Ott Tanak added another 0.9 seconds to his Rally GB lead by winning the Colwyn Bay spectator stage, further increasing the Toyota driver’s advantage over his World Rally Championship rivals. Based around the promenade of Colwyn Bay, only a few miles away from rally HQ in Llandudno, the short 1.5-mile stage was the only night
Month: October 2019
Thierry Neuville scored two Rally GB stage wins to take second place from World Rally Championship title rival Sebastien Ogier on Saturday afternoon, though Toyota’s Ott Tanak still leads. Tanak suffered a scare early on the Sweet Lamb stage when a compression ripped the rear bumper off his Toyota Yaris WRC, which caused additional noise
Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup driver Alex Bowman says he is trying to quietly move on from the Charlotte spat in which rival Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr threw liquid on him. Bowman, who had to start from the rear of the field last Sunday at the Charlotte Roval in a back-up car, rallied to finish second
Data from Marc Marquez’s frightening high-side crash in Thailand Grand Prix MotoGP practice reveals he hit the asphalt with a 26.14g impact and that the accident lasted 4.81 seconds. The Honda rider was flicked from his RC213V at Turn 7 while on an out-lap in the latter stages of the first 45-minute practice session of
Marc Marquez knew there was a “big chance” of crashing as he braked for Turn 5 during final qualifying for MotoGP’s Thailand Grand Prix, but still opted against backing off. The Honda rider was on a lap that was threatening to put him on pole in the dying moments of qualifying when he slid off
KTM MotoGP rider Mika Kallio says he is “not happy at all” with his current form after having replaced Johann Zarco in the team’s full-time rider line-up. Having granted Zarco the request to leave the outfit after 2020, KTM then sidelined him in favour of tester Kallio ahead of the Aragon race, in order to
World Rally Championship points leader Ott Tanak has edged further ahead of chief rival Sebastien Ogier on Rally GB, but Elfyn Evans dominated the Saturday morning loop for M-Sport. 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
Petronas Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo bagged the fourth pole of his rookie MotoGP campaign in Thailand, despite crashing on his final lap. Quartararo posted the fastest-ever MotoGP lap of Buriram, eclipsing Dani Pedrosa’s benchmark from 2018 pre-season testing, as he saw off fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales and championship leader Marc Marquez – who also
Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso topped a rain-delayed and shortened third practice ahead of the Thailand Grand Prix at Buriram. A last-gasp lap on slicks on a rapidly trying track left Dovizioso over eight tenths clear of his nearest rival, Petronas SRT Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli. Torrential rain in the morning meant the session was postponed
A row over alleged deviation from the prescribed route of a Rally GB chicane could have a significant impact on the result of this weekend’s World Rally Championship round. Sebastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen are all understood to have deviated from the route at a chicane following the finish of the short Slate
Ott Tanak stormed into the Rally GB lead on Friday night’s stages, leaping from fourth to first while erstwhile leader and Toyota World Rally Championship team-mate Kris Meeke fell back. Tanak benefited from running first on the road for Dyfnant, winning the stage by 5.7 seconds from Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen in near-daylight conditions as drivers
Jimmie Johnson underlined he wants to delay any decision about his long-term NASCAR future as long as possible, as Hendrick Motorsports announced a sponsor deal covering his car through 2023. The 44-year-old seven-time Cup champion’s current contract with Hendrick expires at the end of next year. He has not won a Cup round since June
Kris Meeke continues to lead Rally GB for Toyota, but is under heavy pressure from reigning World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier. Fastest times on both Elsi and Penmachno – the afternoon loop’s two full-length stages – launched Citroen driver Ogier forwards from the fifth place in which he had ended the morning. He is now
Marc Marquez comes into MotoGP’s Thailand race with a 98-point lead in the championship and his first opportunity to seal a sixth premier class world title. All the Honda rider needs to do is outscore nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati by two points at Buriram and an early coronation will be assured. Marquez
The aeroscreen IndyCar will adopt in 2020 is stronger than the halo device used in Formula 1 and other single-seater categories, according to developer Red Bull Advanced Technologies. The device – which also features a halo-like structure – was tested on-track for the first time on Wednesday at Indianapolis, after which IndyCar drivers Will Power
LCR rider Cal Crutchlow says the current performance of Honda’s MotoGP bike on out-laps is “embarrassing”, and believes this played a part in Marc Marquez’s FP1 crash at Buriram. Marquez was thrown from his RC213V late on in the first practice session at the Turn 7 right-hander while off-throttle, and had to go to hospital
Toyota’s Kris Meeke kept himself in the lead of his home World Rally Championship round, Rally GB, on a very wet Friday morning. Though Meeke did not win any of the loop’s four stages, his consistently quick pace meant he headed for service with a six-second lead over Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville. Meeke managed to
Valentino Rossi hopes incoming MotoGP crew chief David Munoz can make a big impact, after admitting he and current Yamaha crew chief Silvano Galbusera have been “a little bit stuck”. Rossi remains winless since the 2017 race at Assen, and has managed just two podium appearances this season – fewer than both factory team-mate Maverick
Kris Meeke leads Rally GB following the Oulton Park opener, with Petter Solberg a sensational third and World Rally Championship leader Ott Tanak only 13th after an error. Crews were greeted with an extremely wet and slippery stage for Oulton’s first appearance on a WRC itinerary since 1993, with the 2.25-mile mix of asphalt and
Jorge Lorenzo says he will likely have to “sacrifice” front stability with his Honda to improve tyre life for the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix, after struggling with this at Aragon. Lorenzo was running strongly in the early stages of the race at Aragon, before tyre wear dumped him to a distant 20th – some 45
Champions Scott Dixon and Will Power say the Red Bull-designed aeroscreen IndyCar will implement in 2020 would be ready to race this weekend, following the device’s first on-track test. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dixon and Penske’s Power each tested their regular cars, fitted with the new device, at Indianapolis on Wednesday. While both drivers have
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has admitted his arch-rival Marc Marquez has put together a season “close to perfect” in 2019, as the Spaniard nears a sixth premier-class title. Marquez only needs 27 points from the five remaining races to put the championship out of reach for his only remaining mathematical rival Andrea Dovizioso. The Honda
Autosport previews this weekend’s Rally GB with a special podcast episode recorded live from the World Rally Championship service park, in association with the new Gravel Notes podcast. Autosport Rallies Editor David Evans is joined in Llandudno by drivers including 2003 World Rally champion Petter Solberg and 2017 Rally GB winner Elfyn Evans as they
Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso says this week’s Morocco Rally will give him a “concrete” idea of whether he wishes to continue with plans to contest the Dakar Rally. Alonso faces his first major test in his fledging cross-country rallying career in the five-day event based around Fez, the traditional warm-up event for next
World Rally Championship debutant Oliver Solberg almost missed this weekend’s Rally GB after failing his road-car theory test last week. Solberg, the son of 2003 champion Petter, has won five rallies in his Volkswagen Polo R5 in Estonia and Latvia this year, and also won on his European Rally Championship debut in Latvia. He will
KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer says he is “100% fine” with MotoGP test rider Dani Pedrosa’s decision not to come out of retirement to replace Johann Zarco for 2020. Pedrosa joined KTM in a test role at the conclusion of his 13-year MotoGP stint with Honda, and has been working on a new package for
Jorge Lorenzo is confident that Honda will still take his input into account when developing its bike for the 2020 MotoGP season, despite recent friction between team and rider. Following a disastrous start to the season, Lorenzo flew to Honda’s headquarters in Japan after Mugello in order to make a breakthrough with the bike. But
Elfyn Evans has been told he can take risks to win his home World Rally Championship round as he returns for Rally GB after missing three rallies through back injury. Evans won Rally GB in 2017 driving a Fiesta WRC on DMACK tyres, as opposed to the standard Michelins, and challenged pacesetter Ott Tanak on
Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award finalist Enaam Ahmed will make his sportscar debut with the R-Motorsport Aston Martin squad at next month’s Intercontinental GT Challenge finale at Kyalami. Ahmed will drive one of two cars confirmed by the Swiss entrant for the Kyalami 9 Hours on November 23. The Japanese Formula 3 race winner Ahmed
The Wales Rally GB organiser says there is “nothing forecast that would concern us in the special stages” for this weekend’s World Rally Championship event, despite uncertainty over Hurricane Lorenzo. The hurricane is approaching the UK from the south-east, and a weekend of heavy rain and flood warnings remain in place on Tuesday, causing uncertainty