sebastien ogier

WRC Rally Monte Carlo, Sebastien Loeb & Ford victorious in electrifying curtain raiser for WRC’s new hybrid era.

Sunday January 23rd, 2022Sunday January 23rd, 2022 Stephen Hodges

2022 is a year of change for the World Rally Championship. The biggest news, the new regulation cars. Gone are the high downforce record breaking monsters that ran from 2017 to 2021, replaced by a new breed of hybrid rally cars, more on that later. Sebastien Ogier, who has won 8 drivers championships, steps back from full season competition for 2022; Welshman and 2 time championship runner up Elfyn Evans now leading the Toyota world rally team. 9 time world champion Sebastien Loeb returns to do a partial season at…

WRC Safari Rally Kenya, Sebastien Ogier clinches last gasp victory as Thierry Neuville falters.

Monday June 28th, 2021 Stephen Hodges

After a 19 year hiatus, the Safari Rally returns to the WRC calendar, once again the event headquartered out of Nairobi just as it was back in 2002. Compared to 2002 though, the event is somewhat shorter and doesn’t tackle the same brutal stages; this doesn’t mean that the Safari Rally has gone soft, with punishing dusty high speed stages & enormous bumps & ruts all along the stages. Add in the punishing arid heat and you have a perfect recipe for a car breaking rally. The opening day of…

WRC Portugal, Elfyn Evans fends off Hyundai charge to take victory.

Monday May 24th, 2021Tuesday May 25th, 2021 Stephen Hodges

The famed gravel roads of Portugal played host to round 4 of the 2021 World Rally Championship. Portugal is one of the anchor events on the calendar, the rough dusty gravel stages punish the cars & drivers and reward the brave. Elfyn Evans paced the shakedown prior to the start of the events, but there was an expectation that this might be Hyundai’s event, given their strong track record on gravel events. The opening day on Friday saw Hyundai stealing a march on the chasing Toyota’s & Ford’s, tyre choice…

Sebastien Ogier victorious in wild Rally Croatia thriller.

Tuesday April 27th, 2021Tuesday April 27th, 2021 Stephen Hodges

After a seeming eternity since the last round of the World Rally Championship in the winter wonderland of Northern Finland, the series moves onto the tight, winding tarmac stages of Croatia. It marks the first time that Croatia has played host to the WRC and the first all asphalt rally since 2019, the covid affected 2020 calendar didn’t feature a full asphalt event as Germany & Ypres were culled from the calendar & Rally Monza was affected by snow & ice, along with muddy conditions around the Monza circuit itself.…

WRC Monte Carlo, Ogier clinches victory from Evans & Neuville.

Sunday January 24th, 2021 Stephen Hodges

Round 1 of the 2021 World Rally Championship kicks off on the winding, icy roads in the snow capped alps above Monte Carlo. It’s a miracle in itself that the event is taking place at all this year, the current rate of covid19 infections, travel restrictions as well as the mandatory 6pm curfew in France presented a massive challenge to teams, drivers & organisers. Add in the travel issues in & out of the UK along with the bureaucratic nightmare generated by Brexit, it made things extremely challenging for Ford…

WRC Rally Monza, Sebastien Ogier clinches 7th WRC title & victory in Monza thriller.

Sunday December 6th, 2020 Stephen Hodges

The 2020 WRC season finale took place in and around the temple of speed, Monza in northern Italy. It’s the first time Monza has hosted a round of the WRC. Friday saw the first running at the Monza circuit itself, the stages using the circuit itself along with the access roads along with the old Monza banking. The championship finale sees Elfyn Evans leading the points with Sebastien Ogier in second, just 14 points adrift. Thierry Neuville & Ott Tanak both come in as rank outsiders for championship glory, the…

WRC Rally Ypres cancelled due to Covid19.

Saturday October 31st, 2020Saturday October 31st, 2020 Stephen Hodges

The ongoing global Covid19 pandemic has once again struck the 2020 World Rally Championship. Belgium’s first time hosting the WRC, with Rally Ypres playing host on 19th-22nd November would have been the first full tarmac event on the calendar. The event characterised by fast flowing stages around the flats of the Belgian countryside. Event organisers following consultation with the Belgian authorities were left with no choice but to pre-emptively cancel the event. Europe is currently in the throes of the second wave of Covid19, other series have already fallen prey…

WRC Sardinia, victory for returning Dani Sordo.

Monday October 12th, 2020 Stephen Hodges

The sun drenched italian isle of Sardinia offers itself up for the sixth round of the 2020 WRC calendar, the event was the penultimate event on the calendar, but on Friday, with Rally Monza added to the calendar in December; Opening the championship fight back up. Further broke on Friday as the provisional 2021 WRC calendar was shown for the first time. Notable changes include Wales Rally GB moving to an end of August date, away from the traditional October date. Shakedown saw drama before the event got underway as…

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

Friday November 22nd, 2019 Stephen Hodges

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…