cleanly through a brutal event, that saw all WRC3 competitors forced to retire at least once, to rise to the lead on Saturday. An error free run through Sunday’s five stages sealed the victory from … [Read more...] about Wahome makes history as first female WRC3 winner at Safari Rally