Category: WRC

Categories
Hyundai WRC

Chris Atkinson ready for Rally Australia challenge

2014 WRC Rally Mexico

In rallying terms it’s been a long time since Chris Atkinson was behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC, but he is very much looking forward to grabbing his opportunity at Rally Australia (11–14 September) with both hands.

“There’s been a bit of a gap between events but that hasn’t stopped me before and I’ll definitely give it a good crack,” Atkinson promised in an interview with wrc.com. “My aim is to drive well all weekend and be as fast as possible. I’ll be happy with that.”

Surprisingly, Atkinson doesn’t have any racing experience on the roads around Coffs Harbour where Rally Australia takes place. However, he doesn’t expect that will hinder his performance.

“It’s all new because I’ve never done the rally there.” Atkinson said. “But I should have a good idea about the terrain and fast gravel suits me. Knowing the nature of the Australian roads should play into my hands. I just need to write some good pace notes and drive to them.”

Atkinson will race alongside Hyundai’s lead driver Thierry Neuville and young Kiwi ace Hayden Paddon, who has earned himself some quality seat time in the WRC this year, driving the i20 WRC for three events in a row in Italy, Poland and Finland. In contrast Atkinson has only Rally Mexico to add to his WRC career and knows it will be key to do well against Paddon.

“Hayden’s obviously driving well and has been given a good opportunity with the team. But I’ve got more experience of the WRC. It’s going to be interesting and I’m sure he’ll be quick. I just need to pull my finger out and go as fast as I can.”

[Source: wrc.com]

Categories
Porsche Video WRC

VIDEO: Tuthill Porsche 911 RGT at Rally Germany

Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT

In the lead up to Rally Germany the Tuthill Porsche 911 RGT caught our eye. So this video recap, featuring words from the car’s builder and driver, Richard Tuthill, was something we were very keen to see. We think you might like it too.

An RGT Cup? With a fleet of 911 RGTs competing? Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

Continue reading “VIDEO: Tuthill Porsche 911 RGT at Rally Germany”
Categories
Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Germany in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Germany

WRC cars in aggressive tarmac trim, the stunning beauty of the Moselle Valley, as far as world class rallying goes, it doesn’t get much better than this.

So strap yourself in and enjoy reliving Thierry Neuville’s maiden WRC victory. There’s some awesome photos in our latest rally installment; we hope you’ll like them.

Continue reading “2014 Rally Germany in pictures”
Categories
Citroen Ford Hyundai Video Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Germany video highlights

2014 WRC Rally Germany video highlights

Here’s around four and a half minutes of world class rally action recorded during the weekend’s Rally Germany. The event saw Thierry Neuville notch his first win for himself and his Hyundai team.

We’ll have a photo gallery from the event online in the next few days, until then you ca enjoy this footage from Rallymedia.

Continue reading “2014 Rally Germany video highlights”
Categories
Hyundai WRC

Thierry Neuville wins 2014 Rally Germany

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, 2014 Rally Germany

Thierry Neuville has outlasted his competitors at Rally Germany to register his first WRC win and, of course, the first rally victory for Hyundai Motorsport as well. The 26-year-old Belgian was the fourth driver to take the lead on the tarmac roads of the Moselle wine region and the only one not to crash out of contention.

Defending world champion Sebastien Ogier was the first to retire when he careered through a barrier at high speed early in Saturday. He and co-driver Julien Ingrassia were very lucky to escape with no injury.

Ogier’s demise handed a relatively comfortable lead to Jari-Matti Latavala who was chasing his first WRC victory on tarmac. Alas on Sunday morning the Finn lost control on the opening stage and sent his car deep into picturesque vineyards. Kris Meeke was the next to take the lead hoping to post a best possible result for Citroën, but he too crashed out shortly after Latvala.

And so Neuville was the last man standing as it were. Rounding out a great rally for Hyundai was the fact Dani Sordo finished in P2, 40.7 seconds behind his team leader. A 1–2 result is an oustanding way for the Korean manufacturer to post its first WRC victory.

Latvala will rue his missed opportunity to close the gap on Ogier in the championship title race. He is still 44 points behind Ogier but could have cut that gap to as few as 16 points with the win and three bonus points.

None of that will concern Neuville and a beaming Nicloas Gilsoul who will be celebrating their maiden WRC win long into the night.

UPDATE: Hyundai’s official reaction to the win has been added below along with a Day 3 highlights video.

Continue reading “Thierry Neuville wins 2014 Rally Germany”
Categories
Porsche Video WRC

Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT to tackle Rally Germany

Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT

As well as the key WRC-spec machines at this weekend’s Rally Germany there will be another car attracting headlines. It’s this 997 Porsche 911 GT3 which has been built by Tuthill Porsche.

The Porsche 997 RGT has, as its name suggests, been prepared in accordance with FIA WRC rules for GT cars. Business owner Richard Tuthill will do the driving while former Chris Atkinson co-driver Stéphane Prévot will be calling the notes.

There’s a couple of videos after the break showing the car in action. We wish Richard and Stéphane all the best this weekend. Let’s hope it’s not the last we see of them on the WRC tarmac circuit.

Continue reading “Tuthill Porsche 997 RGT to tackle Rally Germany”
Categories
Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Finland in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Finland

It seems to be the year of winning your home event. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg won their home grands prix in Formula 1. Now it’s Jari-Matti Latvala’s turn and he got to spray the champagne first after he won Rally Finland.

Sebastien Ogier will be hoping he can do the same when Rally France rolls around in October. He might just need to as well. Ogier is still very much the man to catch, with a 44 point lead over Latvala, but there’s still five rallies up for grabs.

After the break there’s over 70 images from the Finnish forests and, of course, plenty of spectacular “yumps”!

Continue reading “2014 Rally Finland in pictures”
Categories
Volkswagen WRC

Jari-Matti Latvala wins 2014 Rally Finland

2014 WRC Rally Finland

Jari-Matti Latvala has kept his faint WRC title hopes alive by scoring a hugely popular victory in Rally Finland. His 3.6 second winning margin over defending champ Sebastien Ogier doesn’t tell the full story. Ogier himself had to fight for P2 after Kris Meeke was very fast early and delivered on his undoubted potential to claim a rare podium for Citroën.

Local hero Latvala dominated the early and middle stages of the rally until a brake issue caused him to slow late on day two. Ogier, having just claimed P2 from Meeke, was able to close up on Latvala to bring the deficit to less than four seconds going into the final day.

Latvala was able to hold his nerve on the final day and even though he was second in the final power stage, only 0.1s behind Ogier, he showcased his driving style during the live televised stage with a masterful display. He was blindingly fast and in complete control at all times.

“This win in Finland is a very special moment for Miikka and me,” Latvala said afterwards. “We last managed to do this in 2010, and this win feels twice as good considering our disappointing result last year.

“I had a good feeling in the Polo R WRC right from the start of the rally, and the car was set up perfectly once again. So a big thank-you to my team for their excellent work. And I would, of course, also like to thank all the fans who supported Miikka and me throughout the rally here in Finland.

“This win was a tough cookie, though. We were in a bit of a predicament on Saturday evening when we were no longer able to use one of our brakes. Nevertheless, we didn’t give up and we kept on fighting. I’m really very happy about this result.”

He’s a likeable guy Latvala, who always speaks passionately and enthusiastically. This would have been a popular win regardless of the fact it was his home race. Add the overjoyed local crowd into the mix and the parties went long into the night.

The win is the eleventh of Latvala’s WRC career and he closes the gap slightly to Ogier, who is 44 points ahead with five rallies left to run. Volkswagen now has a remarkable 175 point lead in the manufacturers’ standings, ahead of Citroën.

Continue reading “Jari-Matti Latvala wins 2014 Rally Finland”
Categories
Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Poland in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Poland

While it’s true we have missed out on regular WRC updates you haven’t missed out on anything you couldn’t have guessed for yourself. And that’s Sebastien Ogier has won another rally and is well on the way to his second world championship.

Also happy with his time in Poland was junior Volkswagen driver Andreas Mikkelesen who achieved his best WRC result to date. It was good to see Thierry Nueville at the somewhat pointy end, too. Let’s hope Hyundai can figure more prominently in the second half of the season.

Ogier leads Jari-Matti Latvala by 50 points in the title race. And if you were in any doubt about Volkswagen’s current WRC dominance then consider that Latvala, only in second in the championship, has enough points on his own to lead the manufacturers’ standings.

So now you’re up to speed on where the WRC is at and we promise you won’t have to wait over a month for a Rally Finland update!

2014 WRC Rally Poland

  1. Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC – 2:34:02.00
  2. Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Polo R WRC – +1:07.7
  3. Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 WRC – +2:13.5
Continue reading “2014 Rally Poland in pictures”
Categories
Citroen Ford Hyundai Volkswagen WRC

2014 Rally Italia in pictures

2014 WRC Rally Italia

You may have noticed our WRC coverage has dropped off the radar for a bit, well in a mad panic before this weekend’s Rally Finland we’re going to bring you back up to speed. First, let’s take a look at Rally Italia, where we have assembled over 75 images from the four major teams for you to enjoy.

Sebastien Ogier won in Italy, extending his championship lead to 33 points over his Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. You may also recall this was the rally where Mikko Hirvonen’s backside got a bit hot.

2014 WRC Rally Italia

  1. Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC – 4:02:37.8
  2. Mads Ostberg Citroën DS3 WRC – +1:23.1
  3. Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC – +1:32.8
Continue reading “2014 Rally Italia in pictures”
Categories
Ford WRC

That’s one expensive barbecue!

Mikko Hirvonen, 2014 WRC Rally Italia

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson has revealed the cost of Mikko Hirvonen’s burnt out Fiesta RS WRC is beyond £400,000 (AU$718,000).

“The financial implications to replace it are huge,” Wilson told wrc.com “You’re looking in excess of £400,000 and we don’t insure the rally cars, so that’s a big hit.

“If you have a big crash then nearly all the mechanical components are usually OK. But with what happened here, there is absolutely nothing we can reuse. Everything is destroyed and it’s a big loss.”

M-Sport wants to investigate the cause of the blaze, but due to the severity of the damage the team isn’t sure if the wreckage will hold any answers.

“We’ll take the car back to the UK but it will be difficult to identify anything,” added Wilson. “Unless something like the propshaft has broken and gone through the fuel tank. Then it will be pretty obvious, even though the car is destroyed.”

[Source: WRC]

Categories
Ford WRC

Mikko Hirvonen lights my fire

Mikko Hirvonen, 2014 WRC Rally Italia

Mikko Hirvonen’s Rally Italia came to an abrupt and fiery end last night after his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC became engulfed in flames during a liaison stage.

The Finn started the rally well, leading the event after Thursday night’s special stage. He had slipped just out of the top five the following day as the rally began to hit its straps and it was between SS3 and SS4 where things really went south for Hirvonen.

“I have no idea what happened and I don’t think we are ever going to find out,” a bemused Hirvonen explained. “It was really strange. Straight after the stage [SS3] everything was OK and operating as it should. We stopped, took our HANS and helmet off, checked all the tyre pressures, had the usual look around the car and everything was fine.

“After we set off again, the car caught fire. We smelt the smoke and as I looked back the rear-right corner was covered in flames. We stopped straight away but they were already over the roof. I managed to empty three fire extinguishers but it didn’t do anything to calm the blaze. There was nothing we could do to save the car.”

Thankfully, Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen were able to escape without injury. Team boss Malcolm Wilson says he is keen to find the cause of the fire.

“Obviously we’re all relieved that Mikko and Jarmo are both OK after today,” Wilson said. “The car has been completely destroyed and there is nothing to be rescued which is a big blow to the team.

“We’re still waiting to get the car back, but having spoken with Mikko it seems to have started somewhere towards the right-rear wheel which is something we do not really understand.

“There’ll be a thorough investigation back at Dovenby Hall to work out exactly what happened.”

A short video can be seen after the break.

[Pics: @carlrue & @andrespocoyo]

Continue reading “Mikko Hirvonen lights my fire”