Tag: WRC

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Safari Rally Kenya 2024 – Day One Report – Friday

The first full day of the Safari Rally saw the crews tackle 132km’s over six stages and there was drama in all the stages. The first stage held on Thursday in Nairobi saw Thierry hold the lead over Ott, with Kalle in third.

Of course, heading into the Friday’s stages would be Thierry who would open the road throughout the day.

First up then was SS2 Loldia 1 – 19.17 km and Kalle was fastest from Esapekka and Ott. The Finns pace saw him move into the lead from Ott and fellow Finn EP who jumped two positions on the leader board and into third overall. Unfortunately, Elfyn suffered a puncture in this stage and could only manage the sixth best time. In WRC2 Gus was fastest from Oliver and Kajetan and these three held the last three positions in the overall top ten.

Next was SS3 Geothermal 1 – 13.12 km and the fast stage saw Thierry hit a bank on the outside of a left-hand corner, damaging his rear tyre and also the bodywork on the right-hand side. The Belgian dropped back just one place to fifth overall. Meanwhile Kalle was fastest in the stage from Esapekka and Ott. The two Hyundai drivers swapped positions as well, Esapekka now into second overall. Meanwhile in WRC2 Gus was fastest again from Kajetan and Nicolas, whilst Oliver suffered a puncture and lost a minute and fifty-one seconds and fell five positions to seventh in the category.

The last morning stage, SS4 Kedong 1 – 31.50 km and the longest stage of the day as well. The top positions were again filled by Kalle, Ott and Esapekka. Welshman, Elfyn was on the move, passing Thierry for fifth position. In WRC2 Oliver suffered a second puncture in the second stage in a row and the Swede lost a further one minute and forty-six seconds. Meanwhile Gus remained quickest from Charles Munster and Diego Dominguez.

After the lunch time service break, SS5 Loldia 2 – 19.17 km and Kalle continued his good run winning from Takamoto and Elfyn, a Toyota 1-2-3! Unfortunately, EP failed to finish the stage after suffering transmission failure. Ott now moved into second overall and Takamoto was third. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest from Gus and Kajetan. The Pole moved back into second place in the category, pushing Diego down to third.

Into SS6 Geothermal 2 – 13.12 km and Kalle was making this look easy, even though it certainly was not, winning the stage from his teammates Takamoto and Elfyn. It was a second stage disaster for the Hyundai team, with Ott crashing out after hitting a rock in the middle of a corner and damaging his steering on the right-hand side. Gus continued to set the pace in WRC2 winning the stage from Oliver and Nicolas. The Frenchman moved up one place as well and into third place.

The final stage then of the day, and Kalle completed a full six stage winning streak in SS7 Kedong 2 – 31.50 km going fastest again from Thierry and Elfyn. The Welshman’s pace moved him ahead of teammate Takamoto. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest again from Gus and Kajetan and the Swede moved into third place in the category.

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

Classification after Day One

1  K. Rovanperä  J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 1:16.22.6
2  E. Evans  S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +56.9
3  T. Katsuta  A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:00.8
4  T. Neuville  M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:07.3
5  A. Fourmaux  A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:46.6
6  G. Munster  L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:34.2
7  G. Greensmith  J. Andersson Škoda Fabia RS +6:51.3
8  J. Serderidis  F. Miclotte Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +9:11.7
9  K. Kajetanowicz  M. Szczepaniak Škoda Fabia RS +10:14.3
10  O. Solberg  E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +10:28.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has been a really good day for us. Our plan was to try and make the most of our starting place today. I felt I could manage the pace quite well. I was quite happy pushing hard when the conditions were good, and then especially this afternoon taking care of the car and the tyres in the rough places and still we could have good times. It’s still a long rally ahead and even a lead of almost one minute is not a lot here because anything can happen: if some big rain comes we know that the gaps can be huge, and you can lose a lot of time. So, we’ll just try to keep on working the same way as we did today.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a tough day out there like it always is on the Safari Rally. It’s very easy to get caught out here as we’ve seen again today. We didn’t have the best morning: it was just not really flowing and working as well as I’d like, and we didn’t have the speed we wanted either. I was struggling a bit with the balance and my own rhythm and was maybe a bit too conservative in places. After making some changes in service, we made a step in the right direction this afternoon and the times were a bit better, and I enjoyed the driving a bit more. The gaps behind are still quite tight and with such a long day tomorrow with perhaps some unpredictable conditions, we can’t count too much yet.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a pretty good day and a clean day. The stages were quite rough like we expected, but the car was working well, and I felt comfortable. I was just following my strategy to be patient and not do anything crazy. I felt good in the first two stages this afternoon, the times were good even though I was not really pushing. Then on the last one with a soft surface, you need to really push to gain the time and if you’re careful like I was, you’re easily losing time. Tomorrow is a big day where anything can happen, and I will just keep doing what I’m doing, try to stay on the road and focus on myself.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It was a challenging and exhausting day. We were fighting with a few little issues, but it was mainly the puncture which cost us time. We had a bit of a moment this afternoon where I completely lost the steering and we ended up on two wheels, but luckily we got away with it. I think we fought hard, but we would have preferred better results, so we will keep fighting tomorrow. It’s not nice to see my team-mates retire – another bad day here in Kenya for us – which also made it hard for me to attack with full confidence in the really rough sections in case I faced the same issues.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 3,
Safari Rally Kenya 2024, 27-31 March 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 1 of WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“The incident that caused our retirement was nothing special, but I guess it’s typical of Safari Rally Kenya. The rock was kind of hidden and I couldn’t really react as the road was narrow with banks on the side. I had nowhere to go so I had to take the rock, but the rock was far too big, and it put us off the road. I hit the bank and that caused the damage to the car; there was nothing we could do to avoid it.”

Esapekka Lappi

“The day was going well until we had to retire due to a gearbox issue; first the car was front-wheel drive only after an acceleration, and ultimately I couldn’t move the car, so we had to roll back from the hairpin because we were stuck. There was no major impact or noise – of course there were plenty of impacts on the stages, but none of them should have caused this problem. It is a shame as the splits were good, as was this morning. We lost ground to Kalle, but I was very satisfied with the speed that I had in the car, and it was going well until that failure.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“The Safari Rally is never going to be an easy one and today we really had to work hard,” said the Monster Energy-backed Oliver. “The two punctures were frustrating and it’s quite random with this surface. It’s so rough in places, it’s hard to know where the punctures are coming. You come through some sections, and you feel a few impacts and you think there is going to be a problem and there’s nothing.

“The main thing is that we are back on the podium, and we have a very long way still to run in this rally. With some weather changes maybe, coming tomorrow, anything can happen – the priority now is to stay on the podium for WRC2 and survive whatever else the Safari is going to throw at us.”

 

Summary

What a Friday we were treated to then! Kalle was really on form throughout the day taking every stage win. He leads a Toyota 1-2-3 after the first full day. His teammates Elfyn and Takamoto both had mixed days but kept it clean to hold second and third positions.

At Hyundai all three of their crews suffered problems, with Ott crashing out, Esapekka suffering a mechanical failure and Thierry getting a puncture but at least being able to continue. The three will be back tomorrow and Thierry will hope he can gain some positions and maybe get ahead of Elfyn.

It was a solid day for the M-Sport team, with Adrien and Gregoire delivering good pace and the pair are holding fifth and sixth overall. Let’s see what Saturday’s action brings.

 

Saturday will have 160km’s over six stages. Maybe there will be some rain that will come and change the conditions in the stages?

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Safari Rally Kenya 2024 Preview

Time for the third round of the season and the championship moves to East Africa and this iconic event. The extra challenge of this round is that it is much earlier this year than previous years and held at the more traditional time of Easter.

This brings the added challenge of much more tricky weather conditions and heavy rain which has made the recce days very tricky. More rain is predicted throughout the three day’s of competition, which will make the 367km’s over the 19 stages certainly a challenge.

The longest day of the rally will be Saturday with 160km’s over six stages. Friday features 132km’s over six stages as well, with Sunday featuring 74km’s over four stages.

Let’s hear from the drivers then.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

What are the main challenges you expect to face on the Safari Rally? “This year it should be the weather conditions. With the rally moving to March, it’s the rain period in Kenya, and it’s the conditions we are most afraid of because there could be heavy rain which could make the driving close to impossible in some places. Other than this it’s a long and demanding event, but if the rain comes it will be a bit of a lottery.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Safari Rally Kenya
27 – 31 March 2024
Thierry Neuville
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

It’s been a strong start to the 2024 season, how much confidence does this give you for Kenya? “Not more than any other year to be honest because the three times I have done this rally I have had technical issues. So, when I look back over the past results, I am not really confident. However, we have prepared as good as we can and the team has worked very hard so let’s see what is possible.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of opening the road on leg one? “It’s hard to predict, actually. In Kenya, in normal conditions, there’s no real advantage or disadvantage because it’s not like a traditional gravel rally with its clay surface. With rainy weather, it might be a big advantage but also a disadvantage because in the case of heavy rain, if we are first on the road, we might have to empty the water puddles, especially when the rain has stopped before the stage starts. If there is continuous rain or it starts raining while the stage is running it will probably be an advantage. That’s because you might be able to get through the stage without getting hit by the rain, but the cars that run 10 or 15 minutes later might have the whole stage in full wet and we have seen that in the past. But in dry conditions it’s neither an advantage or a disadvantage.”

What do you need from your Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid to be successful on the Safari Rally? “The main thing is reliability. It doesn’t need to be the fastest car, but it needs to be strong.”

It’s a very spectacular event, where does it rank among your favourite WRC events? “I like the event, but I’ve never had any good results so it’s not my favourite for that reason. Driving-wise it’s an adventure and that’s what I like, and also because it’s different to all the other events. It can be very brutal and that’s not so nice.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“The Safari Rally is the most extreme event on the calendar so it’s always an exciting one to go to. It’s more about the adventure than the pure thrill of driving but I’m looking forward to it as always. We’ve made a decent start to the year, taking good points from the first two rounds, but the Safari can be a bit of a lottery. We have to find that balance between pushing and looking after the car and see if we can be at the finish with good points, but that’s easier said than done. We’ve seen before that when it rains it can be very difficult, and we’re potentially looking at much more difficult conditions for a greater proportion of the rally and that could make things quite challenging.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s really exciting to go back to Kenya. It’s been quite a good rally for me and also for our team: we have got some really amazing results there. The atmosphere is also great so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be interesting to go there at this time of the year, during the rainy season. We expect that it could be much muddier, and already in the previous years we have seen a bit of rain and it is always really tricky and slippery in those conditions. The biggest challenge will be to have reliable pace for the whole week, be consistent and stay out of trouble. Rally Sweden didn’t go as planned, so I’m really hungry to get a good result in Kenya.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m of course really excited and looking forward to the Safari Rally: it’s a rally where Toyota has been really strong. But this time we will go to Kenya in a very different part of the year, so there could be more challenges in terms of the weather conditions. We have tried to prepare for all the conditions we could have, but you never know how it will really be until you get there. On this kind of rally it’s always important to have a reliable car, which I think is our strongest point. I was feeling disappointed after Sweden but I’ve been looking forward, preparing for this rally and to do my best to get a good result for the team. This is my next target and I’m feeling good.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m really pleased to be back in Kenya! I missed it last year, but I had quite a good result in 2021. The feeling and the atmosphere of this rally, with the wildlife and the amazing people living there, is really special.

“We know it’s going to be a tough event with the rainy season, and I think we’ll see a very different Kenya than in the last few years. There are many things that can happen on this event this year, so let’s see and try to deliver a good result on this rally. We want to try to keep third in the championship, keeping close to the others, that’s the main goal for now.”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m really looking forward to Kenya because it’s a rally I really appreciate, I had the chance to do it last year in the Rally2. I also competed on the classic rally with Jourdan in historic cars recently. It’s such a challenge to drive there, you can be fast in some sections but you also need to be really cautious in others, it makes the adventure so beautiful.

“The environment in which we are driving feels a bit like a dream with the wildlife and the nature. The weather changes can happen so quickly, if it rains it is often very heavy and it alters the whole profile of the stage. That makes it a big challenge and that’s why Rally Kenya is so difficult and so enjoyable for drivers at the same time.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Kenya is definitely one of my best memories and my best result so far in WRC, so I did not see any reason why not to enjoy the event one more time! I look forward to working close to my friend Grégoire again and with our fantastic Puma Rally1.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“There’s definitely something very special about the Safari – and especially at this earlier time of the year. We have snow again here in Sweden, so going from here to the heat of Africa is so different and that variety of landscape and terrain is just what we need in the world championship.

“I love the Safari. It’s really a unique event in the championship – every stage can be like a different rally, the variety across the route is huge. The roads are amazing and the chance to drive through a place where the elephants are close – but not too close – is something very, very special.

“I have done some gravel testing since Sweden, so I have this surface a little bit in my mind now, but I’m not sure the roads were like the ones in Kenya. We will do the official test on Sunday, that’s when we can take a good feeling for the set-up. Last year was so enjoyable, it’s good that Elliott and I have that experience. But this year could be a little bit different with the weather. Nobody really knows what’s coming, I think it’s just before the rainy season – will it rain? I think the one thing we can say is that it will be quite hot.

“The other thing we can say is that we’re going to have a lot of competition. There’s a really good number of cars in WRC2, which is great. For me, the priority is 100% on 25 points. To achieve that, we need a good, clean rally with a big focus on every stage.”

Summary

We are set then for a spectacular rally and with all the Rally1 cars likely to be running the key piece of equipment for this rally only, the return of the snorkel to the top cars is a nod to the likely heavy rain that will be falling on the stages throughout the weekend.

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Rally Sweden 2024 – Sunday’s Report

The final day dawned then of the only snow and ice round of the world championship and could Esapekka and Janne hold on and take a very popular victory? Having been in this position at Rally Finland in 2017, they certainly knew what was needed to get their car over the line.

The other question was could Elfyn and Scott pass Adrien and Alex for second place? Of course, the points were reset to the Sunday points table and the M-Sport crew had secured second place points at the end of Saturday’s stages.

First up was SS16 Västervik 1 – 25.50 km and with the sun rising as the crews started, Kalle came through to win the stage from Elfyn and Takamoto. Adrien was sixth fastest in the stage and this meant that Elfyn passed the Frenchman for second place overall, now five seconds behind the Toyota crew. In WRC2 the top three fastest were Oliver, Roope and Sami. The young Swede continued to lead the category, now leading second placed Sami by a minute and eighteen seconds.

 

A couple of hours later the crews lined up for the second run of SS17 Västervik 2 – 25.50 km and this time it was Elfyn setting the pace from Thierry and Adrien. The Welshman jumped to the head of the standings for Sunday’s points as well, which was important to the points standings. In WRC2 Sami was fastest from Emil and Georg, whilst Oliver was still leading the category from Sami and Georg.

The final stage then, SS18 Umeå 2[Power Stage] – 10.08 km to decide the rally and Sunday’s points. Kalle set the early pace, going faster than Ott. His teammate was up on the splits as well and as Elfyn came through his Yaris bounced off one of the snowbanks and was ultimately one tenth of a second behind Kalle. Thierry was third fastest, Ott fourth and Takamoto fifth Meanwhile, EP came through finally and took his second victory. A brilliant Oliver set the fastest time in WRC2 from Georg and Roope, winning the category from Sami and Georg.

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

Final Overall Classification – Rally Sweden

1 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:33:04.9
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +29.6
3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +47.9
4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:46.3
5 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +5:04.2
6 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Škoda Fabia Evo +6:23.9
7 G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris +6:26.4
8 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +6:48.1
9 M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris +7:25.7
10 L. Bertelli S. Scattolin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +7:37.7

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“This feels so good right now. I have been hunting for this second victory for quite a while. I have to say a big thanks to Cyril for keeping me in the team after a difficult second half of my 2023 season; this moment is such a huge contrast to that. A massive thank you to the team, and to my family at home as well. We are all here to win and when you achieve it, it is the best feeling in the world. It has been a brilliant rally – it could have been more entertaining with fewer retirements, but the snowbanks can be your friend or your enemy. This week they were my friend; I paid them well.”

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

“It is good to get another victory for the team. It’s important even if the performance wasn’t the greatest, especially on the first passes. However, two victories in three weeks is great motivation for us – we only had two wins in the 2023 season. We had to get through without any mistakes, and I think we might have been the only crew who didn’t have any. We had to accept the situation of Friday and we hoped for a better Saturday, where we managed to climb up the rankings. I’m happy to be at the end with decent points.”

Ott Tänak

“It has been tricky this weekend to have the pace we needed to be fastest. Obviously the mistake on Friday was frustrating and afterwards even more so. We felt better in the car on Friday when the roads were a bit more slippery but when the grip improved we just weren’t comfortable. From my side, definitely too many mistakes to start the season but we know we can be a lot better. We’re looking forward to having a clean rally in Kenya.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a very up-and-down weekend. It wasn’t looking so good on Friday when we had a difficult job with our road position. But we managed to get through it which I think was important and gave us the opportunity to climb back up the leaderboard. When conditions were suiting us, our pace was quite OK and today we managed get some good points in the end. I think we probably should have won the Power Stage but made a couple of mistakes at the end. Still, from where we were earlier in the weekend and to come out of it with a good haul of points, I think we can be reasonably happy.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Our only goal today was to help the team to get some points and I’m pleased that we were able to do that, and we also tried to help Elfyn where we could. Of course, I’m not satisfied with our weekend because we came here to win. Sorry and thanks to the team, because everyone did a really good job in our preparation, the car was fast enough to win, and we just couldn’t bring it all together. At least we could bring some points at the finish, and we will look forward to the next opportunity.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today I wanted to try and take some points, but it was not easy with our road position, and the very different lines that we had to follow in the Power Stage. It has been a difficult weekend for me. We had good performance and the car had very good potential, I was just not able to take the result from it. I need to think about how I can learn from this and do better next time so that I can take these chances when they come. The next event in Kenya has been good for me before, and I just need to reset and go with the right approach for that rally.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Really great to get my first podium at the top level in Sweden, my fourth rally on snow and the second of the 2024 season. We are now third in the championship, which is really positive and gives a lot of confidence and motivation to the whole team who have been working really hard. We can be really proud that we’re working all together, and it’s been working perfectly. We want now to just enjoy the podium, it’s been brilliant, and hopefully there are more podiums coming!”

Grégoire Munster

“We learned a lot here in Sweden and improved throughout the weekend. The gaps per kilometre were getting smaller and smaller, and that was the goal. Unfortunately, we made the small mistake on Saturday evening, but getting stuck in a snowbank is part of the experience of Rally Sweden! I think every driver who has done the rally has had that experience at some time. It was unfortunate as it makes extra work for the mechanics, but they fixed everything so it could go again on Sunday to give us even more experience, which I’m very glad to have had.”

William Creighton, 14th WRC2

“I’m happy to get all the kilometres in and to get to the finish. I’ve learned a lot and I just need to keep working on my side with the driving to try and get the most out of these cars. It’s not going to happen overnight, so I just need to keep working on it.

“It’s been great working with M-Sport, with the support of the Motorsport Ireland Academy, here at Rally Sweden and it has been so much fun with these conditions. The last two weekends have been very different and I’m really looking forward to the next event to try to keep on improving and see where we go.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“What can I say? It’s been a fantastic event. For my first (first points scoring) WRC2 round of the season, to win with Škoda like this is something very special. Škoda Motorsport is building a very special car with the Fabia RS Rally2 and it was a big pleasure to drive it here.

“The conditions were not easy – on Friday the snow was really deep in places and then on Saturday we were having some gravel coming through and all the time you had to be thinking about the tyres and trying to protect them.

“I think we showed the good pace on the first day and it was really cool to finish third overall, that was a pretty amazing feeling for me and to share that with the home fans and so many of my family… I was stoked for that.

“Saturday and Sunday was more about driving with the control. We had a lot to lose if we pushed too hard. We were sitting in fifth overall and with the good lead [in WRC2], so we didn’t want to take any big risks.

“Congratulations to the organisers for making a rally with such a special atmosphere and I want to say a big thanks to Elliott and the whole team for helping me to make this an amazing event.”

 

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

1 T. Neuville 48
2 E. Evans 45
3 A. Fourmaux 29
4 S. Ogier 24
5 O. Tänak 21
6 E. Lappi 19
7 T. Katsuta 12
8 K. Rovanperä 11
9 O. Solberg 8
10 A. Mikkelsen 6

 

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

1 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 87
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 87
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 47
2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Rally Sweden
15 – 19 February 2024
Esapekka Lappi
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Summary

Well, what an amazing rally we were treated to and what a popular winner as well. Esapekka and Janne completely deserve this victory in Sweden and with it have matched the teams success from last season in terms of victories. Four stage wins for the Finns showed their pace at the front of the field.

 

For Elfyn and Scott, they recovered really well after their push to the front of the field for the last two stages on Friday. There was the 360 spin that they recovered from and took two stage wins along the way.

A first ever podium for M-Sport duo Adrien and Alex showed how far they had come since they last competed in this rally two years ago. During that rally they ran in fifth overall for quite a while before getting a penalty for being late to a time control and then having to retire with a mechanical issue. This year they set some top three times and added a stage win as well. It was a great drive from the French duo.

Finally let’s discuss the points awarded following this rally. The new points system meant that Elfyn and Scott who finished in second place actually took more points than Esapekka and Janne who of course won the rally. Now surely that can’t be right?! It’s a completely bizarre situation and I do wonder if the FIA will look again at this method of awarding points. We shall see.

Next rally on the calendar is the Safari Rally Kenya to be held from the 28th to 31st of March, much earlier this year and in its more traditional time of year near Easter. It will be spectacular!

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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.

Posted on

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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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.

Posted on

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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Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024 Preview

The World Rally Championship returns this weekend with the first round of this season. The 92nd running of this absolute classic and legendary round will actually see the two-time and reigning champions Kalle and Jonne sit this one out.

Let’s take a look at the stages facing the crews for this first round then. They have 324km’s over seventeen stages. Shakedown is happening on Wednesday afternoon with a short 3.28km stage. The first run as always will be shown on the WRC YouTube channel. The first two stages happen on Thursday evening. Saturday sees the longest day of stages with 120km’s over six stages.

Of course, this is the first round with the new points system in place and there is a lot of opinion about this change. It will be interesting to see what the result of this all will be in terms of the championship points standings.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s always exciting to start a new season, especially with Rallye Monte-Carlo. The 2023 season was a nice progression for us that showed we’re going in the right direction. Of course, we want even more in 2024 but it’s not going to be easy to achieve that. We know that the competition will be tough like usual, so as a team we’re always working to continually improve and we’re ready to give this season our best shot. With Rallye Monte-Carlo moving north again this year, we’re much more likely to see wintery conditions forming part of the challenge. We had some tricky conditions in our pre-event test, so that provided some good practice, but this rally is all about adapting to whichever conditions we face during the weekend.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy to be at the start of another season after all these years, and I take this opportunity with both hands. The last couple of years have been good fun with the team and we managed to secure some good results. I think we want to keep going this way as long as we can and that’s the plan for 2024, starting with Rallye Monte-Carlo of course. For me this is a must-do event and there’s a lot of hopes for this first rally. I think it’s the rally that you need to respect more than any other as the conditions can be so challenging, which means that nothing is guaranteed. Numbers are never my main motivation, but if I could get a 10th win on this event it would be something very special.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s always nice to be back in the mountains around Monte Carlo ready to start a new season. Every year there is more expectation, but I like this pressure and I want to fight at the front, so I will try to have even better results in 2024. I want to be consistently in the podium fight, and to try to get a first victory. I will enjoy it and keep pushing the limits and working hard. The engineers are pushing a lot to improve the car further and I can feel in the factory that everybody is working hard, so I’m confident that we can be even better than last year. Rallye Monte-Carlo is one of the trickiest rallies in terms of the conditions with difficult tyre choices, but we’re up for the challenge.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I’m glad to be able to continue my journey with Hyundai in my 11th season with the team. They have shown me a lot of trust and I have helped them develop the car over the last two years. Our 2024 targets are to push hard for both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships, and the first step to achieving that is to perform well at Monte Carlo. It’s a challenging event due to the unpredictable weather conditions and varying surface profile, especially on the night stages. We have been competitive there in the past and know what it takes to stand on the podium. This year we are going to try for the best possible result, which we hope will be towards the front of the field.”

Ott Tänak

“Starting the season at Monte-Carlo is always a challenge. This year the event is moving back to the Gap region, so we are expecting the conditions to be mixed and tricky, with the potential of more snow and ice than we have had the past few seasons. Although we only had one day at the test, we were quite lucky with the conditions, as we were able to run on slick tyres in addition to experiencing wetter and icier roads. Overall, the feeling in the car was good and we found a nice rhythm. Our target at the rally itself is to achieve a podium finish, but of course we will push for the best result possible.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Coming back to the top class of rally from WRC2 is really exciting, and it feels really very good to return with Hyundai Motorsport. A completely new car and regulations creates a different environment for me, but it I am ready to take on the challenge. I’m very happy to be starting with Monte-Carlo this year – it’s an exciting rally with so many factors at play. Tyre choice and strategy plays a big part in success there, which means it is possible to achieve a good result even when you don’t know the car so well and haven’t found maximum pace. I want to finish the rally in the best position possible, and after a win here in WRC2 in 2022, I am determined to push until the very last stage to collect as many points as we can.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Our Monte-Carlo test went really well, and I had a really good feeling with the car on the mixed conditions that we had on the first day. It’s been positive and I was really happy to be back in a Rally1 car. On the second day we had a full snow stage, with some tarmac also, but it will be a really interesting drive if the snow comes for the rally. It doesn’t seem like we will have that much snow, but at least we are prepared, we never know in the mountains!

“So now we feel really prepared, but we know that at Monte Carlo you need to be humble. You need to have a lot of respect for this rally; especially this year as we go back into the Alps in the proper mountainous areas, where you can have really difficult conditions with snow and ice. So, for sure it will be a tough one, as it normally is in this area of France, but the real challenge will be the weather and the condition of the stages.”

Grégoire Munster

“During pre-season testing we had two good days, one in the snow and one on tarmac. On the snow it went very well, and even though we are not sure if we are going to have those conditions on the rally, if it does then we are fully prepared. For the tarmac testing we got some good mileage, and we tried some different settings and tyre combinations.

“We are fully motivated to start the season well and we are looking forward to getting moving. We want to start the season properly and try to finish the rally by not making mistakes. If we kick off the year on a positive note, we can carry on the momentum and build up the pace throughout the season.”

 

Rally2

Škoda Motorsport

Oliver Solberg

“Rallye Monte-Carlo…” said Oliver. “Just saying the name is exciting. I think everybody in the world knows about this rally – it’s just so famous. And just so difficult!”

“I want to carry on where I left off last year,” he said. “I felt good with the car, everything was comfortable. Now I have more experience with the car and the team, it would be nice to go and set some more fastest times for the Rally2 cars and see what we can do.”

The route has changed significantly from last year, meaning some unfamiliar territory for Oliver. It’s also almost four months since he competed in the Škoda, so pre-season running has helped reacquaint him with the car.

“While we start and finish in Monaco, the rally is actually based out of the town of Gap in the mountains,” Oliver explained. “That means the roads we’re using are further north than where we have been in previous years. I don’t know these places so well, but this is a good opportunity to take more experience of these stages.

“For sure, I think we can expect more changeable and more winter weather, which should make it a real challenge. I’m excited to get going now. We have completed some testing in the off-season which was a good opportunity to be back in the car – it’s quite a long time since I was competing with the Fabia.

“We’re so happy to be working with Škoda Motorsport this season – it’s going to be a good one.”

Summary

Well, here we go again!! First round of thirteen and the challenge of Monte-Carlo never changes. The move to stages based around Gap may bring the snow and ice to the stages, something that the fans will love with the added spectacle when the cars are on the stage.

 

Let’s see who fights for the win!

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Rich Millener Interview – Autosport International 2024

Rich is the team principle of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team and has been for around four years. I had the opportunity to speak to him on the second day of the Autosport Show when he and Adrien Fourmaux unveiled the Puma Rally1 with its 2024 livery.

I started by asking him about the new points system that has been introduced for this year and what he thought about it.

Rich

“I’m positive about it, because it gives a lot of opportunity, the sport needs to develop, and keep developing to be relevant. Last time we developed was when power stage points were introduced about five years ago if not more. We’re really done nothing since. I know this is a big change for the die-hard fans, but for me I think it’s an opportunity for a young driver team like us. We will probably have an advantageous road positions on some rallies, so for the first two days, we could have a great result could be top three, whatever, and we know when we get to Sunday, we’ve already bagged some points. Currently if you get to Saturday night, you’ve still got to push or be sensible. Now you can be sensible on Sunday knowing even if you have a bad Sunday, you’re still getting your points for Friday and Saturday. Also, more of a team involvement. Unfortunately, with rally at the moment the minute the car leaves the service the team does not do a lot. When people follow a sport, the characters they follow are not only the drivers, but the team as well, and yet maybe people know who I am, who Malcolm is and the drivers, they don’t know who the mechanics are, who the strategy people are, the engineers but you look at Formula One, Drive to Survive and the way Formula One do it, if you look at the social media accounts of the number one mechanics of various cars on the grid, they’ve all got huge followings, they’re all characters and they’re the kind of people that are followed by people who can get to their position. Not everyone can be a driver, but everyone can find a place in a team if they want to. I think the new points system, really the team it’s a massive thing and also changing up a bit developing, if you look at any other sport and think back to a few years ago it will be very different to where it is now. Because it changes and everyone is positive there’s no discussion you very quickly get used to it. Look at Formula One, how different it is in terms of qualifying, Q1, Q2 and Q3. Fastest lap time, fastest pitstop for the teams, they’re always doing something. Yes, it’s a big change, I get that, but might as well look at the positives.”

Warren

“Give me your thoughts on the lack of a WRC event in the British Isles, the lack of the rally in the United Kingdom? There’s a lot of fans that I’m connected to, Elfyn fans, you might remember the Elfyns Corner from a few years ago, who are really quite upset there’s no British round.”

Rich

“I think getting a Welsh round is probably in the short term not going to happen to be honest. However, I heard some very positive news out of Ireland a few days ago in the bid they put forward for a three-year programme in the WRC, 2025, ’26, ’27, in Southern Ireland, with rotating locations and is a very strong bid. I’m very hopeful that happens, and I think as British fans wanting the Welsh forests back of course we do. If we can’t have that, the next best thing is that. The atmosphere would be incredible, and the event would be fantastic, and this has come about from some fairly passionate rally people who we spoke to on a few rallies last year and floated the idea of a Northern Ireland event that didn’t manage to get going. It’s a different governing body. Motorsport UK have their own things to concentrate on, Ireland wants to concentrate on WRC, which is great for us, so really looking forward to that and if we can get that will become a massively popular event.”

Warren

“Have you spoke to Elfyn about this situation considering his success over recent years?”

Rich

“Yes, I still speak to Elfyn quite a bit, not necessarily in a lot of detail. I’m sure he’d love a rally in his hometown. I also think we have to take rallying to the people as well, tarmac rally, it shouldn’t be underestimated how many people you can reach, you know to go to the Welsh forests it’s quite an effort, there’s no decent roads to get there and even when you get there the roads get worse. It’s a fantastic experience, and environment, but to grow the sport we have to make it even more accessible”.

Warren

“Let’s have your thoughts for last season, two victories and a couple of podiums, fastest stage times as well for the drivers. Sum up your 2023 season, what do you see was good and bad.”

Rich

“There was a lot of pressure at the start of the year, and lot of expectation to win the championship. I think I was realistic from the start it would be difficult. We won as many rounds as Hyundai, so in that respect that we did pretty well. But it didn’t go as we hoped, but ultimately we were trying to win the championship with one driver, and then a young driver finding his feet as a junior driver, only two cars, didn’t have much opportunity to have strategy in that respect, so we had some difficult rallies, some reliability issues mid-year and Estonia was the real kicker and it becomes very difficult to keep the team motivated because you know that chance is gone. I think there were a lot of ups and downs last year, but certainly Sweden and Chile were highlights. It makes it even more special when you win, but I think looking forward to this year, the pressure has kind of changed, relieved a bit, we have good opportunities to upset people, Adrien is doing a full season, and we can take that opportunity to take some good results.”

Warren

“What’s the expectation for Adrien then from a management point of view?”

Rich

“Certainly, he’s got some points to prove, but it’s about tempering that enthusiasm and having that approach over the season, not just one round. We shall pick moments in rallies later in the year on ones we really want to push on. The first three are quite specialist, so the goal will be quite consistent throughout and then go from there.”

Warren

“I asked Rich about what happened with Ott and his co-driver Martin leaving the team and when he found out.”

Rich

“Relatively late in the season, we weren’t in a position to offer him another season. There were a lot of things to make it come together, and we were not able to do that at the time. Ott had an offer to go back to Hyundai, and he did not want to find himself without a seat. I fully appreciate that he came to us knowing fully the level we were at and what we could achieve. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, and there’s no hard feelings or negativity towards his approach and what he wanted to do. We wish him all the best this year and he wants to win a world championship and he’s going somewhere where he feels that he can do that. He’s going to have a tough fight with teammates, but he’s certainly capable of winning.”

Warren

“Did Ott ultimately want to stay?”

Rich

“Maybe if we’d had a better middle season, he may have stayed but sometimes this is just the way it goes. We can’t always stay at that level we did the best we could that year and it unfortunately didn’t quite come off. We’ll try a different strategy this year and see what happens.”

Warren

“There’s some rumours from Autosprint (Italian motorsport publication) about changes with the cars for next year (2025).”

Rich

“It won’t happen next year.”

Warren

“What would that mean for M-Sport to go to a higher spec Rally2 type car?”

Rich

“Obviously I’ve read them all, it’s difficult to explain all the things that go into this kind of thing. From the outside it looks like a very easy decision to make, just go Rally2 and you’ll have lots of cars. Doesn’t mean that you’ll have any manufacturers, the sport won’t exist without manufacturers, and all of them have invested huge amounts of money in these cars (Rally1), that have a lifecycle of five years. To split it in two, you’ll upset quite a lot of people. Not saying we can’t make changes, but going back to Rally2 in one years’ time, well we don’t have any regulations, no time to develop the cars, I don’t see how you expect to do that in what is basically eleven months. It’s impossible. Not saying that there won’t be changes in 2026 or 2027, but to make big changes like that for 2025 is not realistic. Due diligence must be done, we need to get the resource and understanding for current OEM’s and future OEM’s. If your guaranteed you’re going to bring two more manufacturers in with these changes, that’s a different situation. If it just means that we stay at three or maybe even, go down if one didn’t want to do that it would make it worse. We’ve got to be fast, do all the research quickly to know which direction we’re going, but I think 2025 is maybe too early.”

Warren

“Of course, need to talk about Craig, your 2022 driver. It was a big shock for the sport. How did the team react at the time to all of that?”

Rich

“It was a big shock to everyone, I’m sure that everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news. It’s something no-one expected that would happen and still something you don’t necessarily believe or think, we still expect to get a WhatsApp from Craig at some point like it always used to be, but that’s never going to be the case. I think it was a very unfortunate set of circumstances, it just goes to show how cruel and hard the sport can be at times. All I can do is look back on good memories with Craig, I’ve known him for a very long time when he first came to M-Sport to drive the Fiesta ST when I first met him. I’ve known him effectively from the start of his rally career and we were good friends, we had a hard time in 2022 when things didn’t go as planned or hoped for him. I think it’s so sad, he was just finding his feet again at Hyundai, he would have been challenging for the championship again and we’ll never get to see that. For me it’s all about the good memories, and it’s a lot for the team, he was a proper rally fan, just one of the lads and a great guy to work with, but it’s really sad for everyone around him but I’ll always remember him for the positives.

Warren

“Thinking about the safety in pre-event tests, have there been any changes that you’ve made during tests, looking at the roads you’re using?”

Rich

“If you tried to take away everything dangerous in a stage, you wouldn’t have a stage. The FIA have done a lot of research into what happened, and there is a huge manual for test organisers, but unfortunately a certain set of circumstances comes around that you cannot plan for and all we have to do is keep constantly developing and doing the best we can to make it as safe. These cars are incredibly safe. I think all the stakeholders are doing the best that they can to make sure we’re as safe as possible.

Warren

“Finally, what led to picking your drivers for this season and when did they sign?”

Rich

“The plan was for Adrien was always to come back to Rally1, after a difficult 2022. We gave him an opportunity to show what he can do, he became a completely different driver last year and winning the British championship really helped as well, so it was a natural decision to put him into the car. Mid-season we were discussing this idea. Gregoire was a bit of a later decision, we were speaking with a lot of different drivers, and a lot of different options but we were looking for the best package for the team going forward, but it was clear from the beginning was to develop young drivers. Gregoire fitted very well into this set of criteria. We don’t expect results from the start, but we just want to see progression over the course of the year. As I said earlier, Adrien can pick and choose from events to try and score on. Gregoire is more of a case of slowing going forward and seeing what’s possible. No real pressure on the guys, just go out there and show what they can do.

 

Finally, a big thank you to Rich for his time and  also to Emily for assisting me.

 

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