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30th July 2023

Round 8 WorldSBK, Most, Czech Rep, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) claim his first win of the weekend, followed by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

WorldSBK 30.07.2023 Most, Czech Rep. Picture courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation.

With warm and dry conditions for race 2, as well as the fact that it would be the last race before the summer break, it was all to play for.

Lights out then for race 2 and it was Bautista with the hole shot, closely followed by Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who was aggressive from the off as always, Rea 3rd, and Toprak in 4th. Early drama yet again for Gerloff (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who ran off into turn 1 going down into the gravel. He rejoined at the back of the field.

Next lap and it was Bassani who over shot into the tight turn 1, he managed to “motocross” his way back on track but lost several places. Positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rea 3. Toprak 4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 5. Gardner (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 6. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 7. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 8. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 10. Vierge (Honda HRC). Drama for Eric Granado (Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team) who crashed out, his race was over.

With 19 laps of 22 remaining, Toprak dived up the inside of Rea into turn 1 to take 2nd. The poor weekend for Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) continued as he crashed yet again, this time into turn 1, and his race was over. Meanwhile further back it was 10th Vierge, 11th Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), 12th Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBKTeam).

With 17 laps to go, it was Toprak with the new fastest lap a 1:31.951. Bautista was coming under increasing pressure from the Turkish rider, who was aiming for his 2nd win of the weekend. Further back in 5th place, Gardner held a gap of 2s to Locatelli in 6th.

Next lap, and after getting great drive out of the previous corner, Toprak blasts under Bautista into turn 13 to take the lead, Bautista had no response, super move. Meanwhile further back it was 12. Lecuona (Honda HRC) 13. Aegerter 14. Lowes.

With 15 laps left, local rider Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing Movisio) looked to have a mechanical issue and retired to the pits.

Next lap and in 3rd place, Rea had a gap of 1.0s to bridge across to Bautista. While he held a gap of 1.4s to Rinaldi in 4th. Gardner held a gap of 1.6s to Petrucci in 6th. At the front the Yamaha R1 looked good, and was right at home with the twisty flowing nature of the racetrack and Toprak was looking as determined as ever. Bautista had his work cut out for him, with the lap times between them very similar.

With 12 laps to go, Scott Redding got past Loris Baz up into 9th.

Next lap and Bautista attacked around the outside of Toprak, the Turkish rider defended his position. Absolutely nothing in it between these two, it was shaping up to be a cracking race.

Just over half race distance, and after his failed attempt to pass Toprak into the twisty sections of the track, the only real option left was the tight turn 1. Bautista got great drive down the straight and lined up a pass on the R1, only to have the door well and truly slammed in his face. Toprak a demon on the brakes as ever. Rea was just about hanging onto the back of these two in 3rd.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Toprak 2. Bautista 3. Rea 4. Rinaldi 5. Petrucci 6. Gardner 7. Bassani 8. Locatelli 9. Redding 10. Baz.

Then with only 6 laps remaining, massive drama as the race leader Toprak Razgatlioglu high sided out of the chicane, in a very uncharacteristic mistake. He flew over the handlebars, and into the gravel, with his bike narrowly missing him. He got to his feet, with his arms held outstretched in utter disbelief.

A grateful Bautista took over the lead with enough of a gap back to Rea to ensure he wouldn’t get any immediate attacks. It was Rea 2nd, Rinaldi 3rd, and Danilo Petrucci in 4th, again showing great late race pace, and was reeling in Rinaldi.

With only 3 laps left, Petrucci made his move on Rinaldi, and took 3rd. Rinaldi next had to deal with Bassani who was gaining on him.

Penultimate lap, and Bassani had now caught his fellow countryman, and moved through on him into 4th. Petrucci was flying, and was closing in on Rea, looking like he had more pace. Petrucci caught Rea and attacked, Rea however, was able to defend his position.

Last lap, and Petrucci got great drive out of the last corner to pip Rea to the line to take 2nd. However it was his 18th win of the season, and a new record in WorldSBK, and it went to Alvaro Bautista. Petrucci 2nd, Rea 3rd, Bassani 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Gardner 6th, Locatelli 7th, Redding 8th, Vierge 9th, Baz 10th.

Result top 5:

Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team)
Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Bassani (Motocorsa Racing Team)
Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 427
Razgatlioglu – 353
Rea – 251

29th July 2023

Round 8 WorldSBK, Most, Czech Rep, Race 1

The earlier Superpole saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), claim top spot with an unbeaten time of 1:30.801, followed by Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing), and Remi Gardner (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), in 2nd and 3rd respectively. A mix up for the Aruba.it Racing team saw both Rinaldi and Bautista penalised for passing under the yellow flag, riders were docked grid positions with Bautista dropping down to 14th and Rinaldi down to 8th.

WorldSBK Most, 29.07.2023 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

The usually blazing hot Most track was cool and wet for race 1, with a mixed prediction of weather across the weekend. With the race declared wet, riders would be free to change bikes at any stage during the race.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), with a great start and the hole shot into the tight turn 1. Gardner was in 2nd, followed by Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 3rd, Toprak 4th, and Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) 5th. Meanwhile with a blistering start Bautista was now up to 7th, and then swiftly took both Vierge (Honda HRC) and Rea to move into 3rd, making up 11 places on lap 1.

Next lap of the 22 lap race and positions were as follows: 1. Bassani 2. Gardner 3. Bautista 4. Vierge 5. Rea 6. Rinaldi 7. Vd Mark (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 8. Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 9. Out in front Bassani wasn’t hanging around, and had already increased his lead to 5.2s. In 2nd the Aussie had a gap of 2.2s to Bautista. Meanwhile Toprak, who had opted for intermediate tyres, was struggling for grip on the wet track and had dropped down to 13th.

With 20 laps remaining, Bassani had the bit between his teeth, and put in the new fastest lap with a 1:46.5, and extended the gap to 7.5s.

With 18 laps left, Rea who had also opted for the intermediates, took both Bautista, and Gardner to move into 2nd. The track was drying rapidly now, and combined with an abrasive surface, the wet tyres were getting shredded. It was now Bassani in the lead followed by Rea in 2nd, and Bautista in 3rd. Drama for Gerloff, the Texan crashed out into turn 15 and his race was over.

Next lap and it was Rea with the new fastest lap, a 1:40.3, and he was steadily reeling in Bassani, with the lead cut down to only 2.9s. Meanwhile the drying track was also helping Toprak who was up to 4th now, after carving through riders, most of whom were on full wet tyres. Bassani pulled into the pits for a change to slick tyres, and that meant Rea was the new race leader.

With 16 laps to go positions were as follows: 1. Rea 2. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 3. Petrucci 4. Locatelli 5. Toprak 6. Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) 7. Lecuona (Honda HRC) 8. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 9. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 10. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).

Bassani exited pit lane and rejoined in 14th, while Bautista who did likewise ended up in 18th, with plenty of work ahead for both riders. Meanwhile Toprak got ahead of his team mate and was back to 4th.

With 15 laps left Rea had pulled out a massive gap of 13.3s. Redding was still behind in 2nd.

Bautista was clawing back time and put in the new fastest lap, a 1:34.925, and moved up to 11th ahead of Gardner in 12th. Meanwhile in 9th place Aegerter held a gap of 20.5s to Oettl (Team GoEleven) in 10th.

With 13 laps remaining, Petrucci put in a hard move on Redding, diving up the inside of the BMW to take 2nd, Toprak did likewise and took 3rd. Redding lost two places and ended up in 4th.

At the halfway point of the race it was Bautista with another fastest lap, this time a 1:33.368, although he had dropped two positions after previously running wide into a corner, and was now in 13th. Meanwhile out in the lead, and commanding a comfortable lead of 11s, was the Northern Irishman, Jonathan Rea.

Just over half race distance now and the positions were as follows: 1. Rea 2. Toprak 3. Petrucci 4. Redding 5. Locatelli 6. Lecuona 7. Baz 8. Aegerter 9. Lowes 10. Bassani.

With 9 laps left Locatelli had caught Redding, and made a clean pass up the inside of the BMW into turn 20 to take 4th.

Next lap and in 9th position, Lowes held a gap of 16.3s to Bassani in 10th.

With 7 laps to go, Rea’s lead had been getting cut down lap by lap, although he still held a sizeable lead of 8.2s. In 3rd place Petrucci held a gap of 4.4s to Locatelli in 4th.

Next lap and the Swiss rider, Domi Aegerter, made a nice pass on the brakes into turn 1 to take Loris Baz, and move up into 7th. He now had to bridge a gap of 6.4s to Lecuona ahead in 6th. Meanwhile Redding responded to the earlier move, and retook 4th getting past Locatelli.

With only 4 laps left, the stand in rider for Syahrin on the Petronas MIE Honda, Soomer, crashed out. Meanwhile at the front, Rea still held a lead of 6.3s. Bautista had moved up a position to 12th.

With 3 laps to go, Lecuona had now caught the group of Redding, and Locatelli ahead, and was looking like he had more pace. Bautista had not given up, and put in yet another fastest lap a 1:32.4, but you felt it was all too late for him.

Penultimate lap, and Lecuona took Locatelli down the straight after getting a good slip stream to move up into 5th.

Last lap and on his 399th start, Rea took his first win of the season. Toprak 2nd, Petrucci 3rd, Redding 4th, Lecuona 5th, Locatelli 6th, Bassani 7th, Aegerter 8th, Lowes 9th, Baz 10th, Bautista 12th.

Result top 5:

Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team)
Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
Lecuona (Honda HRC)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 395
Razgatlioglu – 341
Rea – 226

25th July 202325th July 2023

Hungarian Grand Prix – Daniel Ricciardo’s return analysed

Daniel Ricciardo returned to the Formula One grid after a half year hiatus at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old Australian replaced the sacked Nyck De Vries, himself dropped as suddenly as he was signed following a stellar 9th place at last year’s Italian Grand Prix.

It is a move Red Bull are almost infamous for, having swapped Brendon Hartley for Pierre Gasly at Toro Rosso in 2018, Gasly out for Alex Albon in 2020 and Daniil Kvyat out for Max Verstappen back in 2016. How did that last one go?

Ricciardo has resurfaced at Alpha Tauri following a disastrous spell at McLaren during which he never matched Lando Norris. That saw the Woking team pay the eight time winner to terminate his contract a year early to make way for compatriot Oscar Piastri.

This was after initially stating that he did not want come back to Formula One in back of the grid machinery, despite the team with whom Ricciardo started out with in 2012 – save for a half season cameo at HRT the year before – currently bottom of the Constructors’ Championship.

So why has he come back, how did he end up off the grid, what could he achieve and have we learnt anything from his first outing at the Hungaroring?

How did we get here?

Ricciardo left Red Bull with his stock among the highest on the Formula One grid at the end of 2018.

Ricciardo had a successful first spell with Red Bull before leaving at the end of 2018. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

He had a successful five years with the team, winning three times in his first season in 2014 which ultimately saw 4-time World Champion and team leader Sebastian Vettel seek refuge at Ferrari.

He would go on to win seven times for Red Bull including a memorable success at the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, where he held off challenges from Vettel and Lewis Hamilton despite a total ERS failure leaving him over 100 bhp down on power.

A couple of high profile incidents with Verstappen, at Budapest in 2017 and more famously in Baku the following year saw things begin to sour and Ricciardo joined Renault for 2019.

A sluggish 2019 for the Enstone team made way for a better 2020, but by the start of that season he’d already decided to abandon the Renault project before the first race of the Covid-delayed season to sign for McLaren.

He was expected to lead the Woking outfit, paired with Lando Norris but despite victory at Monza during his debut season, it did not work out that way.

Ricciardo struggled badly at McLaren, but did win their first race since 2012 with victory at 2021 Italian Grand Prix (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202109120251 // Usage for editorial use only //

Ricciardo struggled with McLaren’s inconsistencies on corner entry during both years there, and scored roughly a third of the points scored by Norris during that period and left the team a shadow of the driver that deposed a reigning four-time champion from Red Bull eight years prior.

Why move to Alpha Tauri, and what might he gain?

He took refuge as Red Bull’s third driver to work on the simulator and assess options for the upcoming seasons, where even they noticed “bad habits” had crept in as Ricciardo’s driving had become so compromised by his attempts to change his driving style to try to suit McLaren.

Ricciardo says that he’s realised he needs to drive naturally to get the best out of himself and the car, rather than change his style.

He was expected to appear on certain race weekends in an ambassadorial role for Red Bull and work on their simulator at the factory.

That was until Nyck De Vries’ performances began to fade badly in the face of a solid if low key season from Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull’s junior team.

De Vries’ struggles for consistency coupled with a tendency to collide with other drivers such as Kevin Magnussen in Canada or the wall such as twice in Baku had led to questions over whether the Dutchman would see out 2023.

At the same time, Red Bull’s other driver Sergio Perez was experiencing struggles of his own, failing to get into the final part of qualifying for five straight races in comfortably the best car on the grid, and only breaking that duck this weekend with ninth place.

Sergio Perez (right) has struggled for form and consistency in a troubled 2023 (Red Bull Content Pool / Getty Images)

Ricciardo has not taken the seat because his ultimate goal is to drive for Alpha Tauri – his mind has not changed from his comments at the end of last season.

The return to Alpha Tauri is to effectively put himself in the shop window, whether that is to replace Perez at Red Bull for this or next year. Perez has a contract for 2024.

If Ricciardo shows well and ultimately beats Tsunoda, Red Bull will know that they have a competitive replacement should Perez, 110 points (over four race victories) behind Verstappen, continue to falter and crucially an experienced driver who has raced at the front of the grid before. Being a known quantity may go in his favour.

Can we learn anything from his return this weekend?

As we’ve seen already with Red Bull it would be foolish to judge a driver’s potential from one race, as with De Vries.

The signs are good – Ricciardo’s pace in a recent tyre test at Silverstone in the RB19 was competitive, and out of the car he appears a completely different man to the one unceremoniously dumped by McLaren.

His results on the track were never going to be earth-shattering this weekend – two tenth places are the team’s best result courtesy of Tsuonda and they are on average the ninth slowest car on the grid.

Ricciardo made a solid return to the grid at the Hungaroring, taking 13th place (Red Bull Content Pool / Getty)

After outqualifying Tsunoda to line up 13th, the first time in five races Alpha Tauri have gotten out of Q1, Ricciardo’s cause wasn’t helped when Zhou Guanyu used his Alpha Tauri as a battering ram against the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

That saw him drop to 18th but the pace was there and he brought himself back up to 13th with a mixture of decent pace relative to machinery and a Ricciardo-inspired strategy call to ditch hard tyres after 11 laps on lap 29, and take fresh mediums to the end.

He and Alpha Tauri Team Principal Franz Tost believe it could be four races before the Australian is properly up to speed, but should the team – and Red Bull – see the old Ricciardo as opposed to the McLaren-spec one then it is possible that he may take the second Red Bull seat.

Perez, for his part, says that it is in his (Perez’s) hands and the Mexican is right. If he stops making basic errors such as dropping a wheel onto the grass on his first lap of the weekend, or crashing into the wall in Q1 in Monaco, then Red Bull will see no reason to replace him.

If he doesn’t, the door is very much ajar.

Images courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool / Getty Images / Pirelli F1 Media

23rd July 2023

Rally Estonia 2023, Sunday’s report

The final day then and once again Ott would be opening the road over the remaining 61km’s and four stages. The start list looked like this – Tänak, Katsuta, Loubet, Suninen, Evans, Lappi,

Neuville, Rovanperä. What could the local favourite do, particularly with the power stage?

First up then was SS18 Karaski 1 – 12.04 km and Kalle continued his run winning the stage from Esapekka and Elfyn. The Finn in his i20 edged away a little more from Elfyn, the gap now 9.6 seconds between the pair. In WRC2 Sami was setting the pace with the fastest time in the stage and reducing the gap to Andreas by 2.7 seconds.

Into SS19 Kambja 1 – 18.50 km and again Kalle was setting the pace and making the most of his road position. Elfyn was second fastest and Thierry third. The Welshman’s pace brought him a little closer to EP. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest from Sami and Andreas, whilst the Norwegian remained in the lead of the category, albite with an again reduced lead of 12.6 over Sami.

The penultimate stage then SS20 Karaski 2 – 12.04 km and the top three again was Kalle from Esapekka and Thierry. There as a change in the fight between Takamoto and Pierre-Louis with the Japanese driver passing the Puma driver and moving into sixth overall. Sami was again fastest from Andreas and brought the gap to the WRC2 leader below ten seconds.

The final stage then, SS21 Kambja 2[Power Stage] – 18.50 km and Ott set the early pace before Elfyn came through and beat the time. Then all eyes were on the top three as too if they would beat the Welshman’s time. EP was first to come through and was just off the pace that Elfyn set but his third-place finish was confirmed. Then Thierry was next but was not able to beat Ott’s time. Finally, Kalle came through and set the fastest time, beating Elfyn’s best by two seconds. The top five in the stage looked like this, Kalle, Elfyn, Esapekka, Ott and Thierry. There was one final change of positions though with Pierre-Louis passing Takamoto for sixth overall, the gap at the end? Just three tenths of a second! In WRC2 Andreas took the category win, whilst Sami made it his best result in the category with second place and Emil third in his first start in the i20Rally2.

Let’s take a look at the top ten.

Final Overall Classification –Rally Estonia

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	2:36:03.1
2	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+52.7
3	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+59.5
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:06.8
5	T. Suninen	M. Marrkula	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+2:21.1
6	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:09.9
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+3:10.2
8	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+6:25.6
9	A. Mikkelsen	T. Eriksen	Škoda Fabia RS	+9:54.1
10	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Škoda Fabia RS	+10:03.8

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It is an amazing feeling to achieve our 10th WRC win here in Estonia and to win this rally for the third time in a row. For me it’s a really nice rally and one I have always enjoyed. This weekend was something special, winning all the stages from Saturday morning onwards. I think we showed our speed and what the car can do quite well, so I’m really happy. We did a good job with Jonne, driving at this speed without really having any moments, and pushing all the time but still enjoying the driving, which is not always the case in rallying. I felt happy in the car and I was enjoying the nice stages and the great support we had here. It was also amazing to celebrate with Sato-san just after the stage and on the podium afterwards – he was so happy.”

Elfyn Evans

“We were in a pretty intense fight throughout the weekend for the podium places and naturally it’s disappointing not to have made it in the end. We weren’t a million miles away but unfortunately, we just fell a bit short. On Friday it took some time to feel comfortable and I think that’s when the majority of the damage was done in terms of our road position for the rest of the rally. Well done to Kalle who was dominant this weekend. It’s hard to be satisfied with our result but we come away with some good points from the Power Stage and from the rally. It’s also a good warm-up for Rally Finland and we’ll work hard over the next week to try and do better there.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“There have been some positives and some negatives for me this weekend. It has been good to finish the rally without any mistakes or moments, so it has been quite a clean weekend. But I was lacking speed in many places and that is what I need to improve for the next event. I was struggling a lot in the beginning, and after that the feeling was improving but I still wanted to show more speed and I can’t be happy with my performance. I will try to take the positives, to analyse what we did here and try to improve for Rally Finland. Congratulations to Kalle, Jonne and the whole team for the win.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I am very happy to finish on the podium; this is a good boost of motivation for both the team and myself. I have never been so fast at rallies like this. Looking forward to Finland, this is a great sign as we can clearly see we have improved our car on high-speed gravel. Of course, we had hoped that we could finish in front of Kalle, who had another incredible weekend and there was nothing we could do to fight him. On our side it was a very strong performance, and I am very satisfied. We made no mistakes, and we were able to push, as well as keep cars behind us. Hopefully we can do a little bit more for Rally Finland and be fighting again for podium positions.”

Esapekka Lappi

“It has been a strong weekend for our team. I think we were closer to Toyota than we all expected to be, but still a bit too far behind, which we need to keep working on. This is the first time I have been flat out for three days in a row fighting with someone – Elfyn was really fast here last year so it was fantastic to win this battle. Thank you to the team; we didn’t have any problems this weekend except from the hybrid, which was my fault. We have done a good job on the testing and development of the car, so we just need to continue that. There is still work to do but as we can see from these results, we are heading in the right direction.”

Teemu Suninen

“It is a really special feeling to finish fifth. I’m sure Craig has been following my weekend. It would have been nice to have finished on the podium for him, but we didn’t manage it here. I have done all I can to try and work as he had been working, and it’s been an emotional rally for me. I would like to say a big thanks to Hyundai Motorsport and everyone in the team; it is a super environment to work in. We were able to make good progress with our driving and experience of the car, and we were improving our times stage by stage. I enjoyed every one of them and I am grateful for the support of the team to help me become an even better driver.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“I think in general we can be happy about our pace, especially when you compare to last year. We made some good steps, and some stages we were very close to Ott, and I know Ott is using the full potential of the car. For me it’s a very good comparison, he’s the best kind of driver on these rallies.”

Ott Tӓnak

“Reaching the top eight was the target, and we achieved that. I would say our strength came from the small rally we did in Estonia last week, we were already in a high speed rhythm compared to everyone else. It was clear to see how our one-day rally experience before made our speed better. But it was a fun weekend and we’ve had a nice experience with the fans.

“I would say we are at maximum capacity at the minute. For sure, Finland is very specific so we will do a one-day test to do a bit of fine-tuning, but there aren’t any plans for big changes.”

Summary

Well, what can I say about the winner? Kalle showed again why he’s our world champion and took his second win of this year. Elfyn had a great rally although he was not particularly happy but battled well for the final step on the podium with EP. Takamoto drove well and avoided any mistakes.

At Hyundai it was a surprise to see Thierry run so well at the front and ultimately take a very good second place to boost his championship run. Any attempt to challenge for victory came to an end with the tyre off the rim and then he got his head down and pulled away again from his teammate, EP and Elfyn. Esapekka showed well again taking another very good third place and yet another podium. Finally, Teemu’s drive to fifth overall again showed his class and quality in his debut in the Rally1 i20. No mistakes all weekend.

Finally at M-Sport it was a case of what might have been for the fan favourite! Ott would have certainly battled with Kalle at the front were it not for the five-minute penalty after an engine change following shakedown. His French teammate, Pierre-Louis again had a great event, with consistently good pace and even though he had the extra boost in stage seven giving him extra pace, his third best time in that stage showed that he really is starting to show his quality.

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 8

1	K. Rovanperä	170
2	E. Evans	115
3	T. Neuville	112
4	O. Tänak	104
5	S. Ogier	98
6	E. Lappi	87
7	D. Sordo	46
8	T. Katsuta	41
9	P.L Loubet	28
10	C. Breen	19
11	T. Suninen	19

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 8

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	331
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	274
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	195

Next round is Rally Finland, the ninth round of the championship from the 3^rd to the 6^th of August.

23rd July 202323rd July 2023

Hungarian Grand Prix – Verstappen takes a crushing win as Red Bull break win record

Max Verstappen won at a canter to take a seventh win in a row and ninth of the 2023 season.

His win means that Red Bull break McLaren’s record of 11 straight victories in 1988, with the Milton Keynes outfit now on their 12 straight triumph.

The result means Verstappen has a championship advantage of 110 points, more than four race victories without reply, over teammate Sergio Perez.

His 44th career win came ahead of Lando Norris, who took consecutive podiums for the first time in his career after second in Silverstone last time out, and a resurgent Perez in third.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton was down in fourth after a tough first corner saw him lose places to Verstappen, eventual fifth place finisher Oscar Piastri and Norris at Turn 2.

Piastri lost pace after his first stop, but these previous two weekends have shown a real coming of age having not raced in 2022 and starting life in Formula One with an undercooked McLaren.

George Russell rose well from 18th on the grid to finish sixth after Charles Leclerc’s penalty dropped the Monegasque to seventh ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.

Fernando Alonso on the 20th anniversary since his first Grand Prix win was ninth as Aston Martin completed a Noah’s Ark top 10 with Lance Stroll in tenth.

A good initial launch at the start from Hamilton was wasted in the second phase and Verstappen got alongside, and crucially for Turn One, the inside to block pass his rival and stop his run on the exit.

That allowed Piastri to take the inside and move to second, with Hamilton boxed in to allow Norris a run on the outside of the second corner.

Behind them an awful start from fifth for Zhou Guanyu in the Alfa Romeo left him out of sync on the run to the first corner and he outbraked himself to hit the back of the returning Daniel Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri.

That sent the Australian into the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who launched over his teammate Pierre Gasly to break not only car but his seat, and resulted in another double retirement for the Enstone team.

Behind Verstappen the story was how quickly Perez could make his way through the field from ninth on the grid.

The Mexican was quickly into his stride dispatching the Alfa Romeos of Zhou and Valtteri Bottas, who started seventh, before taking Alonso’s seventh early on.

From there he settled behind the Ferrari duo, before Sainz stopped on lap 16 to release Perez – Leclerc would follow suit shortly after.

After that he stalked Hamilton’s Mercedes through the second stint, the both catching Piastri who had lost out to Norris in the first round of pit stops.

Both Perez and Piastri pitted on lap 44 to leave Hamilton stranded on old hards for a further six laps, and Perez passed Piastri three laps after their stops.

Norris proved to be a bridge too far in second and he couldn’t make it a 1-2 on a day of history for Red Bull.

The race marked a solid return to F1 for Daniel Ricciardo, who’s 13th for Alpha Tauri capped off a weekend that saw him outqualify and outrace teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Red Bull in a class of their own

Verstappen and Red Bull were once again in a class of their own. (Getty/Red Bull Content Pool)

Verstappen made a mockery of Hamilton’s pole position and talk of a Mercedes victory within the first ten seconds of the race.

From there, his afternoon followed a familiar pattern in that he controlled the race, stretched out a comfortable lead and completed a trouble free run to the flag.

Red Bull’s 12th win broke a 35-year-old record set by McLaren for wins in a row and, as with 1988, it’s only the prospect of a double DNF that looks set to stop them from winning every race this season.

McLaren won 15 of 16 races that year, and a 100% record season is surely a target now for the current World Champions.

McLaren prove themselves

McLaren had not been expected to match the heights of the British Grand Prix, with their car suited to high speed corners at Silverstone and the team struggling on lower speed corners that characterise the Hungaroring circuit.

So it was a surprise to see Norris and Piastri qualify in third and fourth on Saturday, and aside from Perez recovering from another out of position start to finish roughly where his Red Bull should have been, they stayed there.

Piastri faded somewhat after his second stop eventually finish fifth but the rookie can be pleased with his efforts nonetheless on a circuit he hasn’t raced on since 2020.

Lando Norris took his second straight podium, for the first ever time (Pirelli F1 Media)

Norris meanwhile underlined his credentials as a future world champion by backing up second place last time out with another runners-up finish in Budapest as McLaren look like they are here to stay.

Ferrari and Aston Martin falter

Put kindly, Ferrari had another race to forget.

After Carlos Sainz qualified 11th and Leclerc sixth, their pace was badly shown up by McLaren’s improvement and George Russell coming through from 18th on the grid to beat the pair of them in sixth.

Leclerc was heard less than impressed on the radio with their strategy, and lost time in the pit stops with a slow rear left tyre change.

For Aston Martin, their pace since the Austrian Grand Prix has slowly slipped away culminating in a finish this weekend at the very rear of the points in ninth and tenth for Alonso and Stroll.

The Silverstone team has never counted the Hungaroring among its favourite tracks, but there’s a lot of work to be done if they are once more emerge as one of Red Bull’s primary challengers.

Mercedes’ contrasting day.

When Lewis Hamilton woke this morning fresh from a shock 104th pole position yesterday, he cannot have expected fourth to be the best that his Mercedes could achieve today.

Mercedes struggled badly in the middle of the race as hard tyres and heavy fuel took a heavy toll in the second stint and ultimately extinguished any chance of a podium – a late salvo not enough for Hamilton to overhaul Perez.

Similarly, when Russell was tucking into his morning Weetabix, he cannot have expected sixth place from 18th on a track where overtaking is difficult.

He was helped slightly by Zhou’s skittling of the Alpines at Turn One, but his pace was solid late on and struggles for pace on the hard tyre masked by being in a train of slower cars earlier in the race, and his charge against a spent Ferrari team ensured that he salvaged a good result from an awful Saturday.

Images courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool / Getty mages, and Pirelli F1

22nd July 2023

Rally Estonia 2023, Day Two Report – Saturday

The second full day of action had 106km’s over nine stages. Ott Tanak would open the road throughout the second day.

Into the first stage then, SS9 Mäeküla 1 – 10.27 km and Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Elfyn. The Welshman closed the gap to EP who was holding third. Ott was now in eleventh overall and just 6.2 seconds from the points paying positions. Andreas remained in charge of WRC2 holding a 9.3 second lead over Gus whilst Sami held third.

Kalle made it two in a row winning SS10 Otepää 1 – 11.15 km also with Thierry and Elfyn second and third fastest. Elfyn’s morning pace was bringing him close to Esapekka, the gap now just seven tenths of a second! Meanwhile Ott jumped up two places and into ninth overall and was just eight seconds from WRC2 leader Andreas.

After the regroup and tyre fitting zone there was the second run of SS11 Mäeküla 2 – 10.27 km. Kalle was fastest again but this time EP was second fastest from Elfyn, whilst Thierry was fourth. The gap between Elfyn and Esapekka rose very slightly to 1.2 seconds. Ott moved into eighth place, pushing WRC2 leader Andreas down to ninth, whilst Sami passed Gus for second place in the category.

Kalle was really on a roll now, winning SS12 Otepää 2 – 11.15 km from Esapekka and Elfyn. Thierry fell away from the battle for the lead as he suffered from a tyre coming away from the wheel rim. In WRC2 Andreas remained in the lead, but Sami edged a little closer by a few tenths of a second.

After the service break, we had a whole new set of stages for the crews to tackle, starting with SS13 Elva 1 – 11.73 km. This stage included a visit to a rally cross circuit. The top three was Kalle, Thierry and EP. The Finns lead over the Belgian was now 23.9 seconds and EP was also gapping Elfyn, there being a gap now of two and a half seconds. There was no change in the WRC2 category with Andreas still leading, but the gap did come down a little to 16.3 seconds to Sami who was faster in the stage.

Into SS14 Kanepi 1 – 16.48 km and again Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Esapekka. The Finn in his i20 was opening a gap to Elfyn and now was ahead by 3.7 seconds. There was no change either with the top three in the WRC2 category.

Kalle again was fastest in SS15 Elva 2 – 11.73 km but this time from his teammate Elfyn who was one second faster than EP, thus reducing the gap again, whilst Thierry was third fastest.

In the next one, SS16 Kanepi 2 – 16.48 km Kalle again was fastest from Thierry and Esapekka and Elfyn was fourth, losing more time to EP. The gap was now 5.6 seconds. In WRC2 Sami edged a little closer to Andreas, bringing the gap down to 15.1 seconds. The young Finn was eyeing up a category win.

Onto the final stage, run near the service park and a bit of a mickey mouse stage really, SS17 Tartu vald 2 – 3.35 km. Last run-on Thursday evening and as the opening stage of the event. Kalle made it a clean sweep of all nine stages, winning this one as well from EP and Thierry. WRC2 category leader was sixth fastest in the stage.

Let’s take a look at the top positions.

Classification after Day Two

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:05:29.3
2	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+34.9
3	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+45.4
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+52.7
5	T. Suninen	M. Marrkula	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+1:41.5
6	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+2:25.5
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:32.5
8	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+5:552

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been an amazing day. It doesn’t happen so often that you can win all the stages in one day. We had a clear plan this morning to push hard and get a bit of a gap if we can, and to make use of our better starting place. It was a bit easier to match the speed, we had a clean morning and gained a lot of time. This afternoon I really enjoyed the stages, and it went well, the feeling was great in the car. Tomorrow is still a tricky day, with a new stage that is quite technical, so we need to stay sharp, do a good job and then hopefully we can have a final push on the Power Stage.”

Elfyn Evans

“It has been a pretty close battle with Esapekka: there has been a fair bit of back and forth between us during the day and we’ve both enjoyed the fight. It was particularly tight this morning: I took a bit in the first couple of stages, and then he took exactly the same amount back. The gap went a bit more in his favour towards the end of the day, so it’s a bit bigger now than we would like. The longer stage this afternoon maybe didn’t suit us so well and we conceded a bit too much time there. But it’s still relatively close and all to play for tomorrow. We’re going to give it everything we have and see what we can do.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Together with the team we changed a few things on the car last night and we made a good step forward with the setup, so I felt much better than yesterday. Of course, I was struggling a bit with the grip because of our starting position, which we knew would be the case. But other than that, it was going well this morning. I was trying to improve my driving more this afternoon, but then many things happened. We had a few issues with the car and the intercom, and it was a bit difficult to work out what was going on, but we got through all the stages OK and that’s the main thing.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I enjoyed today; we were driving the car to its maximum most of the time and having a lot of fun while still feeling comfortable, which was key. We made no mistakes and had no moments, but we got unlucky with a puncture, which cost us a few seconds. The goal tomorrow is to bring home the result, but Esapekka and Elfyn are pushing hard behind us. Esapekka has had an incredible day – I felt I was driving really well, and we were nearly matching times in the stages, which shows that our car is giving us what we need to go fast. We have been strong in the past here and the car feels good, but we are clearly missing something that would get us closer to Kalle.”

Esapekka Lappi

“I think this is the first time in my career where I have had this kind of fight for position over two days. We struggled to build a bigger gap in the forest, but it is impressive that on the super special we managed to stretch the gap a fair bit. It has been up and down against Elfyn, but it has been a nice battle. I took more risks in the afternoon and drove on the limit more It has been enjoyable, but I thought I gave everything on SS15 – maybe even a little bit more – and so for the time to not be impressive was quite frustrating. We will do everything we can to stay ahead tomorrow; while we all know the Power Stage, there is also a brand new one which can always throw up some surprises.”

Teemu Suninen

“Step by step, we have been able to improve and increase our pace today. I am thankful to Dani; he has been like a big brother to me, helping with my first steps in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid. There were two stages where we lost just over a second, so we are not far away however, I still need a bit more rhythm to maintain a consistently good pace. Now there is a risk that we make a mistake; we haven’t had a single moment so far, which might mean there is a bit of margin to go faster, but to be honest I need the kilometres. As I’m in the third car, I need to be in a good position to bring home points in case anything happens tomorrow.”

Sunday

The final day sees the crews tackle 61km’s over four stages with a service break in the middle. Can Kalle continue in the same form and win all the final stages, or will we see another stage winner?

22nd July 202322nd July 2023

Hamilton takes record ninth pole for Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has taken pole for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix – his first since 2021 – setting a record for the most number of pole positions at one circuit by one driver. He lines up ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, with the trio separated by only +0.085.

It was the first try-out of a new qualifying format, with drivers mandated to use only hard tyres in Q1, medium tyres in Q2 and soft tyres in Q3.

2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, Friday – Steve Etherington

McLaren locked out the second row, further delivering on their upgrades from the last round in Silverstone. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu had a strong showing in fifth, having topped Q1 earlier.

Slightly further down in the top ten, Perez finally put an end to his run of Q1 eliminations and lines up P9 on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

In his first qualifying session back in F1 – having been brought in as a replacement for Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri – Daniel Ricciardo ended up P13, with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda in P17.

Although Mercedes have reason to celebrate with Hamilton’s pole, it was not an entirely great day for the team. George Russell complained about traffic on the build-up to his last Q1 lap and wasn’t able to improve, finding himself all the way down in P18.

POLE NUMBER 104!!!! 🙌

For the first time since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, @LewisHamilton is back on pole! #HungarianGP #F1 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/k47sR2i6I5

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 22, 2023

21st July 2023

Rally Estonia 2023, Day One Report – Friday

The first full day of action would see the crews tackle 136km’s over seven stages. Following the opening stage, the previous evening, Ott was leading from Thierry and Kalle. The start list looked like this – Rovanperä, Evans, Tänak, Neuville, Lappi, Katsuta, Loubet, Suninen, Solberg (WRC2), Greensmith (WRC2).

First up was SS2 Peipsiääre 1 – 24.35 km and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Kalle. There were a few changes in the leader board, with Thierry moving into the lead, Kalle moving into second, whilst Esapekka and Elfyn dropped a place each to third and fourth. In WRC2 Oliver moved into the lead and Andreas into second, whilst Egon held third. At this stage, Ott was holding 46^th overall.

Into SS3 Mustvee 1 – 17.09 km and Ott was fastest through this one from Thierry and Kalle. The Belgian now held a 3.9 second lead over the Finn. There was a change for third, with Elfyn moving ahead of EP who suffered a boost problem with his hybrid system. The stage winner gained nine places on the leader board, moving into 37^th place. In WRC2, Oliver continued to lead, but was not altogether happy with the way his Skoda was handling. Andreas remained second with Gus moving into third place.

The final morning stage SS4 Raanitsa 1 – 21.45 km saw Ott once again set the pace from Thierry again and Kalle. The Estonian gained another six positions as well. His expected march up the leader board was going well. There was a change in WRC2 for third place behind the two leaders with Gus dropping two places and Georg and Egon passing the Brit.

After the service break, Kalle swooped, winning SS5 Peipsiääre 2 – 24.35 km from Esapekka and Elfyn. Overall leader, Thierry could only manage the fourth best time, seeing his lead cut to 2.1 seconds. Meanwhile, Pierre-Louis moved ahead of Takamoto and into sixth overall. Teemu was going really well in his debut event with the i20 Rally1 holding fifth overall and matching Thierry’s pace as well. There was drama in WRC2 with erstwhile leader Oliver hitting the scenery and damaging his suspension. With the young Swede’s demise for the day, Andreas moved into the lead of the category Sami was now second and Egon third. Ott gained another ten places and was now in twenty-first place.

2023 FIA World Rally Championship Round 8,
Rally Estonia 2023, 20-23 July 2023
Teemu Suninen, Mikko Markkula, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 1 of WRC Rally Estonia 2023
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

We had a lead change in SS6 Mustvee 2 – 17.09 km with Kalle going fastest from Ott and Esapekka. Former leader Thierry could only manage the fifth best time and fell to second, albeit with a 2.3 gap to the Finn. In WRC2 Andreas remained in the lead from Egon who’d passed Sami for second. The rise of the local favourite continued with Ott gaining a further four positions and moving into seventeenth overall.

Ott was again fastest in SS7 Raanitsa 2 – 21.45 km and gained a further five places to move into twelfth place. EP was second and Pierre-Louis third. Sadly, Elfyn dropped behind EP, who now held third overall. There were some changes in WRC2 behind Andreas. Egon who was holding second in the category prior to the stage dropped seven positions, with Gus, Sami and Emil benefitting.

The final stage of the day, SS8 Neeruti – 7.60 km saw Ott fastest again from Elfyn and Kalle. There were no changes in the top three, meaning Kalle is the overall leader heading into Saturday’s stages and Andreas is holding the WRC2 lead. Ott gained one last position moving into eleventh overall, just twenty-two seconds from tenth place, currently held by Sami.

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

Classification after Day One

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	1:12:22.2
2	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3.0
3	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+12.2
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+14.1
5	T. Suninen	M. Marrkula	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+33.8
6	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+48.8
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:03.6

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was a really big challenge this morning opening the road, as it was much looser than I was expecting. It seems the roads had been drying quite a bit since the recce. I think we did a good job, we pushed really hard without making mistakes and there was not much more that we could do. This afternoon was a bit better, as we could at least have similar grip levels to the guys behind. We needed to open the ruts a bit in places but at least we could push and at the end of the day it’s not looking so bad. It’s still close with Thierry so let’s see how it is tomorrow when we both have better starting places. I hope at least that our pace will come easier than today.”

Elfyn Evans

“Our day started not too bad this morning considering our road position, but I didn’t have the best feeling with the car. I was struggling with the balance a little bit and it wasn’t as easy as I’d like. So, there were definitely some improvements to be made with the setup during service, and things were quite a bit better this afternoon. Unfortunately, we just had one stage – the third one of the loop – where we seemed to drop a lot of time but other than that I’ve had an improved feeling behind the wheel and that puts us in a better place looking ahead to tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It has been quite a long and tough day for me. In the morning, I was struggling a bit and didn’t feel so good with the car. Then, this afternoon, the conditions on the second pass were much rougher. The team did a good job to improve the car a lot, but on my side, I was still finding it difficult. The high-speed sections are OK for me, but when it’s very technical or when it’s rutted and the risk is getting higher, I’m hesitating too much. Tomorrow we will drive four stages twice and I will try step-by-step to find some confidence and hopefully start to use the potential of the car more.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I’m definitely satisfied to finish the day in second place. We would like to have kept our first position, but we expected Kalle Rovanperä to be very fast this afternoon. I kept trying but in some sections I was losing a little bit here and there. We may have lost the position, but at the end of the day we are only three seconds behind. Compared to last year, my feeling in the car is much better and I was quite confident, as well as having a lot of fun out there. Tomorrow will be tough, Kalle has the better road position if there is no rain, so let’s see what we can do.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We have had a very consistent day from the first stage to the last. In the morning we faced a hybrid issue, which we later discovered was caused by me, but doing a whole loop without the boost was definitely a disadvantage. I really tried to push hard to minimise the time loss before we reset the issue in service. The second loop was easier, but the conditions were quite tricky. It was especially so on the first two afternoon stages where there were deep ruts and some holes, which caught me out under braking. Overall, it’s been a very fun day. The car is behaving so well, and I am able to do exactly what I want – I can push to the limit, and sometimes even go over it.”

Teemu Suninen

“The feeling today has been amazing. I really enjoyed it and focused on learning the car as quickly as possible. I think we have shown good pace and I loved every single stage. It has been so nice to be back working in the top class and with the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team, especially Dani Sordo who has been a big support to me so far. I knew it is impossible to drive conservatively here, because then you are nowhere, so I tried to avoid bigger risks and was careful in really high-speed places. I think there is still more to come, and while we want to bring the car home safely without mistakes, I hope I can make a few small steps forward.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“On the first one we were struggling quite a bit and the second one we improved a bit, but had some technical problem with the set-up, and the last two were much smoother and two good stages. First on the road tomorrow and it appears dry, so definitely not helping, anyhow we catch quite a bit of time and the rally2’s are not far and that’s been the target”

Saturday

The second full day of action will see the crews tackle 106km’s over nine stages. Can Kalle remain in front, or will Thierry turn up the speed like always appears to do on Saturday’s and take the lead back? The battle between the fan favourites Elfyn and Esapekka for third is even closer at just 1.9 seconds!

Ott’s continued rise will surely continue as he targets the forty second gap between himself and WRC2 leader Andreas who currently holds eighth overall.

21st July 2023

Hungarian Grand Prix – Red Bull favourites as Ricciardo returns

Red Bull will once again pitch up to the Hungaroring as favourites to emerge victorious and continue a perfect start to 2023.

The Milton Keynes team will be bringing a raft of upgrades including changes to the cooling slot and reprofiled sidepods (Watch out copycats) but arguably its biggest story this week is with its junior team.

Max Verstappen has long since vanquished any hope of a championship fight and now holds a near 100 point lead in the standings over teammate Sergio Perez.

Verstappen has only failed to win twice this season and has eight victories.

The Hungarian Grand Prix traditionally marks the halfway point of the Formula One season, and as Round 11 this season is no different.

At Alpha Tauri, Nyck De Vries will not see even half the season out as the 2021 Formula E champion was unceremoniously dumped out of Red Bull’s B Team in favour of a return of a familiar face.

Daniel Ricciardo returns to the place where it all began, save for a half season in 2011 at HRT, by rejoining the team first knwon as Toro Rosso.

Ricciardo, 34, had previously said that he would not return unless it was in a competitive seat.

Alpha Tauri are on average ninth quickest in 2023 and are bottom of the Constructors’ this season with two points courtesy of Yuki Tsunoda.

Clearly that is not what the affable Australian meant, but he has identified it as a chance to shown Red Bull that the Honey Badger is still in there – Ricciardo did win eight Grands Prix with Red Bull and McLaren and was renowned for his wheel to wheel racing with Red Bull.

With Perez faltering at Red Bull – he’s failed to get into the final part of qualifying since Miami in May, there is talk that should Ricciardo impress again that he could make a sensational return to the team he quit in 2018.

How realistic that is remains to be seen.

Away from Red Bull’s latest driver swap, the battle for best of the rest looks set to once more see-saw between Aston Martin, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

Ferrari’s race management was dismal at Silverstone last time out and the Scuderia could only manage ninth and tenth with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after a poor tyre choice and strategy saw them slip backwards after a late Safety Car.

Mercedes managed to return to the podium with Lewis Hamilton, who benefitted at the expense of McLaren driver Oscar Piastri to move up to third during that safety car period, but were surprised by McLaren’s sudden gain in pace.

Lando Norris was second for the Papaya outfit, and left Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff to suggest that their rivals’ progress is a positive, and that McLaren’s jump shows that huge progress is possible.

McLaren for their part do not expect to hit the heights of second and fourth this weekend, with the twisty Budapest track exposing their slow corner weakness much more than Silverstone, but the base package is still expected to score points this weekend.

That leaves Aston Martin as Mercedes’ likely best of the rest challengers.

The Silverstone team have been low key of late, failing to reach the podium at either Austria or the British Grand Prix, two layouts which favour high speed performance and low drag.

They’ve shown a preference for slower speed tracks and were arguably the closest team to toppling Red Bull this season, when a strategic error arguably cost them the win at a wet Monaco Grand Prix.

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of Fernando Alonso’s first win, then for Renault, at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Red Bull are expected to make further history this weekend, where victory would be their 12th in a row and see them out on their own after previously tying with McLaren’s 11 in the late 1980s.

20th July 2023

Rally Estonia 2023 Preview – Fast gravel!

After last month’s epic Safari Rally Kenya, the championship arrives back in Europe with the reigning champions leading the way. Of course, the exclusion of Thierry Neuville from the results of that rally puts Elfyn into send in the championship and also second on the road and he will surely be a threat to his teammates who lead the way. Takamoto again steps up to drive a car nominated for manufacturer points with Seb Ogier enjoying a longer holiday and missing this event.

At M-Sport, Ott will certainly be targeting a big result to get himself back into the championship battle, and will have a good road position as well, whilst his teammate Pierre-Louis will look to get more useful experience for the future.

Finally at Hyundai Thierry has not helped his championship challenge with his mistakes at the last round, and it has to be said that he’s not really felt at home on these fast type of roads over the years. Will he be able to find some pace both in Estonia and Finland which is at the start in August? Esapekka has shown great pace throughout this year and could again star at the front, perhaps even lead with a great road position throughout Friday.

Here’s a look at the stages.

Twenty-one in total and 300km’s spread across the weekend make this rally a big challenge. Friday sees the longest day with 136km’s, then 102km’s on Saturday and finally 61km’s on Sunday.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“Rally Estonia is definitely one of my favourite events on the calendar. I have spent a lot of time in Estonia and the fast and flowing roads suit my driving style really well. I have good memories from the rally, and it has always been an enjoyable one for me. Even in 2020 when I didn’t have much experience we could fight for the podium, and then 2021 was very special as it was our first win. Last year the weather was making a difference and I hope we can have some rain this year too, because we will be opening the road again on Friday. Like on any rally, the plan will be to aim for the win, and especially as this is one, we have been so strong on before.”

Elfyn Evans

“Estonia brings a complete change of territory and with it a change of mentality. We’re coming off the back of some rough and relatively low-speed rallies and moving onto extremely high-speed and smooth gravel, and these next events are all about confidence and commitment behind the wheel. As a driver, you need to have trust in your pacenotes and also have a good feeling with the car, so we were working hard during our pre-event test last week to try and get everything right. Hopefully we can go into it feeling good from the beginning and really enjoy the driving, which is really key to performing well on a rally like this one.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I really like the kind of high-speed stages we have in Estonia and Finland. It’s going to be a big challenge but I’m really looking forward to these rallies. In Estonia, the stages are very fast but there are also some really narrow and twisty sections. The surface can be quite soft sometimes, so the ruts can make the second pass of stages even more difficult: as a driver you still need to really commit but you also have to be able to manage the ruts well. I will try to do my best and I hope that I can perform well and get a good result for the team.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Rally Estonia is a challenging event for me every year. Fast and wide roads mean the average speed is very high, so you need to really to commit to it and feel comfortable in the car. Most of the time you are running a low car, at least on the first pass. On the second pass you might have to rise the ride height because of the ruts. Generally, you need to find the balance between a stiff car to get the precision and the directivity, but also keep enough traction. It’s hard to find the right balance but those are the main challenges.”

Esapekka Lappi

“As everyone knows, in terms of speed this event is similar to Finland and Chile. The driving style is you are either full throttle or braking – there is no in-between. Normally in central European rallies, you need to drive a different way, but in Estonia and Finland you are full throttle and that is the biggest difference. One of the main challenges in my point of view is that road usage is not so clear; you can cut from the bushes and use the exits if there is a field. To be able to comfortably go outside of the road you have to have perfect pace notes at that speed, that is the trickiest thing to get right.”

Teemu Suninen

“I’m really excited to get in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, especially when it’s one of my favourite rallies. I’ve been dreaming of it for a long time, and I’ve been working hard to get back to the top class so it’s great to be here. Normally Rally Estonia is one of the fastest rallies on the whole calendar and it’s like a sprint, so we have to drive flat out from start to finish. The surface is normally quite soft so the grip level is really high, especially on the second loop with some big ruts. My main goal is to bring some good manufacturer points, but I also need to show good pace, and if the feeling is good, then we will push for a strong result.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“We’ve had some quite intense preparations; we did a pre-event test and then a small event, so it’s been a big effort to make it as good as possible for Estonia. Obviously, the next two events are purely about performance, so we’re putting everything into it and we’ll find out how close we get to the others.

“Now we are going into the second half of the season we’re definitely not letting the championship go, so we feel like we need to increase our game and put everything in. It’s going to be a short turnaround to Finland, so if something isn’t quite working in Estonia the week in between will be flat out, but hopefully in Estonia we will be on a good level already.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“There are a lot of changes to be made ahead of this kind of rally. It’s almost the complete opposite of what we saw in Kenya and some of the previous rallies which have been very rough! We can expect Estonia’s road to be very clean and very fast.

“We will be making a lot of changes to the car’s settings; the ride height, the dampers, everything really. I’m looking forward to it, it’s definitely one of the most enjoyable events of the season. Because of the high speeds on straights and on corners and everywhere, it’s really a great event for these Rally1 cars to showcase their power. We will try to enjoy it and hopefully achieve a good result!”

WRC2 Category

Hyundai

Emil Lindholm

“It’s exciting to go into my first event in the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. It’s a new team and a new car, and it’s already feeling impressive so I’m confident going into Estonia. The roads are soft so they get rutted but, of course, they’re super-fast – some unique road conditions. It reminds me of my home rally, so of course I like it. The target for the weekend is to enjoy the car, enjoy the roads and to do our best. I believe we have everything we need to achieve a podium in Estonia.”

Fabrizio Zaldivar

“I’m ready to get back into the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and focus on going flat-out for the rest of our campaign. There is no better rally to apply this approach than Rally Estonia, which requires you to maintain a consistent rhythm. We were disappointed with our struggles in Sardinia, so we are keen to wipe our slate clean and demonstrate what we and the car are capable of doing. If everything goes to plan, we will complete the rally without any large mistakes and hopefully score a good result.”

Oliver Solberg

I really like this rally; Rally Estonia is one of the fastest rallies of the season and it’s somewhere I’ve really enjoyed myself in the past.”

“We are allowed to take one dropped score in the championship,” said Oliver. “The retirement in Italy was obviously not what we wanted and now we need to stay focused and keep a consistent speed. “

Summary

Well, we are all set for high-speed on the forest roads of Estonia! This rally will be spectacular and there will be close battles up and down the timesheets. Unfortunately, Ott and Martin will start with a five minute penalty due to needing an engine change following problems in shakedown.

Enjoy and pop back to check my daily reports.