Year: 2024

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Rally Sweden 2024 – Saturday’s Report

The second full day of competitive stages in Sweden would see the crews tackle 126km’s over seven stages. Ott Tanak and Kalle Rovanperä returned to the action and the Estonian would open the road.

First up was SS9 Vännäs 1 – 15.65 km and Ott was fastest from Elfyn, who was looking to close the gap to Oliver and Adrien who held third and fourth ahead of the Welshman before the stage. Adrien passed Oliver for third overall in this one. At the front of the field, Takamoto had a small nibble of time from EP, the gap now just nine tenths of a second between the leading pair of cars. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest from Sami and Mikko and the young Swede continued to lead Georg and Sami who held second and third place respectively in the category.

Into SS10 Sarsjöliden 1 – 14.23 km, and Kalle was fastest from Ott and Elfyn was third. The Welshman’s pace took him ahead of Oliver and into third place, whilst Adrien was also on the move up and gained second place. This was due to Takamoto sadly sliding out of second place after getting stuck in a snowbank. He and Aaron tried to dig the car out, but it was to no avail. They were out for the rest of the day. EP remained in the lead and had a huge lead of a minute and a half. In WRC2 Oliver was leading and Georg remained in second with Sami still third.

Next up, SS11 Bygdsiljum 1 – 28.06 km was won by an inspired Adrien from Thierry and Elfyn. The Frenchman increased his lead over Elfyn to 16.2 seconds. Meanwhile, Thierry gained one position and was now into fifth place overall. In WRC2 Oliver was still leading, but we had a change behind the Swede, with Georg dropping from second to fourth place after the Estonian had a spin in his Yaris Rally2. Sami was now up into second place and Roope up to third.

After the lunchtime service break, SS12 Vännäs 2 – 15.65 km Elfyn was fastest from Adrien and Esapekka, whilst Thierry was also on the move, passing Oliver for fourth place. The stage was rutting up and getting quite messy and all the crews were remarking on this at the end of the stage. In WRC2 Oliver was still leading, although managing the gap over Sami who was fastest in the stage from Roope and Georg.

The second run of SS13 Sarsjöliden 2 – 14.23 km saw an even more rutted stage and Thierry was fastest by just two tenths of a second from Elfyn and Adrien third. The gap between Adrien and Elfyn was brought down to 13.2 seconds. In WRC2, Jan was fastest from Oliver and Mikko.

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS14 Bygdsiljum 2 – 28.06 km and Thierry was again fastest from Elfyn and Thierry. Meanwhile, Georg was fastest from Sami and Oliver in WRC2, and the Estonian moved back into third place in the category and seventh overall.

The final stage then of the day, SS15 Umeå 1 – 10.08 km and Thierry was again fastest from Ott and Kalle. There was drama though for both M-Sport crews. Gregoire was near the end of the stage when his Puma went straight on at a left-hand corner and into a snowbank. He and Louis jumped out and with assistance from a marshal dug their car out. However, they lost a huge amount of time, but at least they made the finish. Adrien also had a slide at the same corner and somehow managed to keep his Puma out of the snowbank, just clipping the outer edges of it. Somehow the Frenchman still ended up faster than Elfyn, as the Welshman really struggled with his tyres on the stage surface.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:03:52.0
2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:06.3
3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:23.0
4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:22.1
5 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +4:01.1
6 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Škoda Fabia Evo +5:15.1
7 G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris +5:15.3
8 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +5:35.1
9 M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris +5:51.2
10 L. Joona J. Hussi Toyota GR Yaris +6:29.3

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“I am feeling satisfied, we are in the best position possible, but it has not been really enjoyable to drive in this situation. We were trying to manage the lead and not take any risks in a bid to save the tyres for the final stages, but we did it. Today was clearly very demanding for the tyres, especially the first and last stage of the loops which were very abrasive. We are not finished yet and I don’t want to celebrate too early. There are still three stages to go, and two long stages in particular where anything can happen. I am happy we are in this situation, but it isn’t over yet.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Rally Sweden
15-18 February 2024
Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Photographer: Dufour Fabien
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Thierry Neuville

“Things were getting better this afternoon but there was also a lot more gravel, and I felt more comfortable in the car. We have changed a lot of settings trying to find a good compromise for tomorrow, which will be an important day. I wouldn’t say I am satisfied but I at least I found a bit more traction. Hopefully that will continue to work on the first pass tomorrow. It’s always a challenge to look after the studs on our tyres, but I’ve always been good here in Sweden on the conditions in the second pass, especially if there is a lot of gravel. Hopefully we have found the necessary feeling and speed we need for tomorrow morning.”

Ott Tänak

“Not an easy day. In winter rallies it is always a bit ‘next level’ to open the road, particularly in the second loop. It is easy to get frustrated, but this is the penalty we have for what happened yesterday, so it is fair play. In these conditions you can’t really find a rhythm, you’re always fighting to keep the car on the road and it’s hard to be smooth as you need to be to protect the tyres. Hopefully the road condition tomorrow will play to our favour because we need to take as many points as possible.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“This morning was going quite well until a bit of a clumsy error on one junction in the last stage of the loop, where we took on some snow in the front of the car and lost quite a bit of power. I’m a bit disappointed with that as it cost us quite dear in the fight for second place. In the afternoon it was far more difficult to claw back time. On the second pass with a lot of gravel coming through, the tyre wear is high, and you have to try and save the studs: I had no rear grip left for the last stage. Tomorrow will be a big push for the whole day to score as many points as we can.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was nice to restart this morning, with much nicer conditions with the sun out. It’s not always easy to come back and push again after something like what happened yesterday, but we just tried to enjoy the driving and I could have a good feeling after the first stage of the morning. Being second on the road was not optimal, especially this afternoon on the second pass. There was not much of a clean line to follow, but overall, it was quite OK. Tomorrow we will try to do our best to help the team bring some more points: that’s our goal.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning we were fighting for the lead and pushing hard. We had a good first stage and got much closer to the lead, and I wanted to continue pushing to try and gain more time. Unfortunately, in one corner in SS10 I was probably carrying a bit too much speed and I lost the rear, hit the snowbank and we got stuck there. I feel very disappointed and I’m really sorry for the team, because it could have been a very good weekend. I just need to learn from this kind of thing, and we still have tomorrow to see if we can gain some points.”

Oliver Solberg

“We didn’t have the same amount of snow from yesterday, but today was still a tricky day in its own way. I’m really happy to have extended the lead in WRC2, this is the priority for me.

“It felt like the car was quite sideways at times, but that’s understandable with so much snow still around. For me, I’m in that tricky position with a good advantage and a lot to lose and not so much to gain from pushing to the maximum. Today was about driving, trying to save some tyres and making sure everything was good with the car.

“Again, it’s been amazing to see so many Swedish flags out there and so many fans at the side of the road. When the sun comes out, the place is just beautiful. The priority is to bring everything home tomorrow. Like always, me and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] want to do that with a smile on our faces.”

Sunday

The final day of this event will see the crews tackle 61km’s over three stages. Can EP hold on and secure what will be a popular second victory? Can Elfyn overtake Adrien and secure the points for second fastest on the final day? We shall see.

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Extreme E: RXR Pick Up Where They Left Off With Round 1 Win

Image courtesy of Extreme E
FEBRUARY 17: Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) / Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing celebrate , 1st position during the Saudi Arabia on February 17, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images)

Two-time Extreme E champions, Rosberg X Racing (RXR), got their title defence off to a flying start today, as they won the opening round of the Desert XPrix.

The former F1 world champion’s team saw off close challengers McLaren to take almost maximum points from the round.

In an entertaining first day, here’s how the day’s action unfolded.

Qualifying 1 Heat 1:

McLaren, Veloce, SUN Minimeal, and JBXE got the first competitive session of the new season underway, with Veloce starting the better of the four teams to take the lead.

Though the pack stayed close together, there was little in the way of overtaking in the first qualifying heat.

It wasn’t all plain-sailing for Veloce, however. The team were initially awarded a time penalty for a switch zone infringement. The penalty was later revoked.

Veloce won the heat, taking ten classification points and setting themselves up nicely to make the final. McLaren finished second, closely followed by debutants SUN Minimeal. JBXE rounded up the grid.

Qualifying 1 Heat 2:

The remaining four teams – Legacy Motor Club, Andretti, Acciona Sainz, and RXR – competed in the second heat of qualifying one.

As the lights went out it was Andretti who got off the line quickest.

Their lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Johan Kristofferson pulled off a trademark move around the outside to put RXR into first place.

After that initial excitement, the cars started to spread out as they attempted to negotiate the ruts in the sand left by the previous heat.

RXR won the heat, with Andretti not too far behind in second. Last season’s runners-up, Acciona Sainz, finished third and Legacy Motor Club rounded out the heat.

Qualifying 2 Heat 1:

The second qualifying session started with Legacy Motor Club, Veloce, Acciona Sainz, and JBXE all looking to seal their place in the final.

Acciona Sainz got the best start and took an early lead, but not before Legacy Motor Club had attempted an unsuccessful move up the inside.

Not wanting to miss out on all the action, Veloce went side-by-side with Legacy Motor Club for second place. An initial move around the outside couldn’t quite get the job done, but a lunge up the inside into the next turn saw Veloce move into second.

Acciona Sainz won the first heat in Qualifying 2, with Veloce coming in second. Legacy finished third and JBXE once more rounded out the grid.

Qualifying 2 Heat 2:

The final qualifying race of the round was contested between SUN Minimeal, RXR, Andretti, and McLaren.

SUN Minimeal took an early lead, and looked good out front as the other three teams scrapped it out behind them.

After a lap of chasing down the lead, Andretti were close enough to force their way up the inside of SUN Minimeal and move into first place.

But it was in the switch zone that this heat was won. RXR were quicker on release than SUN Minimeal and were able jump up into second place, just behind leaders Andretti.

RXR then used their hyperdrive on the pit exit to leapfrog into first – a lead they would not relinquish.

Behind them, though, the battle for second was still well and truly on. McLaren chased down Andretti, and were eventually able to wrestle second place off of the American team.

RXR won the race, comfortably securing their spot in the final, alongside McLaren. Andretti finishing third meant they dropped down into the redemption race.

Overall Qualifying Classification Points:

  1. RXR – 20 Points
  2. Veloce – 18 Points
  3. McLaren – 16 Points
  4. Acciona Sainz – 16 Points
  5. Andretti – 14 Points
  6. SUN Minimeal – 10 Points
  7. Legacy Motor Club – 10 Points 
  8. JBXE – 8 Points

Redemption Race:

The bottom four qualifiers – JBXE Legacy Motor Club, SUN Minimeal, and Andretti – all looked to rescue some championship points in the redemption race.

As the lights went green, Andretti got the best getaway and sailed into an early lead.

Behind them, Andreas Bakkerud in the JBXE machine made an audacious move around the outside to go from the back of the pack into second.

As the teams entered the switch zone, Andretti had pulled out a comfortable gap to JBXE, who remained ahead of SUN Minimeal and Legacy Motor Club.

An mechanical issue on the third lap for SUN Minimeal meant they would, unfortunately, not get to complete their first ever round. As they went past, fellow debutants Legacy Motor Club gave the stricken car a wave.

Not content with third place, Legacy Motor Club pushed hard to close the gap to JBXE. When they were close enough, a smart move around the outside saw the team jump into second.

Andretti cruised to victory in the redemption race, taking 12 crucial championship points. Legacy Motor Club gave a good account of themselves on debut, finishing second in the race (6th overall). Last to finish were JBXE, still ahead of SUN Minimeal who recorded a DNF.

Final:

The final race of the round proved to be the best race of the round – as the top four qualifiers did battle.

RXR got the best getaway and took an early lead, but Mattias Ekstrom in the McLaren car refused to be outwitted. Taking a very wide line, Ekstrom was able to put their power down much earlier than his competitors and he sailed by into first position.

RXR were not to be beaten, however. On the second lap, Nico Rosberg’s team went down the inside of the McLaren and made the move stick.

The teams entered the switch zone neck and neck – RXR just edging out McLaren, Veloce, and Acciona Sainz.

The McLaren-RXR battle continued as their female drivers took the wheel, with several points of contact causing minor bodywork damage to both cars.

Then, on the final lap of the race, McLaren regained the lead. Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky in the RXR machine kept the pressure on the McLaren, though, and managed to force the Gutierrez to go deep. Ahlin-Kottulinsky took the opportunity to sweep back into the lead to win the race by just one tenth of a second.

RXR completed an almost perfect first round, just missing out on the points for the Continental Traction Challenge. McLaren finished second, with Veloce rounding out the podium.

Acciona Sainz recorded a DNF as the car rolled on its side on the final lap. McConnell was able to get out of the car okay.

Overall Round Classification:

  1. RXR
  2. McLaren
  3. Veloce
  4. Acciona Sainz
  5. Andretti
  6. Legacy Motor Club
  7. JBXE
  8. SUN Minimeal

Championship Standings:

  1. RXR – 27 Points
  2. McLaren – 18 Points
  3. Veloce – 18 Points
  4. Acciona Sainz – 13 Points
  5. Andretti – 12 Points
  6. Legacy – 8 Points
  7. JBXE – 6 Points
  8. SUN Minimeal – 4 Points

The season kicked off with an exciting day of action. The series returns tomorrow for what is sure to be another entertaining couple of races.

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Rally Sweden 2024 – Friday’s Report

The first full day of this amazing rally and the stages, of which there were seven, with 107km’s of competitive kilometres ahead of the crews, what would this day give them in terms of challenge?

We had a short stage on Thursday evening to get things going and coming out of there, Kalle held the lead from Takamoto and Elfyn, giving Toyota a one-two-three at this point.

First up then was SS2 #42 Brattby 1 – 10.76 km, with a nod to Craig Breen who won this stage last year. Kalle was fastest from EP and Ott. The Estonian moved up a position and into third place overall, whilst Elfyn fell to fifth place. EP was also on the move gaining three positions and was into fourth place. In WRC2, Oliver Solberg held the lead from Sami and Georg.

Next up was SS3 Norrby 1 – 12.36 km and there was a full 360-degree spin for Elfyn in this one! Meanwhile, EP was fastest from Kalle and Takamoto. Of course, Thierry was opening the road and really struggling only able to hold seventh overall and now almost 26 seconds behind the leader. In WRC2, Oliver continued to take another stage win and led Sami and Georg was holding third.

The final stage of the morning loop, SS4 Floda 1 – 28.25 km and there was huge drama in this one as first Ott and then Kalle went off the stage. They were both out of the rally and would not continue. The result of this was that Takamoto, who was fastest in the stage from Elfyn and Adrien, moved into the lead, EP was now in second and Elfyn was third. In WRC2, the top three in the stage matched the top three overall with Oliver in the lead from Sami and Georg.

After the lunch break, SS5 #42 Brattby 2 – 10.76 km was next and the snow had continued falling and covered the stage in snow. Therefore, everyone was road sweeping. Fastest of the top class was EP, but even his time was beaten by five, yes, five rally2 cars, as Georg, Oliver and Mikko were the top three in the stage. Meanwhile Takamoto continued to lead, but with a reduced margin over EP of 5.3 seconds.

Into SS6 Norrby 2 – 12.36 km and with the snow still falling, EP was fastest from Georg in his Rally2 Toyota and Takamoto third. There was drama for Thierry, who said his car did not want to start, and he was late to the time control by four minutes. He was given a forty-second penalty, but crucially it meant that his closest title rival Elfyn would now open the road for the remaining stages, even though Thierry remained able to complete the road sections. With Elfyn now opening the road he lost third overall to Adrien, now 7.1 seconds behind the M-Sport driver.

The final proper stage of the day then, SS7 Floda 2 – 28.25 km and with Elfyn continuing to open the road, even though Thierry was still able to start the stage, the Welshman fell from fourth to sixth place. The conditions were really tricky out there with snow falling quite heavily on the stage. EP won the stage and took the lead of the rally with Takamoto falling to second place, whilst incredibly Oliver who was third in the stage, now moved up to third overall.

The final stage of the day then, SS8 Umeå Sprint 2 – 5.16 km and there was a return to a more normal top three with EP winning from Takamoto and Thierry. Elfyn was fifth fastest and gained one position into fifth overall.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 58:18.8
2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 3.2
3 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +1:20.7
4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:26.3
5 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:50.0
6 G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris +1:50.1
7 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Škoda Fabia Evo +2:05.8
8 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +2:08.6
9 M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris +2:19.0
10 L. Joona J. Hussi Toyota GR Yaris +2:45.7
11 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:46.0

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“This has been one of the toughest snow afternoons for me – ever! I have never driven in conditions like this, it’s pretty extreme even for a Finnish driver. So far, we have been fastest, so I am hoping for even more snow. This rally needs a completely different kind of driving style; you have to back off 35-40% just to brake easily and go front first on the corners. You can’t throw the car sideways at all, and the line you need to keep the car in at all times is very narrow. If you don’t, you’re just a passenger. We’re expecting better conditions tomorrow but once again it will be difficult to attack aggressively.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 2, Rally Sweden, 15-18 February 2024
Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 1 of WRC Rally Sweden 2024
Photographer: Vincent Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Thierry Neuville

“Conditions have been far trickier than what we were hoping for at the beginning of the rally. Our target was to get through, but it wasn’t an easy day for us. We were fighting a bit with the car, and visibility wasn’t great this morning before our technical issue this afternoon. We managed to get the car fired up but we were four minutes late to the stage. After that, we were managing the problem for the whole loop. I just tried to get through the day and we ended it on a good note in the final stage. Now we are looking forward to a new day tomorrow, hopefully trouble-free and more enjoyable.”

Ott Tänak

“Normally the first loop is quite consistent and drivable, but we could see how much everyone was struggling today. We were feeling quite OK in the car this morning; we were definitely fast, but one pace note was perhaps a bit too optimistic. I hit the snowbank far too hard, and we spun, and that caused damage to the cooling package. We fixed it within the stage so we could drive out, and we managed to get the car back to service. It should be an easy repair and we expect to be back tomorrow.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been really tough today with the conditions. Even on the first pass this morning there was a lot of snow and it just got more and more during the day. This morning I just tried to find a rhythm where we felt comfortable. We avoided big risks and this paid off pretty well. Then this afternoon was very difficult as we expected, and it was hard to stay on the road sometimes. I was trying to follow the lines but sometimes there was no line at all. I had to push to not lose too much time with Esapekka being two cars behind us: in the end we couldn’t quite keep the position but we’re still pretty close to the lead with two days to go. Let’s keep pushing.”

Elfyn Evans

“The conditions have been very, very difficult today. Even this morning, the visibility was low on the first stage and then after that there was a lot of loose snow and quite low grip. We had a high-speed spin in the second stage this morning and were quite lucky to get away with that as we did. It was looking a bit better for us at the end of the morning but then the weather took a turn for the worse this afternoon. The sheer volume of snow didn’t make it easy, especially once we were opening the road on the last three stages, because when conditions are this extreme it makes a big difference. Of course, we hope for better conditions tomorrow.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It is a big pity that our day ended so early. We were having a good start to the rally and a good chance to fight for the win. The conditions were tricky with the heavy snowfall and the grip levels were changing quite a lot. We just went a bit wide in a right-hand corner. I think some drivers in front had already touched the bank so there was a big hole in it which just kicked us into a spin. We damaged the radiator and also picked up a puncture in the same moment, and although we could make some repairs we unfortunately could not continue today. I’m sorry for the team, but there are a lot of points available on Sunday and we will try to bring them home.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“What a day! It’s been a little bit crazy with the conditions sometimes. When the snow was coming really hard, the visibility was bad – it was like driving at night. You just couldn’t see, so you had to back off a little bit. Of course, with so much snow, the grip was not so high in many places.

We just kept pushing. In some places I think I might have saved my tyres a little bit too much, but I am very happy at the end of the day. Of course, I understand the [Rally1] cars at the front are having the conditions worse and cleaning more of the snow away – but, still, I will take this place overall! It’s fantastic and so nice to be giving my home fans something to cheer for.

“It looks like the conditions can be a bit more straightforward tomorrow.”

Saturday

The second full day of competition will see the crews tackle 126km’s over seven more stages. What will the day bring? We shall see!

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Toyota triumph in duels: Johnson races into Daytona 500, Reddick and Bell victorious

After Toyota’s mediocre single car qualifying performance on Wednesday, the new Camry XSE triumphed in Thursday night’s duels with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell each taking wins in each duel respectively while Jimmie Johnson secured his spot in a nail-biting finish, passing open challenger J.J. Yeley coming off turn four on the final lap.

5 min read

  • Jimmie Johnson
  • Duel 1
  • Duel 2
  • Full race results

Jimmie Johnson races his way into the Daytona 500

Seven-time Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson started off his first Daytona race in his Legacy Motor Club Toyota strong by racing inside the top 10 in duel one, aggressively pushing the top line to the front, but following pit stops on lap 47 fellow Toyota driver Ty Gibbs went three-wide around Johnson seeing him go to the back of the pack to only have Daniel Hemric wreck in front of him as a result of an accordion effect that had started much further up the pack with Chase Elliott, sending Johnson spinning down onto the apron in turn three.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 47 Boost by Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 84 Carvana Toyota, and Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, spin after an on-track incident during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).

Johnson miraculously came away with no damage while others who were caught up in the wreck like Austin Dillon received bodywork damage while Hemric was out. After his inspection pit stop, Johnson started at the rear with six laps to go to catch NY Racing’s J.J. Yeley, who was starting 14th, to Johnson’s 18th, who was also trying to race his way into the 500, of who Johnson had to beat to get himself into the Great American Race.

When Ross Chastain slowed in turn three on the final lap in front of both Yeley and Johnson, Yeley took his momentum to the top but stalled out while Johnson filled the gap and the middle lane carried him past Yeley who was left out to hang on the top, taking the two-time Daytona 500 champion to the finish line ahead, locking him into Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #84 Carvana Toyota, and JJ Yeley, driver of the #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Johnson said: “It’s very stressful. I’m very thankful we got this Carvana Toyota into this race. I knew the first half of the race was going too easy. I knew there’d be a challenge thrown at us, and we got it just in time. Hats off to J.J. Yeley. He put up a heck of a fight in a very competitive car.”

Duel 1

In what would set rows 2-20 for the Daytona 500, Tyler Reddick’s 23XI Racing Toyota took the chequered flag in duel one but his day nearly ended early during green flag pit stops. A miscommunication between the Toyota drivers saw Martin Truex Jr. tag Reddick as he slowed down to enter pit road seeing him tank slap Ty Gibbs before straightening out and was able to carry on without cause for concern.

Post-race Reddick said: “Great way to start off the weekend. This thing is a beast.”

Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Nasty Beast Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Truex had been at the front with Reddick before pit stops but a slow stop due to running out of fuel and stalling saw him lose the draft until the yellow came out for the four-car wreck with Hemric.

Duel 2

Duel two saw young guns Riley Herbst and Noah Gragson lead the pack for the opening few laps until the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Bell and the 23XI Racing Toyota of Bubba Wallace went on the dominate the rest of the first green flag run.

An 11-car crash brought out a yellow on lap 48, a few laps after pit stops when William Byron blocked reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney in the tri-oval causing Byron to slow as he drove up into the top lane. With Keselowski unaware of the move ahead, he pushed Kyle Busch into Byron sending the Hendrick Motorsports driver down into Blaney who was sent head on into the outside wall, with the incident collecting half the field in the process, and ending Blaney’s and Busch’s race.

Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Menards/PEAK Ford, in flames after an on-track incident with Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Zone Chevrolet, and Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford, during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 at Daytona International Speedway (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

Bell’s teammate Denny Hamlin pole-vaulted from the back to the front though the green flag pit stop exchange but on the last lap Bell took a run to the outside of Hamlin on the and was able to fend of the Ford’s of Cindric and Burton to win the duel.

Bell said: “Me and Adam Stevens, my crew chief, we have a running joke: I say these races are 100-percent luck. I know that’s not true, but it seems like we’ve been struggling to get to the end of it. I know I’ve been a common denominator in a lot of the wrecks. Feels good to do everything well today.”

Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT/Interstate Batteries Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kaz Grala came out on top in what was another last lap duel to the flag between him and B.J. McLeod for the last spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500 seeing Grala take it by 0.067 seconds over McLeod who suffered minor damage from being caught in the11-car wreck.

McLeod had spent the first half of the race inside the top five, as high as third, but the unsponsored entry got caught out and dropped to the tail of the field shortly before pit stops, where he was unable to recover enough to beat Grala.

Grala had his own set of hurdles to overcome, having blown an engine when accidentally downshifting when starting his single car qualifying run the night before, and a slow pit stop in the duel saw him lose the draft entirely before being saved by the yellow coming out for the 11-car wreck with less than 15 to go. A restack was enough to see him through.

Grala said: “Just really proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports. They worked so hard the last 24 hours to get the car ready to race today. Really cool to be able to get it in the show for them. Real big opportunity for me.”

Kaz Grala, driver of the #36 Ruedebusch Ford, and David Ragan, driver of the #60 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

As a result of winning the duels, Reddick will start third, on the inside second-row, while Bell will start fourth, on the outside second row. Both front row cars including 2024 Daytona 500 pole-winner Joey Logano and front row starter Michael McDowell survived the duels, with McDowell having a close shave on lap 56, meaning they will lead the field to green on Sunday. The top 10 drivers from each duel received championship points with the winner receiving 10 all the way down to one point for 10th.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 DEWALT/Interstate Batteries Toyota, and Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Full race results below. Catch the 66th running of the Daytona 500 this Sunday at 2:30pm ET.

Full race results 

Duel 1 

  1. Tyler Reddick
  2. Chase Elliott
  3. Alex Bowman
  4. Carson Hocevar
  5. Erik Jones
  6. Daniel Suárez
  7. Joey Logano
  8. Ty Gibbs
  9. Kyle Larson
  10. Chris Buescher
  11. Ross Chastain
  12. Jimmie Johnson
  13. Ryan Preece
  14. Martin Truex Jr.
  15. Corey LaJoie
  16. J.J. Yeley
  17. Todd Gilliland
  18. Austin Dillon
  19. Anthony Alfredo
  20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  21. Daniel Hemric

Duel 2  

  1. Christopher Bell
  2. Austin Cindric
  3. Denny Hamlin
  4. John Hunter Nemechek
  5. Harrison Burton
  6. Zane Smith
  7. Brad Keselowski
  8. William Byron
  9. Chase Briscoe
  10. Justin Haley
  11. Bubba Wallace
  12. Kaz Grala
  13. AJ Allmendinger
  14. B.J. McLeod
  15. David Ragan
  16. Michael McDowell
  17. Josh Berry
  18. Ryan Blaney
  19. Kyle Busch
  20. Riley Herbst
  21. Noah Gragson

Featured image: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #84 Carvana Toyota, and JJ Yeley, driver of the #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

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Extreme E: New Teams, New Drivers, New Season

Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) / Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing Copyright Sam Bagnall
Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) / Johan Kristoffersson (SWE), Rosberg X Racing

The start of the fourth (and final) Extreme E season is just days away, and there have been a number of changes to the series in the off-season.

Old teams have left, new teams have joined, and several drivers will make their Extreme E debut this weekend. It can be a lot to take in, so here’s a handy guide to take you through all the major changes.

Teams:

Following the announcement that Extreme E will transition from an all-electric off-road series to a hydrogen powered series in 2025, four teams have (at least temporarily) withdrawn from the grid.

Three founding members – ABT Cupra, Chip Ganassi, and X44 – will not participate in Extreme E this year, with Carl Cox Motorsport also announcing their withdrawal.

However, all four teams expressed an interest in Extreme H, leaving the door open to a 2025 return.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the Extreme E roster this year though, with two new teams set to make their debut.

Swiss food producers SUN AG have entered the fray, with former Carl Cox Motorsport driver Timo Scheider acting as driver and team principal for the SUN Minimeal Team.

On joining the series, SUN AG CEO, Wolfgang Grabher said: “Our involvement in Extreme E will help us to globally present our innovation for healthy nutrition and our mission to reduce nutritional resources by 90 per cent and reach up to 2.1 billion households.”

But perhaps the biggest coup for the series is the entry of Legacy Motor Club, co-owned by NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson. The team currently compete in the NASCAR Cup Series and will be a huge boost for Extreme E in the US.

Returning to the series for season 4 are Veloce, Rosberg X Racing (RXR), JBXE, Andretti, Acciona Sainz, and McLaren.

New Driver Line-ups:

The upcoming season will see many old faces return, though some in different colours, as well as a few new drivers joining the grid.

At SUN Minimeal, Timo Scheider will be joined by exciting young Swede Klara Andersson. Andersson’s only win to date was in her second ever Extreme E race at the Season 2 finale.

Fellow newcomers Legacy Motor Club will be represented by Gray Leadbetter and Travis Pastrana in the opening round. Jimmie Johnson has, however, announced his intention to join the grid later in the season.

Three teams remain unchanged heading into the new campaign. Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen will continue with Veloce, Johan Kristofferson and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky with RXR, and Catie Munnings and Timmy Hansen with Andretti.

JBXE will introduce a new driver to the series, as Saudi Arabian driver Dania Akeel partners Andreas Bakkerud. Bakkerud joined the team in Season 3, but finished joint last.

Last season’s championship runners-up, Acciona Sainz, have stuck by Laia Sanz for the coming year, despite her mistake costing the team the title. Replacing Mattias Ekstrom at the Spanish team will be former X44 driver Fraser McConnell.

Finally, McLaren have an all new driver pairing. Mattias Ekstrom has made the jump to the iconic team, where he will be partnered by Cristina Gutierrez.

Rules:

With the grid shrinking from ten teams to eight, there have been a few minor tweaks to the rule book.

Qualifying heats will now consist of four cars each, and the grid for Q2 will no longer be determined by the results of Q1. Both the redemption race and the grand final will also have four cars each.

Teams must also ensure that both their male and female drivers start an equal number of races across the season. This will add a new tactical element, as teams decide which tracks to start each driver.

Calendar:

The season once again starts with the Desert XPrix in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 17th and 18th February.

There will then be a five month gap before a European race – yet to be confirmed – on the 13th and 14th July.

The Island XPrix returns to Sardinia, Italy, with four rounds hosted over two weekends in September. The first two rounds at the island XPrix will take place on the 14th and 15th September, with the other two rounds a week later on the 21st and 22nd September.

The USA will host the Extreme E finale, with the Valley XPrix taking place in Phoenix, Arizona on the 23rd and 24th November. It will be the first time Extreme E has visited the United States.

Desert XPrix:

Extreme E’s swan song will look to get off to a flyer at the Desert XPrix this weekend. With new teams and new drivers to look out for, it’s sure to be packed full of action.

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Rally Sweden 2024 Preview

Time for the snow and ice roads of Northern Sweden then as the championship moves to round two. Thierry and Martijn lead the drivers and co-drivers’ championship for Hyundai and will therefore be opening the road throughout Friday’s stages. Second on the road will be the 2020 winners of this event, Elfyn and Scott. They finished third in the season opener, but with Seb and Vincent not taking part they will be next on the road behind the Belgians.

Kalle and Jonne will be competing instead and took part along with their teammates, Elfyn and Scott in last weekends Artic Rally, mainly in preparation for this event. The two Toyota drivers headed the field in their Rally1 GR Yaris’ with Elfyn and Scott winning following a technical for their Finnish teammates.

Also competing this weekend in their first outing of the year is Esapekka and Janne for Hyundai and will be hoping a better result than the seventh place they scored last year. A spin followed by another incident with a snowbank tempered the speed, but he did take the power stage win.

Of course, Craig should be remembered this weekend. The Irishman made his first start back at Hyundai with James Fulton in 2023 and fought over the lead with eventual winners Ott and Martin before taking a well deserved second place, beating Thierry into third place. It was a brilliant drive.

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 2, Rally Sweden
9 – 12 February 2023
Craig Breen, James Fulton
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Looking to the stages facing the crews this weekend there are 300 km’s over 18 stages. The longest day is Saturday with 125.96 km’s to challenge the crews.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“We are expecting a lot of snow and very cold temperatures in Sweden. This was something that was manageable last year but has been a bit more difficult previously. Because of this, we will need a lot of precision and reactivity from the car to be able to throw it from one corner to the other and maximise effectiveness. Snowbanks are obviously a huge risk, especially when temperatures are higher than usual. When it’s freezing, they are a feature you can rely on to help you get a better position to go faster. Clean driving, tyre management and road positions are all factors that can make it very challenging, but from our experience last year, the first day was very equal. I have always enjoyed Rally Sweden, so we will target a strong result.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Rally Sweden, 09-12 February 2023
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 2 of WRC Rally Sweden 2023
Photographer: Vincent Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“Sweden is a really nice rally that’s mostly about pure performance. The roads are easy and flat, so it’s no real stress to the cars and this makes it easier to maximise the pace. Previously it’s been great in Umeå, and I would like to see big snowbanks and icy roads once again. Snowbanks are more of a support than a risk in Sweden. Most of the time you can use them to your advantage to push the limit, so if the snowbank takes you, you are probably too far over the limit. The stages in complete darkness are always a bit of a challenge. You don’t see very much, sometimes just where the lights show. That, paired with driving on snow, means you can go sideways unexpectedly. On the other side, snow is quite a good reflector, so I would say it’s easier than driving in places like muddy Wales. The target is to do well. We won it last year and will try our best to be battling at the front again.”

Esapekka Lappi

“Rally Sweden is an event I definitely enjoy and a great place for me to start my season. I think if the conditions are as expected, then starting towards the back is a big advantage, as the fresh snow will be ploughed away by the first cars and the grip will be higher. However, if it’s really cold, more around minus 20, then you might have a lot of snow powder flying in the air, which makes visibility worse for those later in the running order. Another key feature of Rally Sweden is the difference between the first and second passes of the stages. On the first, the road is usually smooth, and you can approach it normally, but on the second there can be big ruts that demand you to adapt your driving style quite a lot. Our goal might change during the weekend, it depends where we are, but hopefully we are fighting for the podium.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s exciting to be starting our season with an event like Rally Sweden. I always enjoy driving on snow and it’s one of the best feelings you can have in a rally car. It’s been cool, to get back in the car over the last week at the Arctic Rally and in our pre-event test. Sweden has been a good event for us in the past but last year we were not so strong, so this year we want to fight back. As it’s the only round on snow, it’s not easy to find the perfect car setup with only a few days of testing in those conditions. But I think we’ve found some useful things in our tests, and we’ve been going in the right direction, so I’m looking forward to the rally.”

Elfyn Evans

“Driving on snow and ice is something unique and makes Rally Sweden a very specific event. In the past I’ve had some good performance there, and we’ve been working to try and improve my feeling with the car from last year’s event. Our pre-event running in Finland has been really useful to get some time on snow before Sweden: it’s given us the chance to try a few things and I think we have managed to make some good steps. The conditions can vary quite a lot during the rally, with gravel coming through on the second pass of stages, and that’s something key to get right. Starting second on the road with fast drivers behind will not be easy but we’ll do our best like always and try to get the most out of the weekend.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Rally Sweden is always an exciting rally and it’s one of my favourite events on the calendar. Driving on snow and ice is something I have really enjoyed since I started rallying in Europe with the TGR WRC Challenge Program. Last year, I had pretty good speed in Sweden so I hope we can perform well again and get a good result also. This event is always a big challenge and there will be some fast drivers including Kalle starting behind us on the road, so it will not be easy to fight for the top positions. But I will try to push hard and do the maximum that I can.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“The challenge in Sweden will be quite interesting for me, it’s been two years since I’ve driven on snow! We only do one rally per year on snow, which has a very different driving style and car set up. But I really like to drive the car on snow, it’s a really nice feeling that we get at these speeds and it’s quite unique. So, I’m really looking forward to it! The target will be to get our feeling back on snow, look at our pace compared to the more experienced crews, and see if we can get a good result like we did in Monte.

“We’ve done one day’s testing this week and the feeling was quite good. So, we’ll see, it’s always difficult to know on the test how the rally is going to go as the conditions can be so different.”

Grégoire Munster

“The big challenge for Sweden will be getting to know the car on this particular surface. We had the chance to drive once on snow last year with the Fiesta Rally3, but this time we will be carrying much more speed into the corners. So, there’s an additional challenge where we have to adapt the pace notes to the different speed with the Puma. We will also try not to get stuck in the snowbanks, which can happen so quickly! “We had a good pre-event test, where we tried many different things. But we want to try to keep it simple, to just get the feeling with the car, drive the kilometres and get better on this surface. We just hope to finish the rally and make progression throughout the event.”

Rally 2 class

There are a number of other crews competing this weekend in the second class of the championship. Let’s hear from a couple of these drivers.

M-Sport

William Creighton

“I’ve competed in Lima a couple of times, and I’ve always found it really beneficial to prepare before heading to Rally Sweden. I think it’s even more important this year as I step into the challenges the WRC2 category will bring with this new car, so I’m really happy to have this opportunity thanks to the MI Rally Academy. I’ve always enjoyed driving on the snow, and we had good pace in Sweden last year. The aim is to get comfortable with the car and Lima presents a great opportunity to do that.

“I’m really happy to have a full WRC2 programme planned with the support of the MI Rally Academy and to have the opportunity to work with everyone at M-Sport. Liam and I have spent a week with the team at Dovenby Hall, which has allowed us to work with the mechanics and engineers so that we are well prepared for Lima & Rally Sweden.

“Participating in Junior WRC gave me great experience to build my pace in Sweden, which makes this transition to the WRC2 category much more manageable. The competition is so strong in WRC2, so I have to focus on my own event and making the step up before I look at the others!”

Skoda Motorsport

Oliver Solberg

“The conditions are looking very, very good. OK, things can change a little bit, but it really looks like we could be in for some of the best winter rallying in a while. And, trust me, that makes me smile!

“There’s nothing quite like driving a rally car like the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in these perfect winter conditions. The studs are biting into the ice to give you incredible grip, and you have the snowbanks on the outside to lean on and carry more speed – sometimes even going a gear higher through some corners.

“You come through these stages flat out and you can’t help but bring this big smile to your face. I love this event.

“Basically, we want more of what we did last year. We found a rhythm quite early in the event and we were able to drive to it. The important thing is to make a nice, clean race and not take too many risks with the snowbanks – it’s so easy to get tipped into one and then you spend so long trying to dig the car out.

“It’s important to get good points on the board for WRC2. We showed we have good pace in Monte Carlo last month and that’s a nice way to come into this event. To be honest, I just want to get out there and have some fun in the snow on one of my favourite rallies of the year.”

Summary

We are set for a good fight for this rally. Ott and Martin will hope that even though they have switched back to Hyundai, that they can do what they last year and take victory. It’s fair to say that they will have a battle on their hands with the world champions competing.

Meanwhile, Elfyn and Scott will certainly be fighting near the front, despite their starting position, whilst for Thierry and Martijn it will be a real struggle out there on Friday and it will be interesting how they will deal with that.

The Rally 2 class will see a big battle and perhaps as big as the one we saw on the roads near Monte-Carlo.

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Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024 – Day Three Report, Sunday

The final day then of the opening round of this iconic rally and with the new points system in place this added to the uncertainty as to how the points table would look following the final stage. Just three stages remained ahead of the crews and just a few seconds separated the top two in both the top category and also Rally2. Gregoire returned to the action and would open the road.

The third run of SS15 La Bréole / Selonnet 3 – 18.31 km saw Thierry set the fastest time from Seb and Ott. Former rally leader, Elfyn was fourth fastest and appeared to be back closer to the pace. In WRC2 there was yet another lead change with Pepe moving back ahead of Nikolay, now holding a 3.7 second lead over the C3 driver. Meanwhile, Yohan was fastest in the stage and was now just 6.7 off the new category leader.

Into SS16 Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante – 19.01 km and Thierry was fastest again from Elfyn who was just two tenths of a second from the Hyundai crew and Ott third. The stage was a little damp and frosty in places giving some a tricky time. Thierry had pulled more of a gap over Seb and was looking comfortable. In WRC2 Yohan was fastest again and also gained a position, passing Nikolay as well. Pepe was 5.8 seconds slower than Yohan and took a slender lead of just nine tenths of a second into the final stage.

The final stage then, SS17 La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini[Power Stage] – 14.80 km and the top WRC2 runners went first. Yohan flew up the road beating Nikolay’s time by a huge 9.8 seconds. As category leader, Pepe would start last and although going faster than Nikolay, would ultimately drop to second place. Then the Rally 1 runners were unleashed and first in was Gregoire, who finished his first Monte in the top category. Takamoto set the early pace and Ott, Andreas, Adrien and Elfyn didn’t beat his time. Finally, Seb and Thierry came through and eclipsed Takamoto’s time. Thierry took victory and maximum points from the weekend.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid  3:09:30.9
2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +16.1
3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +45.2
4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:59.8
5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:36.9
6 A. Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +5:34.6
7 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +8:28.5
8 J. Rossel A. Dunand Citroën C3 +10:29.8
9 P. Lopez D. Vazquez Škoda Fabia RS +10:33.8
10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Citroën C3 +10:45.2

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I don’t have the words to be honest. It was just so great this weekend, I felt so comfortable in the car. The team has done an amazing job and I think the whole package was working very well. It was the first time that we had the team in place like this, and I think this has been a good sign for the future. There’s always some work left so we need to continue working hard, but I’m very happy to win this rally. We were the boss this weekend. The car was amazing so I’d like to say a big thank you to the team.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 1,
Rallye Monte Carlo 2024, 24-28 January 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Podium during Day 3 of WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“We need to take fourth but obviously it was not an easy event. We had a lot to learn and discover about the Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid. It hasn’t been the most consistent event but we got through the weekend, and let’s see what we can do next. We’re looking forward to Sweden and another adventure. It is coming round very quickly so we are hoping that after some pre-event testing we will be even more ready than we were this weekend.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“We have enjoyed this weekend. Yesterday we made a good improvement in our speed, but we were cautious today because we were in the middle of no man’s land. We tried to give it a push on the Power Stage, and we were only 0.3 seconds off the pace per kilometre, so we are getting closer and closer. These cars are awesome. To use the maximum potential of them you really need to be used to how they drive, and I am still learning how quick you can go, especially in medium-high speed places where I’m not using the downforce enough. I’m just missing that extra bit of knowledge but with some more seat time, we should be good to go.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I think I can be proud of my weekend, I tried everything I could. It’s been a difficult week for me with a big rollercoaster of emotions. On Monday I had to say goodbye to someone very important to me who basically introduced me to motorsport. The start of the event was not easy for many reasons, so I’m happy that we managed to stay in the fight the whole way, and I think it was a super exciting fight for all of the fans to follow. In the end, Thierry was faster this weekend, and he deserved the win. I still managed to bring strong points to the team. It’s also my 15th Rallye Monte-Carlo and 13th time on the podium, so I can be proud of my record on such a challenging rally.”

Elfyn Evans

“We showed that the potential was there to win this weekend, but we just missed the feeling on Saturday afternoon for some reason. Today was much better. There was a real mix of conditions again, but we had to keep pushing to score some more points under the new system and it turned out OK. It’s been a solid enough weekend. We always want to win, but above all I really wanted to finish this rally with solid points, and we’ve done that. Long term we want to win rallies and we will see what’s possible on the next rally in Sweden.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“My rally changed after my mistake on Friday morning when we lost the opportunity to fight for a good result, which was a big disappointment. I’m happy that I could bring the car to the finish in seventh and also score some extra points on Sunday and in the Power Stage. The car was working very well, and I enjoyed the driving. When I felt comfortable and the risks were not so high from the conditions, I felt able to push and the times were pretty good, so that’s positive. The next rally in Sweden is one of my favourite rallies so I will try my best to get a good result there.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m happy to be finished in fifth overall, for sure I would like to do better, but I think it’s a good start to the season. I’m quite happy how we managed it, we were just behind the top four guys, and even on Sunday we showed that we could be up there with them. It’s very positive, we are taking some good points for the championship, and we hope the results will continue to come.”

Grégoire Munster

“The goal was just to get experience on this tricky rally in Monte-Carlo, and I think we managed to do that. Unfortunately, we had to retire on Saturday and restart today, but I think we grabbed a lot of experience and showed great pace. Thanks to the RNCs and weather crews, we managed to get a third fastest time, which is our best result so far on a WRC stage. We also managed to be within 0.5s/km of Thierry on Saturday morning, while he was the fastest car on the loop, which was a real positive. We also managed to grab our first point in WRC, we could have achieved more without the mistake on Saturday, but still great learning and thanks to the team the car was working perfectly throughout the weekend.”

 

Škoda Motorsport

Oliver Solberg

“It’s always disappointing not to get through all of the stages on a rally, but it was our choice to take only one spare tyre on Saturday. If we’d had two, it would have been OK, and we could have continued – but the rules are clear, and you have to have four inflated tyres on the car. We accept this.

“I would say this event has been a little bit mixed. The first night on Thursday didn’t go perfectly for us. It was a challenge to try to find the comfort and the feeling from the car. We made some changes for Friday and the car was really nice.

“Winning those stages was good, but I still felt there was more to come from me and the car – we weren’t nearly to the limit of what we could do or what the car could do. When we came back on Sunday, there was no point to take any risks.

“We did not register for WRC2 points for Monte Carlo, so this doesn’t affect our championship season. The reason to come here was to take more experience and learn even more about this great rally – from that side of things, this week has been a success.

“I want to thank the team, Elliott, my ice note crew Eric [Camilli] and Stéphane [Prévot], my partners and, of course, Škoda Motorsport for this very cool car. From here we look towards Rally Sweden… my home event. Now, that’s a special one, like you can imagine for me.”

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 1

1 T. Neuville 30
2 S. Ogier 24
3 E. Evans 21
4 O. Tänak 15
5 A. Fourmaux 11
6 T. Katsuta 9
7 A. Mikkelsen 6

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 1

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 46
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 45
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 12

 

Summary

Well, what a rally we were treated to this weekend. We had a real fight in both categories for victory and new crews fighting with some making their return to the top of the championship. Thierry and Martijn took victory with a good drive, even though there was the spin. Seb and Vincent did what they could to take victory, but ultimately took a strong second place. Elfyn and Scott set great pace early on taking two stage wins and leading up to stage nine as well.

Away from the podium positions Ott and Martin apart from their issue on Friday morning had a good rally and dealt with the engine issues well.

The two M-Sport crews had a very solid results. Adrien and Alex had a well-managed event, showing some pace when possible and then just driving through when there was nothing to fight for. They took a well-deserved fifth place. Their teammates Gregoire and Louis also had a very good debut in Rally 1 machinery in Monte-Carlo with a top three time and solid drive. The mistake that saw them exit on Saturday afternoon was just one of those things. The car was not damaged, which is a good thing.

Takamoto and Aaron in their Yaris had a good rally even excepting the mistake that saw them lose well over five minutes on Friday morning.

The WRC2 category fight was amazing with Pepe, Nikolay and Yohan all fighting for victory. Pepe took the most stage wins and ultimately took second place from Yohan with Nikolay third in his first outing in a C3 Rally2.

The next round is Rally Sweden from the 15th to 18th of February, the only round to run on snow and ice covered roads.

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Formula E Season 10 Round 2 & 3: Cassidy Takes Control of the Championship with a Win in Diriyah

 

Round two of the Formula E championship kicked off this weekend in Diriyah, a firm favourite on the electric series calendar, and it certainly did not disappoint. Jean-Eric Vergne led the grid away, taking his first pole position in two seasons, ahead of Mitch Evans in P2. There was a bit of wheel bashing at the start with Vergne taking attack mode very early. This caused him to fall down to P3, as Evans was promoted to the race lead with current world champion Jake Dennis in the hunt in second position. However, in a race where stategy seemed to reign, Evans took attack mode, which allowed Dennis to swoop into the lead. However, the excitement for the world current did not last long – he soon lost the position to Vergne when taking his own attack mode on lap 7. Vergne copied Dennis’ actions the following lap, allowing Evans into contention for the win. Dennis was able to build up a lead in order to take his second attack mode and keep the lead. Evans managed to hold onto P2 while overtaking Vergne on the straight to turn 17.  In the dying stages of the race, there was back and fourth battles between the top three – Evans, Vergne and Dennis. Evans tried to take the lead from Dennis but he overestimated the overtake, went deep into turn 17 and Dennis remained in the lead.

Vergne and Evans continued to battle one another, allowing Dennis to continue to pull clear. Title hopeful Nick Cassidy battled Max Gunther for one of the lower points paying positions, only for this late surge to be hindered by collision with Sam Bird’s McLaren.  The Jaguars struggled in the race due to miscommunication with team orders having an adverse effect. On the last lap, Evans tried to overtake Vergne for second place, he overestimated the gap and fell behind Bird. Dennis claimed victory in the desert by over 10 seconds with Vergne P2 and Cassidy taking the final podium position. Bird finished ahead of Evans in P4 and P5 respectively, Norman Nato claimed P6 ahead of Guenther, Wehrlein claimed P8 whilst Sergio Sette Camara and Robin Frijns rounded out the top ten.

Jake Dennis, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Round 3:

Round three saw an unexected pole position from the returning Oliver Rowland at Nissan ahead of Robin Frijns in P2 and Nick Cassidy in P3. Frijns managed to take the lead away from Rowland at the start with Ticktum having to pit with front wing damage, this eventually caused the Brit to retire. Cassidy maintained P3 at the start with a huge train of cars following each other, but as the attack modes began to be taken, the Kiwi found himself at the front. And from there, he controlled the entire race, buiding up a gap to allow himself to remain in P1 when attack mode had been completed.  However, despite this, Frijns was able to stay within about two seconds of Cassidy for the entire race, a constant threat lurking at the back of the Kiwi’s Jaguar. Sam Bird, who was having a quiet race, managed to make a move on Sette Camara for P9. In a tactical move by drivers, many did not take any attack mode so they could use it at the end of the race – however, this did not apply to the top five.

Rowland managed to get within a second of Frijns, who in turn was closing in on Cassidy.  Bird attempted a  a move on Sacha Fenestraz but he misjudged it, falling behind Wehrlein and eventually, the McLaren man was forced to retire. Jehan Daruvala had an issue with his brakes and was forced to stop at turn 18, causing a yellow flag. Cassidy began to worry about his consumption of energy in the latter part of the race. As the time ticked down, it emerged that Dennis, Evans, Da Costa, Nato and Sette Camara were all under investigation for overtaking under yellow flags. However, this didn’t stop Nick Cassidy from taking his first win at Jaguar. He held off Frijns who finished P2 in his return to Envision Racing ahead of Rowland who managed to secure a podium. Hughes finished just outside of the podium positions, ahead of Vandoorne. Fenestraz claimed P6 ahead of Wehrlein in P7, Vergne clinched P8 with Gunther taking P9 and Dennis taking the final point. The current world champion also took the fastest lap, however, after investigation, Dennis received a five second time penalty promoting Evans to P10 and Cassidy took the point for fastest lap, alongside the championship lead.

Formula E will return in March.

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Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024 – Day Two Report, Saturday

The second full day of the season opener saw mixed conditions on all six stages. The first also saw frost on the roads. There were 120km’s ahead of the crews, meaning this would be the longest day of the rally. Takamoto would open the road throughout the day. Elfyn held the lead from his teammate, Seb, whilst Thierry was holding third place.

First stage then, SS9 Esparron / Oze 1 – 18.79 km and Andreas who was one of the early crews into the stage slid off the road on the frost losing a few seconds as he got his i20 turned around. Thierry was fastest from Elfyn and Gregoire, who drove really well to his first top three stage time and also moved ahead of Andreas and into sixth place. Surprisingly, Seb was quite off the pace, a full 18.8 seconds slower than the Belgian crew who now moved into second overall. Meanwhile, Elfyn actually had increased his lead by two seconds. In WRC2, Pepe was fastest from Nikolay and Yohan. Nikolay continued to lead, and the gap was just 1.1 seconds between him and Pepe.

Next up was SS10 Les Nonières / Chichilianne 1 – 20.04 km and this stage had not been used since 1997. Yep, twenty-seven years. Seb mastered the stage to go fastest from Thierry and Takamoto. Unfortunately, Elfyn could only manage the eighth best time and fell from the lead to second place with Thierry now in the lead. The top three in WRC2 was still Nikolay from Pepe and Yohan as they continued to dominate the top three positions in the category. Unfortunately, Oliver and Sami both suffered punctures in the stage and whilst Sami could continue, Oliver would have to retire as he did not have a spare after having to use that following the previous stage.

The final stage before service and the lunch break, SS11 Pellafol / Agnières-en-Dévoluy 1 – 21.37 km. Ott and Thierry shared the fastest time and Takamoto was third. The stage was damp in the shaded parts giving the crews some tricky parts to navigate. In WRC2, Yohan was fastest from Nikolay and Pepe. The Spanish crew remained in the lead of the category, just 5.9 seconds ahead of Nikolay.

After the break SS12 Esparron / Oze 2 – 18.79 km was next and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott. Meanwhile, Gregoire sadly slid wide on a corner and although his Puma was not damaged, the car was beached on the edge of the road against the barrier, and he could not continue. There was a change in the lead though for WRC2 as Pepe was 10.8 seconds faster than Nikolay and moved past the C3 Rally2 driver. Yohan remained in third place.

There was a change in the overall lead in SS13 Les Nonières / Chichilianne 2 – 20.04 km with Seb showing he’d mastered this stage and pushing Thierry down to second overall. Former leader Elfyn was third in the stage and remained in third place overall, the gap to fourth placed Ott a minute and fifteen seconds. There was no change in WRC2, the top three still Pepe, Nikolay and Yohan.

The final stage of the day then, SS14 Pellafol / Agnières-en-Dévoluy 2 – 21.37 km and Thierry was fastest from Seb and Ott. The Belgian crew retook the lead from Seb and Vincent. Meanwhile Nikolay was also on the move, going 4.9 seconds faster than Pepe and retook the lead of WRC2 by just two tenths of a second. What a hell of a battle we were treated to in both categories.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:37:58.5
2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +3.3
3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +34.9
4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:46.9
5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +2:54.0
6 A. Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +4:21.2
7 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +7:34.0

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It doesn’t get better than this. The final stage was pure perfection from beginning to end. I could feel the time was great, and Martijn was even telling me during the stage we should keep this rhythm until the end, so I knew it was working. We left this morning in third place with the target to close the gap, but we didn’t expect to be in front so quickly. It is testament to the car working well and the gravel crew doing a great job. They gave me a lot of trust and the opportunity to push harder in that last stage. We only have a three-second advantage so we need to drive fast tomorrow, we can’t risk everything. We need to be clever and see how many points we can get, but if we can keep first place and take the maximum points by being consistent, that would be a great result.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 1,
Rallye Monte Carlo 2024, 24-28 January 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 2 of WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“A solid day, altogether not too bad. I have been struggling with my engine again, but we will see tonight what can be done, but I would say it’s definitely holding us back. When we are faster and the stage is flowing, it doesn’t have as great an effect, and we have been improving step-by-step. We have a lot of options available for our tyres, so we can adapt to the situation in the morning. In some ways, the rally starts again tomorrow; we want to score points, but you really need to follow what the others are doing – something to keep an eye on. The notes were good, and the team did a good job with the information about the stages today.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I think we’ve improved even more today. There is a lot of things to process as these cars are so different, and I didn’t want to push too much. It felt natural to drive like this today, which is exactly what I wanted to happen. We’re still a bit on the safe side, especially in the tricky places, but I’ve to explore the limit a bit more when the conditions were easier. Even still, there’s plenty of areas where the car can go so much faster, so we’ve still a lot to learn to be at the full potential of the car. A positive day, and I’m gradually getting back in the rhythm.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I think it’s been an exciting day for everyone to follow and also for us in the car, we had a lot of fun. The only negative was the first stage this morning where we were too careful and lost quite a bit of time. After that it was a good day with decent pace, we pushed as hard as we could to try and come back into the fight and we are still in this fight. With just a three-second difference I think tomorrow will also be exciting to follow, especially the first stage in the morning which will be a big challenge on the third pass. I’m looking forward to it, let’s try and make it a perfect day.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s not been the best day for us. The morning was a bit mixed: the first stage was difficult to judge with a lot of black ice, and then in the middle stage we didn’t have the hybrid power, which was not ideal. Then this afternoon we just didn’t seem to have the pace for some reason. We need to look into why. The feeling was not where it was before, but it was also maybe not as bad as the times suggested. Anyway, with the new format tomorrow is sort of a new day and that’s how we’ll treat it, and we’ll try to be ready to fight again.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I had a very good feeling in the car today. I was able to push more than yesterday, and the times were also looking pretty good. This afternoon there was of course more gravel and mud on the road, and I’m not so comfortable in those conditions so maybe I was not quite on the pace I really wanted. But this gives me more of an understanding of what I need to do for the first stage tomorrow morning. We got back to seventh overall today which should hopefully give us some points and we’ll carry a good feeling and confidence into tomorrow and try to push to score some more.”

Sunday

The final day sees the crews tackle three stages. It will be a different day of points allocation with the top seven being awarded extra points on top of those secured by the top ten at the end of today.

Of course, the top ten have to finish all the stages tomorrow to be awarded these. Can Seb get past Thierry and take his tenth Monte-Carlo victory?

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Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024 – Day One Report, Friday.

After two stages on Thursday evening in the dark, the full first day of action got underway in the roads near Gap.

First into the stages throughout the day would be Elfyn and Scott in their GR Yaris Rally1. They held a 15 second lead over second placed Thierry and Martijn with Seb and Vincent holding third.

The first stage of the day and stage three overall, SS3 Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 – 16.68 km was won by Thierry who reduced the gap to Elfyn to 9.8 seconds. Further back Adrien passed Ott who along with Takamoto and Gregoire went off at the same place, with the Japanese star losing around five to six minutes as the fans tried and then succeeded in getting his GR Yaris back on the stage. Thierry was fastest from Elfyn and Seb. The Welshman saw his lead over the Hyundai crew trimmed a little to 9.8 seconds.

Next up was SS4 Champcella / Saint-Clément 1 – 17.87 km and Elfyn completed the stage and set the early pace. Then Thierry was coming through and 2 seconds up on Elfyn’s pace. It all changed near the end of the stage as the Belgian spun on a left hander, spinning a full 360 degrees, before getting back underway. However, this caused him to lose his time gained earlier and a further nine seconds. Seb came through to set the fastest time from Elfyn and Ott. Meanwhile in WRC2 Pepe Lopez was fastest from Yohan and Nikolay who was doing well and getting to grips with his Citroen C3 Rally2 and led the category by just eight tenths of a second from Pepe and Yohan a further five seconds back.

The final stage before service, SS5 La Bréole / Selonnet 1 – 18.31 km saw the crews tackle the longest stage of the day, which also had a section with ice and snow on the road. Seb was fastest after his teammate set the early pace and Adrien was third in the stage, just six tenths from Elfyn. Seb’s pace took him ahead of Thierry and into second place overall. In WRC2 Pepe was again fastest from Yohan and Nikolay. The Spanish drivers pace took him ahead of Nikolay and into the category lead.

After the lunch time service SS6 Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 – 16.68 km was next up and Thierry who was fastest in the stage earlier won this stage from Seb and Elfyn. These three remained at the front of the field with Elfyn still leading by a reduced margin of 9.7 seconds. It was all change again in WRC2 with Nikolay moving back ahead into the lead from Pepe. Yohan remained in third place.

Next up was SS7 Champcella / Saint-Clément 2 – 17.87 km and Thierry was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. The Welshman remained in the lead with the gap to his teammate reduced by a further second, whilst Thierry remained in third overall. Once again it was all change again in WRC2 with Pepe moving back into the lead after setting the fastest time. Nikolay was holding second place and Yohan third.

The final stage of the day then, SS8 La Bréole / Selonnet 2 – 18.31 km was run in the night and Seb was quickest again from Thierry and Elfyn who remained in the lead by a reduced margin of just 4.5 seconds from Seb and Thierry now 16.1 seconds from the Welshman. In WRC2 Nikolay was fastest from Yohan and Pepe. Unfortunately, Nikolay gained a 1 minute 50 second penalty for a late start at the stage. He was 11 minutes late to a time control.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Friday

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 1:25:28.9
2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +4.5
3 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +16.1
4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:13.6
5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:38.0
6 A. Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:58.9
7 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:27.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It was a difficult day out there with very mixed conditions. There was a big contrast in grip levels with a lot of dry sections but also some ice in places and a lot of dirt around the place, so that makes it quite tricky. So, it’s been a challenging day and I’m happy to get through it without any issues. The two guys behind have been closing in and driving very quickly but we’re still in a good position. We’ve found ourselves in this kind of position with Seb and Thierry here a few times in the past and it’s nice to be in the fight again. We’ll keep going the way we are, stick to our rhythm and see what happens.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m pleased of course that we could manage to fight back a bit today. I was still fearing that we would be at a disadvantage from the road position after struggling a bit last night, but we never give up and it’s very nice to be much closer to the lead now. The last stage of the loop was a difficult one, but it seems like I managed it well today. Still, we will need to drive it once more on Sunday and that will be a big challenge with so much dirt already on the road, but before that we have a long day tomorrow. The rest of the weekend looks interesting and I’m happy to be in this fight.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“The conditions were very tricky this morning and in one corner there was quite a lot of ice. On the entry it had melted quite a bit, so I was carrying a bit more speed, but then in the middle of the corner the ice was very polished. So, I lost grip and was just a passenger and we got stuck in the ditch on the outside. Luckily there were lots of spectators who helped us to get back on the road and continue, but it was very frustrating. I will keep going and try to improve my driving and find a good setup for Sunday. We will still have some opportunities to score points, so this is my target for the moment.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“The speed is there but not everything went without trouble today. The afternoon went well, but the morning was a bit more of a struggle despite our fastest time on the opening stage. We had some trouble after the spin, our steering well was bent, and we lost valuable time to Ogier. We are still within the fight; hopefully we will have a perfect day tomorrow and can get a bit closer to the lead. With only a 16-second gap, we are well within that target.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 1,
Rallye Monte Carlo 2024, 24-28 January 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 1 of WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“It was a consistent day for us. The afternoon was quite solid, although the last stage was a bit more tricky, but other than that it was quite OK. This morning we were carrying maybe a bit too much speed and we paid the price, but the spectators made a good effort to get us back on the road. The car has been running smoothly with no troubles; I’m just trying to find a bit more feeling. I think I’m 80% there, I feel quite relaxed and comfortable in the car.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Today we continued our big learning curve from yesterday but there is still so much more room for improvement. It’s getting more natural for me to carry that momentum into corners, so we will build on that tomorrow and try to increase our speed. It’s like night and day compared to what we have been driving for the last four years, and we are not even close to our potential – this is good to know, and something we can explore on Saturday.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a better day,” said Oliver. “This morning was a little bit complicated with some ice around. In some places we were slowing down for some patches of ice which had melted.

“We have a new ice-note crew in Eric [Camilli] and Stéphane [Prévot] and they’re doing a fantastic job for us, but in some places maybe we had a little bit too much detail this morning. Honestly, it’s such a tough job what they do – I wouldn’t want to do it! This afternoon, perfect.

“OK, it’s nice to win the four stages, but I still can’t be completely happy with my driving today. It didn’t feel like it was flowing like I would like. I think we can work some more on the car tonight and maybe find some more speed for tomorrow.

“But this is the Monte, it’s fantastic to be here driving this Škoda. To see so many fans out there in the stages, so many flares and barbecue fires at the side of the road – the atmosphere is always super-cool here.”

Saturday

The second full day of action sees the crews tackle 120km’s over six stages. Can Elfyn remain in the lead, or will Seb move past his teammate?

 

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