Wrc decisions 2018

In the round-up: Formula 1’s official tyre supplier Pirelli says its decision not to continue supplying rubber to the World Rally Championship is not linked to its future in grand prix racing. In brief Pirelli WRC exit not linked to F1 future The FIA is poised to decide which manufacturer has been selected as F1’s tyre supplier for the 2025 to 2027 seasons. Pirelli is understood to have submitted an application as well as former F1 tyre supplier Bridgestone. Earlier this month Pirelli confirmed it would not seek to extend its deal to supply tyres to the World Rally Championship. But its head of motor sport Mario Isola said this decision is not linked to it’s future participation in F1. “We have a team dedicated to WRC and we believe that in this period we got what we wanted in terms of being a part of the sport,” said Isola. “The team that is looking after WRC, or rallying in general, is not the same team that we have for Formula 1.” Pirelli is in its 13th consecutive year … [Read more...] about Pirelli deny WRC pull-out linked to F1 future as it awaits FIA’s decision

The 2019 world champion is out of contract for next season having penned a one-year deal with M-Sport Ford for the 2023 campaign, after leaving Hyundai with a year remaining on his contract. Tanak has endured a difficult return to the Ford squad that offered him his first full-time WRC season in 2012. The Estonian claimed victory in Sweden and finished second in Croatia, although those results are his only visits to the podium to date this year. Tanak says he wishes to continue competing in the WRC next year while M-Sport is hoping to secure his services for 2024. However, M-Sport bosses have admitted it won’t be a straightforward decision to keep Tanak. The British team’s future at rallying’s highest level next year has been questioned, although boss Malcolm Wilson says the squad has no intention to stop competing in Rally1 in 2024. Tanak revealed in Greece he’s had discussions with all WRC teams but admitted it is “difficult' to know how his future will pan out. … [Read more...] about Tanak in talks but WRC 2024 future yet to be decided

As reported earlier this month, the FIA ad WRC Promoter had asked WRC drivers to nominate a representative to join the WRC Commission to offer competitors a voice and feedback on key topics and possible regulation changes. The decision to create this new position has come in response to criticism from drivers and teams this year over concerns that championship’s appeal is diminishing. This has since triggered the WRC Promoter and FIA to consult with drivers and resulted in a raft of proposals to improve the championship - some of which that could be introduced next year - that were discussed in Friday’s commission meeting. The meeting was also observed by Martin, co-driver to Toyota’s Elfyn Evans , having been nominated to represent WRC competitors. The experienced co-driver offers a wealth of experience to the decision making process having made 172 WRC starts, claiming six wins. Martin has also co-driven for the late Craig Breen and former M-Sport driver Matthew … [Read more...] about Evans co-driver Scott Martin lands WRC Commission role

The British operation’s participation in rallying’s top tier was called into question during the Acropolis Rally earlier this month. Team founder Malcolm Wilson has since reiterated that M-Sport has no intention to stop its Rally1 programme and “will be doing whatever we can to try and find a way to stay in at the highest level”. The Ford-supported team has endured a challenging 2023 season with a victory in Sweden and second place in Croatia its podium results to date. To compound its misfortune on the stages, the team’s core business model is based around selling cars to customers and currently it has sold only two Rally1 cars, and only one of those to an active competitor in Jourdan Serderidis . The WRC stalwart team is working to secure budgets for 2024 and is yet to announce its plans for next season, although this is not an unusual situation for operation. M-Sport, along with rivals Toyota and Hyundai, have been united in a push to improve the championship’s … [Read more...] about WRC’s future changes key for M-Sport moving forward

The Japanese marque is yet to make any official announcements regarding its plan for next season, with all of its drivers currently out of contract at the end of the year. Toyota’s management had stated its wish to maintain its driver line-up of world champion Kalle Rovanpera, Elfyn Evans , part-time driver Sebastien Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta into 2024. While contacts are yet to be signed between any of its drivers, Latvala says it is “looking good” that Toyota will continue to field the same driver line-up next year. “At the moment we are trying to continue with the same driver line-up and at the moment we haven't signed contracts, but generally speaking it is looking good,” said Latvala ahead of this weekend’s Rally Chile. “I’m feeling good and all the drivers are feeling good and they want to stay. In that sense I don’t expect any big changes.” The quartet of drivers have been part of Toyota’s WRC roster since 2020. The only changes to the line-up were triggered … [Read more...] about Toyota “looking good” to retain WRC driver line-up for 2024

After an impressive start to the rally, Loubet was sitting fourth heading into stage three when he went off the road at high-speed. The Frenchman appeared to carry too much speed into a right-hand corner which resulted in his car being sent into a frightening series of rolls, before coming to rest on its roof. Loubet and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul luckily emerged from the wreckage without injury. “Unfortunately on a very fast section, maybe we did not understand something with Nicolas and we did a mistake, and unfortunately there was a big crash,” said Loubet. “The pacenote was fine, I think it was more the moment and everything around the pacenote. “[The rally] was going well. We were leading the stages also, so everything was looking pretty good and I had no moments and I felt good in the car. “I didn’t feel like I was over pushing, so it is big disappointment as it was not a proper mistake. I think it was something we need to check to make sure that will not happen … [Read more...] about Loubet explains frightening WRC Rally Chile exit

Evans had lost nearly a minute on Friday with damaged suspension after contact with a bank on Elsi but has now surged back up the leaderboard to sixth with three stage wins - though crucially Tanak was faster than Ogier on each occasion. Most of Tanak’s morning gains came on the first test, Dyfi, gaining 2.4s to help boost his overall advantage to seven seconds over Citroen’s six-time world champion. Ogier had looked set to claw some time back on Sweet Lamb but reported a “strange impact” that left him fearing he had broken a damper, causing him to lose concentration and drop another 1.1s to Tanak. Hyundai’s contender for the drivers’ championship Thierry Neuville moved into third place at the expense of Tanak’s Toyota teammate Kris Meeke, drawing level on Dyfi and then pulling away on the next two stages to build a 4.4s gap. Meeke has nearly 20s in hand over a frenetic battle for fifth place that is currently headed by Andreas Mikkelsen, which has been shaken up by Evans’s … [Read more...] about Rally GB WRC: Tanak extends lead as Evans dominates

Tanak suffered a scare early on Sweet Lamb when a compression ripped the rear bumper off his Toyota Yaris WRC, which meant he “couldn’t hear anything” co-driver Martin Jarveoja was saying. However, Tanak appeared relatively unaffected on the following test and conceded only 0.4s to Neuville, though at one point had been 1.5s ahead of Hyundai’s lead driver. Neuville is now in second place behind Tanak, winning the reruns of both Myherin and Dyfi. But Tanak’s performance on Sweet Lamb, in which only Neuville’s teammate Andreas Mikkelsen was faster than the championship leader, ensured the lead gap crept up to 10.1s. Ogier was unable to keep pace with his fellow title rivals on the polished afternoon stages, with less grip on offer from the forest roads as rain began to fall once more. Dyfi was especially costly for Ogier, dropping 3.9s to Neuville and leaving him 6.2s astray heading to the final stage of the day in Colwyn Bay. Early rally leader Kris Meeke … [Read more...] about Rally GB WRC: Tanak stays in lead, Neuville rises to second

Teammate Kris Meeke had led early on Friday morning, with Tanak starting on the back foot after a mistake on the rally-opening Oulton Park superspecial. A storming drive on the pair of Friday night stages, Dyfnant and Aberhirnant, then propelled Tanak into a lead he would gradually extend over the next two days. His only other concern was on Saturday afternoon, when a compression ripped the rear bumper off his Toyota Yaris WRC on Sweet Lamb and left him struggling to hear co-driver Martin Jarveoja’s notes, though there was no noticeable impact on his pace. Tanak’s advantage in the championship is now up to 28 points, giving him a strong chance of wrapping up a first world title with a round to spare in Spain. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville had been slower out of the blocks than his fellow title rivals, spending the first half of the rally in fourth place. A push on Saturday’s afternoon loop gave Neuville stage wins on Myherin and Dyfi and put him past both … [Read more...] about Rally GB WRC: Tanak extends points lead with win