World Rally Championship 2020 season preview

It only felt like yesterday that the 2019 World Rally Championship came to a close amid unusual circumstances in Australia, the event being cancelled before it got underway due to the bushfires around the New South Wales area. Those fires, even after more than 2 months are still raging and have ravaged Australia in one of the worst natural disasters the country has ever seen. Onto more pleasant topics though, and on January 23rd, the WRC winds itself back into life for the first round of the championship in Monte…

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Autosport international Show 2020 and the big BTCC catch up.

The Autosport international show rolled in its traditional venue of the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in the UK, once again providing fans the opportunity to get up close and personal with the cars, drivers and people behind many different championships.  There were a number of headline events for fans to enjoy, from the Live Action Arena where a huge variety of cars would complete demonstrations in one of the largest indoor areas in Europe, to driver forums and team and driver announcements ahead of the start of the 2020…

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WRC news: Ford M-Sport confirms 2020 driver line-up.

After a long period of speculation within the WRC paddock and community, Ford M-Sport has confirmed its driver line up for the 2020 WRC season. Former Citroen driver Esapekka Lappi is confirmed as the teams new lead driver, replacing Elfyn Evans who completed the move to Toyota at the end of 2019. Ford confirmed that they will retain young Finnish driver Teemu Sunninen for a second season as their second driver. Sunninen showed flashes of brilliance in the 2019 season and Sunninen will likely build on the steady form he…

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Toyota confirms Ogier, Evans & Rovanpera for 2020 WRC season.

Toyota have confirmed their driver line up for the 2020 season earlier this week, confirming the long held rumour that they had signed Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans. There was an additional surprise as Toyota also announced that they had signed Kalle Rovanpera as well, son of Harri Rovanpera and WRC2 ace for Skoda for the past couple of years. It is also sees Ogier & Evans reunited as team-mates once again, both drove together for Ford in 2018. Toyota has also signed Ogier, Evans & Rovanpera for the 2021…

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Citroen announces WRC departure, Ogier joining new team for 2020.

Ogier

In a surprising turn of events, Citroen announced this morning that they will be discontinuing their WRC programme with immediate effect. The news came prematurely amid widespread speculation that Citroen would depart the WRC before the new 2022 hybrid regulations, but the shock came as Citroen announced they will not contest the 2020 season. Citroen cited the reason as being the departure of Sebastien Ogier from the team and the lack of a high quality driver to lead the team into 2020. There are background factors that may have influenced…

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WRC Rally Australia cancelled amid state of emergency due to wildfires

The final round of the WRC, scheduled to take place in the area of New South Wales in Australia, headquartered out of Coffs Harbour has been cancelled. As many will have seen, New South Wales and other parts of Australia are being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades, with conditions in some regions being described as ‘catastrophic’ with serious danger to life and property. Earlier in the week, the event organisers, FIA, Emergency Services, Government and the local community liaised as a collective to determine whether the event…

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WRC Rally Catalunya, Tanak crowned 2019 WRC champion, Neuville takes rally win.

The penultimate round of the world rally championship sees the championship roll into one of the series most iconic events, Rally Catalunya. The rally represents a unique challenge as well being the only mixed surface event on the calendar, friday’s opening leg being run on gravel stages with the saturday and sunday run on the high speed tarmac stages. It means a quick change from full gravel spec and settings into full tarmac spec for the remaining two legs. The drivers championship can also be decided this weekend as well,…

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WRC Wales Rally GB, Tanak triumphs as the Championship comes into focus.

The World Rally Championship roared back into life from October 3rd to October 6th with the championship arriving in North Wales for Wales Rally GB. This year the Rally sees a change, being based out of the seaside town of Llandudno as opposed to its traditional base out of Deeside. The scrutineering for the event took on a unique format, with the Workshops of North Wales Honda hosting scrutineering and the cars being pushed through the showroom, allowing fans a unique opportunity to get up close to the cars and…

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WRC Rally Turkey, Citroens 1-2 Turkish Delight.

Ogier

Round 11 of the WRC took place on the second weekend of September on the fearsome rock strewn gravel stages around Marmaris and above the Turquoise coast. Blistering heat and a splash of heavy rain would furnish the drivers with a real challenge for both man and machine. The Thursday evening saw the opening stage of the rally, a short blast around the streets of Marmaris which saw Thierry Neuville & Andreas Mikkelsen to for first position, setting identical times trailed by Pontus Tidemand’s Ford Fiesta in third. The first…

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WRC Rally Germany, Toyota reigns supreme.

Germany is the scene for the second asphalt round of the World Rally Championship in 2019, with the event exhibiting a broad challenge from the narrow vineyards around the River Mosel, to the high speed stages in the Saarland region and the punishing bumps and ruts of the Panzerplatte. The event got underway on Thursday evening with a single stage around on the winding roads near the service park on the St.Wendeler Land stage. Ott Tanak took victory on the opening stage, though his Toyota Yaris was missing both its…

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WRC Rally Finland 2019, Tanak triumphs in Finland.

The World Rally Championship roared back into life after the July break over the first weekend of August in the forests of Finland, the fastest event on the calendar. During the summer break there were a few nuggets of news, the biggest of which is the FIA announcing officially that WRC will switch to Hybrid drivetrains from 2022 onwards. The details of the new hybrid and engine regulations have yet to be finalised, and it is unclear if the cars will deploy a spec hybrid system or if manufacturers will…

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WRC Rally Sardinia, the Sordo Shock.

The Italian island of Sardinia played host to Round 8 of the World Rally Championship from June 14th to June 16th, the high temperature, dusty & tricky road conditions would catch a few of the drivers out, some more notable than others. The opening day of the rally threw up a few surprises and would also claim a very big scalp. Teemu Sunninen shocked his competitors by pacing the morning stages, though a spin would drop him into second behind a chasing Dani Sordo. Ott Tanak meanwhile gave chase in…

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WRC Rally Portugal, back to back victories for Tanak.

The World Rally Championship returns to Europe for Round 7 on the sun scorched stages of Rally Portugal. The opening day of the event saw the three Toyota’s of Ott Tanak, Jari-Matti Latvala & Kris Meeke duke it out; with the Hyundai of Dani Sordo the only one able to live with the blistering pace set by the trio of Toyota’s. Dani Sordo’s charge came to a premature end on stage three, his Hyundai succumbing to fuel pressure issues. Championship leader Sebastien Ogier meanwhile lost time throughout the Friday, the…

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WRC Chile, second time lucky for Tanak.

May 10th to May 12th marked a historic moment in the WRC’s history with Chile playing host to the WRC for the first time ever. With it being the first running of the event it provides an unusual opportunity in that everyone is on a level playing field, no one has tackled the stages before. The muddy stages could almost be mistaken for the forests and moors of North & Mid Wales from Wales Rally GB on a sunny day, and the high speed nature of some of the stages…

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WRC Rally Argentina review.

April 25th to 28th saw the World Rally Championship roar into life once again, this time for the high altitude challenge of Rally Argentina in South America. Day 1 of the rally only contained one stage, the Thursday evening super special stage with packed out grandstands as the Argentine fans were treated to a furious display of power from the WRC cars. Ott Tanak took the spoils going quickest, giving him the lead for the first day of proper running on the Friday. Day 2 dawned for the first full…

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WRC Rally Corsica, Neuville breaks Hyundai’s victory duck.

Thierry Neuville claimed his and Hyundai’s first victory of 2019. The sun drenched island of Corsica lived up to its fearsome reputation and saw a close and frantic battle, which was not decided until the final stage which brought the rally to a dramatic climax. Day 1 of the rally on Friday opened up and saw a fearsome battle between Elfyn Evans in his Ford Fiesta and Ott Tanak in his Toyota Yaris. Evans & Tanak traded blows throughout the day, both parties setting fastest stage times throughout the day.…

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WRC Rally Mexico, victory for Ogier.

March 8th-10th saw the WRC arrive in the sunny clime of Mexico for Round 3 of the championship. Round 2 in Sweden saw Ott Tanak take victory for Toyota with Thierry Neuville finishing second for Hyundai and Sebatien Ogier finish in 3rd, the championship following the result of Rally Sweden saw Ogier still in command of the championship standings with xx points. Day 1 of the demanding Rally Mexico initially saw Andreas Mikkelsen set the initial pace, leading the event with teammate Dani Sordo in second. The strong run from…

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WRC Rally Sweden preview and post Monte-Carlo catch up

Thursday, February 14th marks the commencement of round 2 of the WRC at its traditional haunt of Rally Sweden; or Valentine’s Day depending on your disposition. Before that; a quick Monte Carlo re-cap; Along with a WRC news recap. Round 1 at Monte Carlo saw Sebastien Ogier claim victory, getting his championship challenge off to a very good start. It also marked an excellent debut for the revised Citroen C3 which spent most of the weekend looking imperious. Thierry Neuville finished in second for Hyundai & Tanak rounded out the…

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World Rally Championship 2019, season preview

Hello one and all, and welcome to Racing 24-7.net’s season preview of the 2019 World Rally Championship. In this piece we will focus on what the 2019 WRC season will bring over the next 14 WRC events, but first, a recap on the 2018 season. 2018 saw a Teutonic battle for the championship go down to the wire at the season finale in Australia, between Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak and the evergreen Sebastian Ogier. In the end, it was Seb Ogier who predictably took another Championship title after a reliable,…

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