Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb says Marcus Gronholm’s comeback at Rally Sweden will be difficult. Loeb made a stunning return to the WRC in 2018 in a part-time programme for Citroen and won his first rally in the category

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Rally Sweden CEO Glen Olsson has scotched drivers’ fears about the roads at this week’s second round of the World Rally Championship in Torsby. Temperatures in Sweden have risen in recent days, causing some drivers to fear the warmer conditions

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. World Rally Championship refugee Craig Breen says he could compete in more events in Ireland and Europe, following his Galway International Rally victory. The 29-year-old lost out in a reshuffle at the Citroen World Rally Team for the 2019 season.

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. FIA president Jean Todt has proposed more cross-border rallies as a way of easing the World Rally Championship’s calendar congestion. Established rounds are coming under threat from events like the Safari and Rally Japan, both of which are expected to

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Former World Rally Championship frontrunner Mikko Hirvonen will campaign a Ford Escort Mk2 in the national section of the West Cork Rally in Ireland next month. The 39-year-old started 163 WRC events in 2002-14 with 15 wins as a Ford

Get unlimited access for free You have 10 articles remaining to view this month. Hyundai World Rally Championship driver Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena emerged unharmed from a sizeable testing crash on Thursday in preparation for Rally Sweden. A team spokesman confirmed the accident, which happened on one of the Frenchman’s final runs of

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. The World Rally Championship will have electric or hybrid regulations in place from the 2022 season. WRC chiefs have been discussing the adoption of alternative energy sources since early last year. FIA president Jean Todt admitted he was frustrated at

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Craig Breen will compete in the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship during his World Rally Championship hiatus, contesting the event in an M-Sport-built Ford Fiesta R5. Breen missed out on a WRC seat this season after two

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Next year’s Monte Carlo Rally is likely to start at Monaco’s Casino Square following complaints about the principality’s absence from the early part of the 2019 World Rally Championship opener. Last weekend’s event began with a ceremonial start in Gap

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. World Rally Championship outfit M-Sport says it was impressed by Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas’s technique on his rallying debut in Finland. Bottas contested last weekend’s Arctic Lapland Rally in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC in association with the

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. New Toyota World Rally Championship driver Kris Meeke says the manufacturer’s Yaris is the best car he has ever driven and gave him “no stress” on the Monte Carlo Rally. Meeke finished the 2019 season opener in sixth, five and

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Mercedes Formula 1 star Valtteri Bottas made his rallying debut last weekend in Finland, and has promised he will come back for more. Driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC entered in association with the Finnish governing body’s Flying Finn project

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Monte Carlo Rally runner-up Thierry Neuville says he is worried about the “dangerous” pace Toyota showed on last weekend’s World Rally Championship season opener. Hyundai driver Neuville finished runner-up to the Citroen C3 of Sebastien Ogier, but Ott Tanak had

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Citroen World Rally Championship driver Sebastien Ogier says his “relief was incredible” after he overcame a throttle-pedal issue to win the Monte Carlo Rally. Ogier defeated Thierry Neuville in a final-stage showdown to win the opening round of the 2019

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Sebastien Ogier defeated Thierry Neuville in a breathtaking end to the 2019 World Rally Championship season-opening Monte Carlo Rally. Making his first start since rejoining Citroen for 2019, Ogier took the lead on the second of Friday afternoon’s three stages

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Thierry Neuville set up a tense finish to the 2019 World Rally Championship season-opening Monte Carlo Rally by taking time out of leader Sebastien Ogier on Sunday morning’s two stages. Just 3.2 seconds separates the pair with two stages of

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas claimed a stage win on his rallying debut in Finland, finishing fifth overall on the Arctic Lapland Rally driving a Ford Fiesta WRC. Bottas, driving a car similar in spec to those currently being

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Sebastien Ogier held off the pursuing Thierry Neuville on Saturday afternoon’s loop of Monte Carlo Rally stages, ceding only one second across two stages to the Hyundai driver. Ogier had taken a pair of softer compound tyres in comparison to

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier continues to hold Thierry Neuville at bay for the lead of the Monte Carlo Rally, and has a 5.3-second advantage after Saturday’s first two stages. The tyre-choice gambles that influenced Friday were taken out of the equation,

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Sebastien Ogier leads Thierry Neuville at the head of the Monte Carlo Rally order, but Ott Tanak dropped out of the fight on Friday afternoon after picking up a puncture. Ogier, who is making his first World Rally Championship start

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. FIA rally director Yves Matton has defended the Monte Carlo Rally’s decision not to cancel Friday morning’s stages despite fierce criticism from Toyota World Rally team principal Tommi Makinen. When it became clear Friday’s opening stage would be canned, Makinen

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Toyota World Rally Championship team principal Tommi Makinen has threatened to withhold his drivers from Monte Carlo Rally media activities after his call to cancel Friday morning’s stages was denied. The first stage of the loop was cancelled due to

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville grabbed the lead of the Monte Carlo Rally on Friday morning’s truncated loop of stages on the 2019 World Rally Championship season opener. WRC crews’ tyre selections were the biggest differentiator on the loop, with Hyundai drivers

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Ott Tanak leads the World Rally Championship-opening Monte Carlo Rally, while Kris Meeke and Sebastien Loeb both starred early before hitting problems. In his first WRC start for Toyota, Meeke was Tanak’s closest challenger as the Yaris duo set a

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. World Rally champions Sebastien Ogier and Sebastien Loeb predict that late snowfall will make Thursday night’s opening two stages of the Monte Carlo Rally extremely challenging. WRC crews face a pair of 12-mile tests in the mountains to the east

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb has warned that everything will be new to him when he competes for Hyundai for the first time on this weekend’s Monte Carlo Rally. Loeb will make his first start in a Hyundai i20

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas has completed his first test aboard the Ford Fiesta WRC he will drive for his rallying debut on the Arctic Lapland Rally this weekend. Bottas had begun preparations with mileage in a Group N

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Jari-Matti Latvala says he learned from new Toyota World Rally Championship team-mate Ott Tanak during 2018 and has tried to modify both his driving style and set-up choices. Though Latvala is going into his 13th full season in the WRC

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. M-Sport will spend the 2019 World Rally Championship season rebuilding financially after Sebastien Ogier’s exit and other blows, says boss Malcolm Wilson. Rich Millener steps up to the team principal role at M-Sport this season, with Wilson focusing on the

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Nasser Al-Attiyah believes his 2019 Dakar Rally success will prompt Toyota to increase its backing of the Gazoo Racing South Africa team in the future. Al-Attiyah claimed his third Dakar triumph in his Toyota Hilux by 46 minutes over his