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Rampant Rovanpera gaps the field on WRC Rally Latvia second leg

Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera’s rivals were left trailing in the dust after the reigning WRC champ extended his Rally Latvia lead with a sublime second-leg drive on Saturday. The 23-year-old Finn (above), who made his rallying debut in the Baltic …

Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera’s rivals were left trailing in the dust after the reigning WRC champ extended his Rally Latvia lead with a sublime second-leg drive on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Finn (above), who made his rallying debut in the Baltic nation more than 10 years ago, distanced the chasing pack through eight super-fast gravel stages near Liepaja to grow his advantage from 15.7s to 42.5s with just one day remaining of this eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

It was a milestone morning for Rovanpera as he notched up the 200th stage win of his WRC career on the day’s second test, Snepele. His advantage built to 34.8s by the mid-leg service and that dominance continued into the afternoon, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver topping the timesheets on all but one stage.

Two-time WRC champ Rovanpera has elected to recharge his batteries and run only selected rallies in 2024. But if he completes the victory tomorrow it will be back to back-to-back wins for the part-timer, who put on a masterclass at last month’s Rally Poland after a late callup by his Toyota Gazoo Racing team.

Rovanpera’s Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier made it a GR Yaris 1-2, with local hero Martins Sesks a close third on his first WRC start in a full-spec M-Sport Puma Rally1 hybrid machine, and only his second ever in the series’ top tier.

Eight-time champ Ogier, who’s also running only a part-time schedule in 2024, began the day 5.9s behind Sesks, but passed the 24-year-old Latvian on the overall leaderboard in the final stage of the morning. Luck was on the Frenchman’s side when he ran wide into a ditch on the morning’s penultimate test, plowing through the undergrowth before popping back onto the road unscathed.

Sesks, who ended the day just 4.7s behind Ogier, sits on the brink of a sensational podium in front of his enthusiastic home fans. Adding to the sense that we’re witnessing a new WRC star in the making, the two drivers ahead of him, plus Ott Tanak just behind, are all previous world title winners.

Surrounded by WRC champs, home hero Martins Sesks is holding his nerve and holding the final podium spot in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.

In a battle of the Baltic states, Estonia’s Tanak climbed from sixth to fourth overall in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, winning the morning’s penultimate stage and closing to within 6.3s of Sesks. However, a transmission fault in the leg-ending Liepaja City Stage put him briefly off the road and cost him around 15s, putting him 20.8s in arrears of Sesk at the overnight halt.

Tanak was successful in collecting more Saturday classification points than his main WRC title rivals, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who were sixth and eighth respectively, but he must finish the rally on Sunday in order to bank them.

Fifth went the way of M-Sport Ford team leader Adrien Fourmaux, who ended 8.4s down on Tanak, but with 17.9s in hand over sixth-placed Evans.

Takamoto Katsuta fell to eighth overall, having run as high as fourth before an impact broke his GR Yaris car’s power steering late in the morning loop.

Neuville, who led the WRC points heading into Latvia, was running second on the road and still struggling with low traction as he was forced to sweep the loose gravel for the cars behind. Unable to push, he placed eighth overall in his i20 N Rally1.

After another day of sweeping the roads for the cars behind, WRC points leader Thierry Neuville sits a frustrated eighth for Hyundai. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi and M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster completed the overall top 10 in an event that, so far, has seen no retirements from the headlining Rally1 class.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Oliver Solberg is on course to claim his second class victory of the 2024 season after carefully consolidating his lead through Saturday.

After a dominant Friday, during which the Swede won six out of seven stages to build up a 31.1s advantage, Solberg’s focus switched to lead preservation on Saturday’s equally fast gravel tests.

Being the first Rally2 competitor onto the stages presented a challenge in itself, with Solberg forced to sweep a fresh line after the wider, more powerful Rally1 cars had been through. Despite that, he and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were inside the top three on each stage and collected two fastest times along the way, finishing the day in 11th on the overall leaderboard.

Solberg’s Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 headed Mikko Heikkila’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 rival by 26.6sec overnight, with Sami Pajari’s GR Yaris 5.0s further back.

Oliver Solberg protected his WRC2 class lead, but still managed a couple of fastest stage times in his Skoda. McKlein/Motorsport Images

Sunday’s final leg includes two stages, each used twice, totaling 39.82 competitive miles of more super-fast and flowing gravel. The 8.29-mile Mazilmaja 2 test is the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Latvia, positions after Leg Two, SS16
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h56m53.1ss
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +41.0s
3 Martins Sesks/Renars Francis (Ford Puma Rally1) +45.7s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +52.0s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m14.7s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m34.1s
7 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m45.9s
8 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m33.7s
9 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m09.5s
10 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m37.6s

Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a Rally.TV subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.

Rovanpera leads as Sesks stars on WRC Rally Latvia opening leg

Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera opened up a 15.7s lead over local rising star Martins Sesks on WRC Rally Latvia as the two young guns stole the show on Friday’s super-fast opening leg. Latvia’s FIA World Rally Championship debut marks something of a …

Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera opened up a 15.7s lead over local rising star Martins Sesks on WRC Rally Latvia as the two young guns stole the show on Friday’s super-fast opening leg.

Latvia’s FIA World Rally Championship debut marks something of a homecoming for 23-year-old Finn Rovanpera, who started his first-ever rally at the age of just 12 on the Baltic nation’s flowing gravel roads.

Helped by his stage win on Thursday’s opener at the Biķernieki rallycross track in the capital, Riga, Rovanpera was never headed on Friday and won four of the day’s seven high-speed gravel road tests in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The reigning world champ is taking on only a limited schedule in 2024, so his relatively lowly position in the WRC points standings gave him a more favorable starting position, meaning cleaner road conditions, over several of his full-season rivals.

But it was 24-year-old hotshot Sesks, contesting only his second WRC event in the top-tier Rally1 class and utilizing hybrid power for the first time in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1, whose performance stood out the most.

Sesks, co-driven by fellow Latvian Renars Francis, delighted the masses of local fans when he grabbed his first-ever WRC stage win on the day’s second stage at Tukums, passing eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier in the process. Then, confirming the arrival of a new WRC star, the 24-year-old backed it up with another fastest time on the very next test.

“It’s amazing,” said Sesks, who ended the 75-mile leg 5.9s clear of third-placed Ogier’s GR Yaris. “It’s been so emotional today, and yesterday as well. I think these next two days will be the same.”

A WRC star is born… Latvia’s Martins Sesks wowed his home fans as he put in stage-winning times with his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.

Takamoto Katsuta’s all-in approach to the leg-ending 12.75-mile Talsi stage helped the Toyota driver pass Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver Ott Tanak and claim fourth overall. He ended the day 11.6s adrift of Ogier, with M-Sport Ford man Adrien Fourmaux, who also passed Tanak for position in the same stage, just 5.3s behind.

Tanak, meanwhile, fell from fourth to sixth overall after a challenging day. The Estonian reported a lack of confidence early on, as well as a brake issue which he partly fixed on the roadside after the penultimate stage.

Elfyn Evans, currently second in the WRC points for Toyota, trailed the leaders by more than 50s in seventh. Although he was not hit as hard by “road sweeping” the loose gravel as Hyundai’s championship leader and first car on the road Thierry Neuville, the Toyota ace was second in the starting order and struggled to find traction with no real clean line to follow.

“Road sweeping” duties for WRC points leader Thierry Neuville made it a day to forget for the Hyundai driver. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Tire damage cost Hyundai part-timer Esapekka Lappi a handful of seconds on the day’s fourth stage, but the Finn was quick to point out that his main problems lay “between the steering wheel and the seat…” He dropped back to 10th overall after the closing stage, languishing behind Grégoire Munster’s Puma Rally1 and Neuville.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Oliver Solberg led by more than a half minute, despite reporting a strange feeling aboard his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

The Swede, who currently lies third in the WRC2 championship standings, is already on the path toward claiming his second class victory of the season after he posted fastest times on six of Friday’s seven stages, ending 31.1s clear of closest challenger Mikko Heikkila’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

Despite dominating the timesheets, however, Solberg struggled with a lack of traction that led to plenty of slides throughout the day, and he even dialed back his speed in the afternoon to compensate for it.

“I’ve been happy with the driving all day, but the feeling in the car is a different feeling,” revealed the son of 2003 WRC champ Petter Solberg. “[I’ve been] trying to take care of the tires and just be clean.”

Despite a lack of traction in his Skoda, Oliver Solberg dominated the WRC2 class on Friday’s opening leg. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

The high-speed gravel tests keep on coming on Saturday’s second leg, with eight special stages totaling 64.6 competitive miles.

WRC Rally Latvia, positions after Leg One, SS8
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h08m44.5s
2 Martins Sesks/Renars Francis (Ford Puma Rally1) +15.7s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +21.6s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +33.2s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +38.5s
6 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +38.8s
7 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +52.7s
8 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m10.2s
9 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m23.3s
10 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m27.4s

Rovanpera’s last-minute call-up ends in WRC Rally Poland win

After a whirlwind few days, Kalle Rovanpera claimed one of the most remarkable victories in FIA World Rally Championship history at Rally Poland. The reigning WRC champ, who’s elected to recharge his rallying batteries and take on a part-time …

After a whirlwind few days, Kalle Rovanpera claimed one of the most remarkable victories in FIA World Rally Championship history at Rally Poland.

The reigning WRC champ, who’s elected to recharge his rallying batteries and take on a part-time campaign in 2024, never even planned to start this rally but was called in at the last minute by his Toyota Gazoo Racing team to replace Sebastien Ogier. Eight-time champ Ogier was sidelined after a road car accident during the event recce on Tuesday, leaving the 23-year-old Finn and co-driver Jonne Halttunen with less than 48 hours to ready themselves for the high-speed gravel of an event that hadn’t featured in the WRC since 2017.

Far from affecting Rovanpera, the frantic preparations and lack of real expectations seemed to spur him on as he charged to his 13th WRC career victory in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. He headed home teammate Elfyn Evans by 28.3s in a Toyota 1-2 after early rally leader Andreas Mikkelsen plummeted down the order on Sunday in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1.

Despite the late call-up and minimal prep, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen celebrated a remarkable Rally Poland win. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Rovanpera began Sunday’s short final leg 9.4s in front of Mikkelsen, but the Norwegian’s bid for a second Rally Poland victory to go with his 2016 win for VW was dashed when he crawled to the end of the opening stage with a tire off the rim. He tumbled to sixth overall by the finish as M-Sport Ford man Adrien Fourmaux completed the podium 14.4s behind Evans.

“It’s been quite an amazing week,” said Rovanpera, whose original plans for the weekend consisted of jet-skiing with friends on his local lake.

“Definitely I have to say we have been working quite hard and we are really tired now. I think the best thing is we came here and it was not a bad idea to come. We helped the team a lot and took a lot of points for the manufacturers’ championship, so we didn’t waste our time.”

Mikkelsen, who’s also running only a limited WRC program in 2024, led through Friday’s opening leg before slipping behind Rovanpera during Saturday’s stages. After the flailing rubber from Sunday’s tire issue ripped his car’s rear wheel arch apart, he chose to cruise through the closing stages.

“It was sad what happened today,” he said. “We were really unlucky, but the right thing to do [after that] was to bring the car back for the team.”

Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen looked like a contender for the win in the early going, but fell to sixth after a Sunday tire issue. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Running in temperatures that rarely dipped below 80 F, the returning Rally Poland suffered from some spectator-control issues, but still provided edge-of-the-seat drama as the WRC contenders traded tenths of a second on the blisteringly fast roads around Mikolajki.

Barring a tire delamination on Saturday and a slow puncture in the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage, Evans fared well compared to his main WRC title rivals. The Welshman’s Polish points haul meant he overtook Hyundai’s Ott Tanak to reclaim second in the drivers’ championship and cut Thierry Neuville’s lead to 15 points with six rounds remaining.

An unfortunate impact with a deer forced Tanak’s retirement on Friday morning, but he restarted on both the following days and was able to salvage 11 points from a strong run on Super Sunday. His Hyundai teammate Neuville, meanwhile, won the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage, but finished only fourth overall after starting first on the road on Friday (the unfortunate “honor” of being the points leader) and sweeping the road clear of loose stones for the cars behind…

Puma Rally1 star Fourmaux, who scored his third podium of the season, ended the rally 28.1s clear of Neuville, while Latvia’s Martins Sesks earned an impressive fifth-place finish on his debut in top-tier Rally1 machinery. Sesks, who ran as high as second early in the event, was driving a non-hybrid and less powerful version of the Puma, but will upgrade to a full-spec car for his home WRC round next month.

Bringing it home behind a Toyota 1-2, M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux (above) earned his third podium of the 2024 WRC season. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Mikkelsen limped home over two minutes in arrears of Rovanpera’s winning time in sixth, ahead of Gregoire Munster in the second of the full-spec Pumas, with Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta a disappointing eighth after an event he never came close to feeling comfortable on.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Sami Pajari surged from fourth to second in the overall championship standings after securing his second consecutive class win.

The 22-year-old Finn, fresh off a WRC2 win on Rally Italy last time out, stormed into the class lead on Friday morning and maintained a fast and error-free pace on the rapid Polish gravel to ensure his position at the top was never threatened.

He battled with local hero Kajetan Kajetanowicz in the early stages, but was left with a comfortable buffer when the Pole retired his Skoda Fabia RS with suspension damage on Saturday. Pajari took no risks through Sunday’s four-stage final leg, cruising to the finish 22.0s clear of Oliver Solberg’s Skoda to seal his back-to-back victory run.

The result sees Pajari moving to within three points of Citroen’s WRC2 championship leader Yohan Rossel. A WRC2 driver can nominate only seven rounds to score points on, and the Frenchman elected to skip Poland.

Sami Pajari secured back-to-back WRC2 wins with a no-risks final day on Rally Poland. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

The WRC’s run of super-fast, northern European gravel events continues next month at Rally Latvia. A first-time addition to the championship, the Liepaja-based rally takes place July 18-21.

WRC Rally Poland, final positions after Leg Three, SS19 

1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2h33m07.6s

2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +28.3s

3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +42.7s

4 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m10.8s

5 Martins Sesks/Renars Francis (Ford Puma Rally1, non-hybrid) +1m47.0s

6 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m16.6s

7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m18.0s

8 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m26.7s

9 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +7m50.7s

10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m12.7s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 7 rounds  

1 Neuville 136 points

2 Evans 121

3 Tanak 115

4 Sebastien Ogier 92

5 Fourmaux 91

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 7 rounds 

1 Hyundai Motorsport 311 points

2 Toyota Gazoo Racing 301

3 M-Sport Ford 156

Super sub Rovanpera closes in on WRC Rally Poland victory

Kalle Rovanpera is closing in on a potentially extraordinary WRC Rally Poland victory after a dominant second leg on Saturday saw Toyota’s reigning WRC champ seize the lead from Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen. The 23-year-old Finn (above) ended …

The 23-year-old Finn (above) ended Saturday with his GR Yaris Rally1 holding a 9.4s lead over Mikkelsen’s i20 N Rally1 with just four special stages and 40 competitive miles remaining in which to determine the winner of the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship on Sunday.

Rovanpera has elected to run a limited WRC schedule in 2024, with Poland’s super-fast gravel not originally on his calendar. But with Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Sebastien Ogier sidelined by a traffic accident during Tuesday’s recce, Rovanpera was pressed into service, carrying out a rushed recce with co-driver Jonne Halttunen and admitting to some trepidation on taking on the event’s high-speed stages.

Nevertheless, on a day that saw multiple stages interrupted and delayed by spectators getting too close to the action, Rovanpera racked up six fastest times and overturned the 1.8s advantage Mikkelsen had held over him on Friday night.

Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen had started Saturday with a slim lead, but couldn’t resist Kalle Rovanpera’s charge. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Tire wear threatened to undermine Rovanpera’s dominance in the hot temperatures of the afternoon’s repeated loop of stages. With the mercury nudging 85°F, the hard-compound Pirelli rubber that made up the bulk of Mikkelsen’s selection outlasted Rovanpera’s mix of four softs and one hard. But despite that, Rovanpera made the best of his remaining tires, even adding 4.2s to his lead in the leg-ending 13.92 Czarne 2 stage.

“I tried my best the whole day, and the afternoon was definitely more enjoyable when I knew what was coming,” Rovanpera said. “It will not be easy tomorrow; I think it will be tougher than today. Let’s hope for the best.”

Mikkelsen dropped to third behind GR Yaris driver Elfyn Evans after the morning’s first two stages, but Toyota’s 1-2 was short-lived as the Welshman suffered a rear tire delamination on the afternoon’s opening test. That cost Evans almost 10s and he was forced to settle for the final podium spot, trailing Mikkelsen by 6.7s overnight.

Evans could take some comfort from the fact that he outscored his main title rivals, the Hyundai duo of Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak, in the Saturday points distribution. Evans collected 13 points, compared with Neuville’s six and Tanak’s zero. The latter, who’d already stopped on Friday after hitting a deer, retired his Hyundai again at Saturday’s lunchtime service halt in a bid to preserve the car for Super Sunday and the bonus points-paying, rally-closing Wolf Power Stage.

Adrien Fourmaux continued his strong run to fourth overall in the best of the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1s, ending the leg 20.9s adrift of Evans, but 21.2s clear of fifth-placed Martiņs Sesks in a less powerful, non-hybrid Puma.

Adrien Fourmaux holds fourth overall for M-Sport Ford, best of the rest behind Toyota and Hyundai.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta completed the Rally1 runners in a lackluster eighth, having struggled to find any level of confidence in his GR Yaris.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Sami Pajari stretched his lead to almost half a minute as early rival Kajetan Kajetanowicz retired on Saturday.

Home hero Kajetanowicz had been pressuring Pajari for the lead on the opening leg and trailed the Finnish rising star by just 8.9s on Friday evening. However, the Pole’s victory hopes were dashed in Saturday’s third stage when he slid wide and damaged his Skoda Fabia RS’s rear suspension, dropping more than 20 minutes and later retiring.

“It’s life, it’s rallying,” said Kajetanowicz. “We went off, hit something and broke a [suspension] arm. These things happen when you are pushing.”

Kajetanowicz’s exit left Pajari more than 30s clear at the top of the class leaderboard by lunchtime, a buffer that the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver would see reduced to 26.3s over Skoda driver Oliver Solberg at close of play on Saturday.

Solberg was hindered by his early starting position on Friday, which meant he encountered more loose gravel on the stages than his main WRC2 rivals. But on Saturday, with a more favorable slot in the start order, he climbed from seventh to second in class, pipping fellow Fabia driver Robert Virves by just 3.1s after the day’s final test.

Oliver Solberg made good use of a better starting slot to charge to second in WRC2 in his Skoda Fabia RS. McKlein/Motorsport Images

Sunday’s final leg comprises double runs of Gmina Mragowo and Mikołajki, the second run through the latter comprising the 6.96-mile, rally-ending Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Poland, positions after Leg Two, SS15
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2h00m44.0s
2 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +9.4s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +16.1s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +37.0s
5 Martins Sesks/Renars Francis (Ford Puma Rally1, non-hybrid) +58.2s
6 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +58.3s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m24.5s
8 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m41.9s
9 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +5m46.5s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +6m12.8s

Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a Rally.TV subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.

WRC part-timer Mikkelsen leads Rally Poland after Friday’s super-fast opener

Hyundai WRC part-timer Andreas Mikkelsen (above) found himself leading an FIA World Rally Championship round for the first time since 2019, heading Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera by just 1.8s after Friday’s opening leg of Rally Poland. Just 7.7s covered …

Hyundai WRC part-timer Andreas Mikkelsen (above) found himself leading an FIA World Rally Championship round for the first time since 2019, heading Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera by just 1.8s after Friday’s opening leg of Rally Poland.

Just 7.7s covered the leading five drivers at the end of a frantic opening day on super-fast gravel roads. Temperatures touched a humid 85°F in northern Poland, although two stage cancellations meant that tire wear was not much of a concern, even for those running the soft-compound Pirelli rubber.

It’s only Mikkelsen’s third start of the 2024 WRC season, but he set the early pace on an event he’s excelled at in the past, including an overall win with VW in 2016. The Norwegian stormed into the lead on the morning’s opening stage, the 18.27-mile Stanczyki 1, as his title-chasing Hyundai teammate, Ott Tanak — who’d led following Thursday evening’s short super special — retired with front-end damage to his i20 N Rally1 caused by an unavoidable impact with a deer.

Mikkelsen built a buffer of 7.4s, but came under attack from Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 drivers Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans on the repeated afternoon loop when his later starting position offered less of an advantage on tracks already swept clear of loose gravel.

“I am happy with my day,” said Mikkelsen, who last led a WRC rally in Turkey in 2019. “I was too careful on the first stage after regroup, so we will try to adjust for tomorrow.”

Reigning WRC champ Rovanpera has elected to run a limited WRC program in 2024, and only found out he’d be taking on one of the WRC’s fastest events, rather than spending the weekend jet-skiing, when Toyota’s other potent part-timer, Sebastien Ogier, was involved in a minor collision during Tuesday’s recce day.

Still the 23-year-old Finn produced one of the drives of the day, pipping Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Evans in the final stage to head the Welshman by two-tenths of a second. Despite having less than ideal pre-event preparations, Rovanpera even collected two stage wins on an event making its first appearance on the WRC calendar since 2017.

“It’s quite funny; last night I was watching a [reconnaissance] video and I fell asleep at the laptop,” said Rovanpera. “I think we did a good job today [considering] the situation we are in.”

A late call-up for Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera hasn’t fazed the reigning WRC champ, who sits a close second overall. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Evans posted top-three times for all but two stages and is currently poised to close thepoints gap to title rivals Tanak and Thierry Neuville, whom he trailed coming into this seventh round of the season. Hyundai’s Neuville, who currently leads the championship, faced slippery conditions running first on the road and ended the leg down in seventh overall.

Martins Sesks made a stunning start to his Rally1 debut, stopping the clock just 0.3s adrift of Mikkelsen’s time on the morning’s opening stage and holding second overall until midday. Driving a non-hybrid Ford Puma Rally1, the 24-year-old Latvian fell to fifth in the afternoon, trailing full-time M-Sport Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux (in a more powerful, full-hybrid-spec Puma) by 0.2s after yielding position to the Frenchman in the day’s final stage.

Rally1 debutant Martins Sesks’ fifth place is even more impressive given that his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 is running in non-hybrid spec. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Gregoire Munster, also driving a full-spec Puma, ended 21.3s adrift of the lead in sixth, with Neuville a further 8.5s behind. Eighth and last of the Rally1 machines went to Takamoto Katsuta, who struggled to find a comfortable rhythm in his GR Yaris.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Sami Pajari withstood the pressure of home hero Kajetan Kajetanowicz to build an 8.9s lead after Friday’s opening leg.

Pajari, the WRC2 winner last time out on Rally Italy, stormed ahead of overnight class pacesetter Oliver Solberg on Friday’s first stage and retained the top spot for the day’s entirety.

The Finn, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, had managed to build an 11.1s gap between himself and Kajetanowicz after the afternoon’s opening stage, but some committed and crowd-pleasing driving by Poland’s Kajetanowicz in the closing stages brought the deficit back down to single figures.

“It’s been a very good day for us,” said Pajari, who also held ninth in the rally’s overall standings overall. “So far it is going really well.”

Sami Pajari carried on where he’d left off at Rally Italy – leading the WRC2 class in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. McKlein/Motorsport Images

Crews face seven more super-fast stages covering 77.11miles on Saturday’s second leg, including a third pass over the short super special stage next to Rally Poland’s Mikołajki base.

WRC Rally Poland, positions after Leg One, SS8
1 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 59m43.7s
2 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1.8s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2.0s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +7.5s
5 Martins Sesks/Renars Francis (Ford Puma Rally1, non-hybrid) +7.7s
6 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +21.3s
7 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +29.8s
8 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +32.3s
9 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +2m15.6s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +2m24.5s

Tanak grabs shock WRC Rally Italy Sardinia victory after late Ogier puncture

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak claimed a shock WRC Rally Italy Sardinia victory on Sunday afternoon after late agony for long-time leader Sebastien Ogier. Tanak (above) celebrated his first win since rejoining Hyundai for 2024 when a damaged tire in the …

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak claimed a shock WRC Rally Italy Sardinia victory on Sunday afternoon after late agony for long-time leader Sebastien Ogier.

Tanak (above) celebrated his first win since rejoining Hyundai for 2024 when a damaged tire in the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage denied Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Ogier a third consecutive FIA World Rally Championship victory.

Having traded blows with Tanak early in the ultra-rough gravel event, eight-time WRC champ Ogier had led since Saturday afternoon in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The Frenchman, who’s running only a part-time WRC program this season, began the final 4.41-mile Sassari-Argenteria 2 stage with a seemingly comfortable 6.2s advantage, but ended 0.2s behind Tanak’s Hyundai i20 N Rally1 after disaster unfolded in the closing miles.

Sebastien Ogier looked set for a third consecutive WRC rally win until drama on the very last stage… Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

The winning margin is the joint-closest in WRC history — matching the result of Rally Jordan in 2011. Back then, it was Ogier taking the victory, holding off his now-Toyota team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

Tanak, whose last WRC win came in Chile last year with M-Sport Ford, was humble in victory. He faced similar heartbreak on the very same stage in his 2019 WRC title season, when a power steering issue cost him a certain win.

“For the emotion it’s good, but obviously I am very sorry for Seb,” said the Estonian. “To lose a win like this is cruel and I’ve been in exactly the same position myself a couple of years ago.”

Ott Tanak grabbed the top step of the podium on the final stage, beating Sebastien Ogier by a miniscule and record-equaling 0.2s margin. Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT photo

Dani Sordo made it two Hyundais in the top three, helping the Korean manufacturer to remain in the lead of the manufacturers’ championship by eight points over Toyota. The 41-year-old Spaniard was initially out of sorts on only his second WRC start of the season, but steadily climbed the order as drivers ahead of him suffered problems.

One of those drivers was his teammate, Thierry Neuville, whose podium bid went awry when he slid off the road on Saturday morning. The Belgian’s consolation was that, having restarted for the final leg — albeit well out of the overall top 10 — he claimed the maximum 12 points from Super Sunday to retain his WRC driver’s championship lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.

Evans never really got to grips with his GR Yaris on the rough gravel roads, but although he ended almost three minutes back from the lead in fourth, the Welshman did succeed in reducing Neuville’s buffer from 24 to 16 points.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans (above) endured a lackluster Rally Italy, but still closed the gap to Thierry Neuville in the WRC standings. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Consistency rewarded Puma Rally1 youngster Gregoire Munster with a fifth-place finish. His M-Sport Ford teammate Adrien Fourmaux had run as high as third early on, but retired in Friday’s final stage with an electrical fault.

Such was the level of attrition that WRC2 machinery filled the remaining top-10 positions, with Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver Sami Pajari claiming sixth overall and the class win in international rallying’s second tier.

Pajari returned to the top step of the WRC2 podium for the first time since last year’s Rally Finland, catapulting from 11th to fourth in the overall class points.

The 22-year-old Finn had led WRC2 since putting on an early charge on Friday’s short, but rough opening leg and was able to play it safe during Sunday’s four stages to win by a comfortable 32.3s. He headed home WRC2 points leader Yohan Rossel’s Citroen C3, who’d fallen to 15^th in class on Friday’s opening leg, but charged back to second with a string of consecutive stage wins.

Jan Solans took the final WRC2 podium spot in another GR Yaris, heading home the Skoda Fabia RS machines of Martin Prokop and Kajetan Kajetanowicz that completed the class top five.

Sami Pajari took his first WRC2 win since last year’s Rally Finland. It was the first win in the class for Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally2. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Next time out, the speeds rise as the WRC heads to Rally Poland. The gravel event returns to the series for the first time since 2017, taking in the super-fast stages around Mikolajki, June 27-30.

WRC Rally Italy Sardinia, final positions after Leg Three, SS16
1 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 3h06m05.6s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +0.2s
3 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m25.8s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m37.8s
5 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +6m42.9s
6 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 winner) +7m13.4s
7 Yohan Rossel/Benajmin Boulloud (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +7m45.7s
8 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +7m52.7s
9 Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +10m05.4s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +10m09.3s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 6 rounds
1 Thierry Neuville 122 points
2 Tanak 104
3 Evans 104
4 Ogier 92
5 Adrien Fourmaux 74

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 6 rounds
1 Hyundai Motorsport 269 points
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing 256
3 M-Sport Ford 131

Ogier closes in on WRC Rally Italy Sardinia win as title chasers falter

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier is closing in on a third straight FIA World Rally Championship win after distancing his nearest rival, Hyundai’s Ott Tanak, on Saturday’s grueling second leg of Rally Italy Sardinia. The eight-time WRC champ (above), who’s …

The eight-time WRC champ (above), who’s running only a part-time schedule in 2024, will start Sunday’s final leg with a 17.1s advantage over Tanak after a turbulent day which included four lead changes and saw WRC points leader Thierry Neuville crash out.

Fortune initially favored Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver Tanak when overnight leader Ogier’s decision to carry only one spare wheel for the morning tests backfired. A deflated tire on Ogier’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 forced him to use the same set of rubber for three increasingly rough and abrasive stages. After trading positions three times, the 40-year-old Frenchman trailed Estonian Tanak by 3.5s at the mid-leg tire fitting zone.

In the afternoon’s classic loop of stages around Monte Lerno, however, Ogier threw caution to the wind. With Tanak’s pace dropping away — the 2019 WRC title winner hinting that it was because he’d been instructed to play it safe — Ogier stormed back into the lead after just one stage and went on to post a trio of benchmark times.

Ott Tanak led after the morning loop, but was advised to back off in the afternoon by his Hyundai team… Jaanus Ree /Red Bull Content Pool

A win on Sunday for Ogier would follow back-to-back victories on Croatian asphalt and Portuguese gravel, and could see him confirm his place as the most successful driver in Rally Italy Sardinia history.

“It has been a positive day, and an even more positive afternoon,” said Ogier after the day’s eighth and final stage. “This morning’s stages were very rough, but I enjoyed the afternoon so much more and it was a pleasure to drive the car.”

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville arrived in Sardinia with a 24-point championship lead over Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Elfyn Evans, and looked set to increase that margin after climbing from fifth to third early in the day. But his podium hopes went awry when he misjudged a braking point in the final stage before the mid-leg regroup, sliding his i20 N Rally1 off the road, down a bank and into retirement.

Takamoto Katsuta was elevated to the final podium spot as a result, but the Japanese rising star’s time inside the top three was short lived. His GR Yaris Rally1 developed a transmission issue which proved terminal on the afternoon’s first test.  The drama up front opened the door for Dani Sordo to complete the leading trio in the third of the factory Hyundais. Still struggling to find his rhythm in only his second WRC start of the season, the Spanish part-timer trailed teammate Tanak by almost two minutes, with Evans a further 30.5s behind.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans sits in an off-the-pace fourth, but Thierry Neuville’s exit could be good for his WRC title tilt. Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT photo

Thanks to the attrition among the leading cars, M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster rounded out the top five in his Puma Rally1, albeit more than five minutes off the lead pace.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver Sami Pajari continues to put on a masterclass in sixth place overall. The 22-year-old Finn expanded his lead to 54.7s over Yohan Rossel’s Citroen C3, with Jan Solans in another GR Yaris maintaining his impressive form in third.

Such was Pajari’s pace that he was battling Munster’s Ford Puma Rally1 for a top-five place on the overnight leaderboard, before easing slightly on the day’s final stage to sit just 9.7s behind the Luxembourg driver.

Sami Pajari built his WRC2 class lead and even challenged for an overall top-five spot in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Sunday’s short, sharp final leg is centered northwest of Alghero and includes two loops of two stages for a total of just 24.42 competitive miles. It ends with the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage — the 4.41-mile Sasseri-Argentiera 2 test, which finishes amid spectacular views of the Mediterranean Sea.

WRC Rally Italy Sardinia, positions after Leg Two, SS12
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h39m43.2s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +17.1s
3 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m12.8s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m43.3s
5 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +5m28.8s
6 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +5m38.5s
7 Yohan Rossel/Benajmin Boulloud (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +6m33.2s
8 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +6m45.2s
9 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m12.1s
10 Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m22.1s

Ogier leads after rough, tough opening day on WRC Rally Italy Sardinia

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier delivered a near-perfect performance to lead Hyundai’s Ott Tanak after Friday’s super-rough, incident-filled opening leg of WRC Rally Italy Sardinia. Eight-time FIA World Rally Champion Ogier (above) is running a limited …

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier delivered a near-perfect performance to lead Hyundai’s Ott Tanak after Friday’s super-rough, incident-filled opening leg of WRC Rally Italy Sardinia.

Eight-time FIA World Rally Champion Ogier (above) is running a limited schedule in 2024, and despite winning two of his three starts so far, he sits only fifth in WRC points. Hence, he’d start day one of the season’s sixth round as fifth car on the road.

The 40-year-old Frenchman capitalized on the increased traction offered by his later starting position to win two of the day’s four gravel special stages in his GR Yaris Rally1, ending the leg with a 4.5s advantage over i20 N driver Tanak.

Ogier’s only blot on the day was an overly cautious first run through the 8.24-mile Sedini-Castelsardo test, where he yielded 5.9s to Tanak while trying to conserve tires (to save weight, he’d opted to carry only one spare, instead of the allowed two). In the end, Pirelli’s hard compound rubber stood up to the test of the Mediterranean island’s high temperatures and rock-strewn roads.

“It’s good,” said Ogier after the final stage. “It’s been extremely rough and demanding for the tires and I am happy that we made it because it was challenging with only five tires.”

Tanak went fastest on the day’s second test, that first run through Sedini-Castelsardo, and despite losing hybrid boost on two occasions, second place overnight marks the Estonian’s strongest start to a rally so far this season.

Ott Tanak overcame hybrid issues to sit second overall in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

His Hyundai teammate, Dani Sordo, completed the overnight podium a sizable 28.7s behind, only grabbing the position when M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver Adrien Fourmaux suffered a tire delamination on the third stage. Fourmaux, who was fourth in WRC points prior to Rally Italy, later retired with an electrical issue.

While the overnight fourth went the way of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who noted that his GR Yaris felt quicker than the times he was posting, it was a testing afternoon for championship front-runners Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans, who held fifth and sixth respectively after starting in the worst possible road positions– first and second, where grip was at its lowest on the sandy gravel as the pair acted as unwitting road sweepers for the cars behind.

A leaking tire on his GR Yaris during the opening stage only compounded Evans’ frustrations, and the Welshman ended the day almost one minute adrift of the lead.

“That has definitely been the hardest day you could imagine to open the road in Sardinia,” bemoaned Hyundai driver Neuville, who headed Evans by 24 points in the WRC drivers’ standings before this round. “A tough day for us, but [we will] carry on…”

Starting first on the road in his Hyundai, WRC points leader Thierry Neuville struggled to sixth overall in the Sardinian dust. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Gregoire Munster completed the still-running Rally1 crews, the M-Sport Ford driver trailing Evans by 11.9s in seventh overall.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Sami Pajari pushed hard from the get-go, charging to a lead of 18.3s alongside co-driver Enni Mälkönen.

The former Junior WRC champion bookended his day with the quickest times on the opening and closing of the day’s four stages as he targets a maiden victory aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

The Finn’s biggest threat came in the form of Pierre Louis-Loubet, who’s making only his second start of the season in a Skoda Fabia RS. The Corsica native won the day’s second stage to briefly take the overall lead by 1.2s.

But Loubet’s time at the top of the WRC2 leaderboard was short-lived after he was caught in the dust of Emil Lindholm, who’d pulled over to change a wheel on his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 in the third stage. Loubet completed that test only ninth quickest as a result and is awaiting a notional time to redress some of his loss.

Pajari moved back into the lead, completing the penultimate test just 0.6s down on stage winner Georg Linnamae’s GR Yaris before going 3.5s quicker than Loubet on the day’s final test.

Sami Pajari went full send right from the start in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, and it’s paying off for the WRC2 leader. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Saturday is Rally Italy’s longest leg, with eight special stages adding up to 92.58 competitive miles and no opportunity for midday service. The morning features double runs of Tempio Pausania and Tula, while the afternoon includes four tests in the Monte Lerno area, including the breathtaking Micky’s Jump on the 15.74-mile Monte Lerno stage.

WRC Rally Italy Sardinia, positions after Leg One, SS4
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 53m43.1s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +4.5s
3 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +33.2s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +34.5s
5 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +36.6s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +57.3s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m09.2s
8 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +1m34.6s
9 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Loris Pascaud (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +1m52.9s
10 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +2m03.2s

Ogier seals record-breaking sixth WRC Rally Portugal win

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier has taken a record-breaking sixth WRC Rally Portugal win, securing his victory 7.9s clear of Hyundai’s charging Ott Tanak. The 40-year-old Frenchman (above) breaks a tie with WRC legend Markku Alen, who won Rally Portugal – …

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier has taken a record-breaking sixth WRC Rally Portugal win, securing his victory 7.9s clear of Hyundai’s charging Ott Tanak.

The 40-year-old Frenchman (above) breaks a tie with WRC legend Markku Alen, who won Rally Portugal — a founding round of the FIA World Rally Championship back in 1973 — five times between 1975 and 1987 with Fiat and Lancia.

Five different drivers led the grueling fixture, which ran over the dusty, rutted and often rock-strewn gravel roads near the northern Portuguese cities of Porto and Matosinhos.

Eight-time WRC champ Ogier, making only his third start of a part-time 2024 campaign, seized the top spot on a tumultuous Saturday – a day when fellow Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 drivers Kalle Rovanpera rolled out of the lead and Takamoto Katsuta retired with shattered rear suspension.

Ogier headed the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of Tanak by 11.9s heading into Sunday’s four-stage final leg and stayed cool and calm to keep the Estonian former champ at bay and complete back-to-back WRC victories following his win in Croatia last month.

Sebastien Ogier, with co-driver Vincent Landais, celebrated a record-breaking sixth WRC Rally Portugal win. Sophie Graillon photo

“I had nothing against being tied with Markku Alen,” Ogier smiled. “He is a legend, but I heard for many years, ‘When will you beat this record?’

“It was a not a great weekend for the whole Toyota team [with Rovanpera and Takamoto’s DNFs], but it was a good rally for us and I am glad we could bring some points.”

Second place marked Tanak’s best result since rejoining Hyundai from M-Sport Ford for 2024. The additional seven points he earned for topping the Super Sunday classification helped move him ahead of Adrien Fourmaux to third in the WRC drivers’ championship standings.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak chased Sebastien Ogier until the end, securing his best finish of 2024 with second. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Championship wise, it was also a strong weekend for Thierry Neuville, who filled the final podium spot 1m1.9s behind his Hyundai teammate. The Belgian extended his drivers’ title lead to 24 points over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans after the Welshman endured a torrid weekend in Portugal, finishing down in sixth having overcome a coolant leakage through the final day.

M-Sport Ford’s Fourmaux climbed from fifth to fourth on the final leaderboard, passing the overly cautious Hyundai of Dani Sordo on Sunday’s first stage and pulling more than a minute clear of the Spaniard, who was making his first WRC start of the season, by the end. In a breakout season, Fourmaux has finished all five WRC rounds so far this year, finishing in the top five in all but one.

Evans’ coolant leak forced him to crawl out of the day’s penultimate stage in EV mode in his hybrid GR Yaris, adding more woe to what had already been a challenging event for him. On Friday’s opening leg, his co-driver Scott Martin resorted to reading pace notes from a cell phone after misplacing his actual notebook, and the duo failed to post a single top-three stage time.

It’s been a rally to forget for Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who lost ground to Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville in the WRC title chase. Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT photo

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Jan Solans found an edge over rival Josh McErlean on Sunday’s final leg to claim his first victory in the class.

The Spaniard, co-driven by Rodrigo Sanjuan, led WRC2 by 8.0s at the start of the final leg, but came under pressure as the charging McErlean won the opening two stages to take a 0.1s lead.

But Solans trounced McErlean by 6.5s in the penultimate stage at Cabeceiras de Basto, a feat which ultimately proved decisive in securing him the win. Despite Irishman McErlean’s best efforts, the Skoda Fabia driver could only reduce the gap to 3.2s in the Fafe finale.

As well as being Solans’ first win at this level, it was also the first for Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally2 car, which was launched earlier this year.

Jan Solans secured his first WRC2 class victory, and the first for Toyota’s new GR Yaris Rally2. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

The WRC crews face more hot weather and rough gravel roads as the series moves to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia later this month. Alghero-based Rally Italy Sardinia takes place May 30-June 2.

WRC Rally Portugal, final positions after Leg Three, SS22
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 41m32.3s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +7.9s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m09.8s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m47.8s
5 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m48.9s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +6m36.0s
7 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2, non-points) +11m48.4s
8 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris – WRC2 leader) +11m56.1s
9 Josh McErlean/James Fulton (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +13m32.9s
10 Lauri Joona/Janni Hussi (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +13m40.3s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 5 rounds
1 Neuville 110 points
2 Evans 86
3 Tanak 79
4 Fourmaux 71
5 Ogier 70

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 5 rounds
1 Hyundai Motorsport 219 points
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing 215
3 M-Sport Ford 116

Ogier grabs WRC Rally Portugal lead as Rovanpera crashes out

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier (above) is closing in on a record-breaking sixth WRC Rally Portugal win – providing he can maintain his lead over Hyundai rival Ott Tanak on Sunday’s final leg. A dramatic and at times chaotic Saturday on the 2024 FIA World …

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier (above) is closing in on a record-breaking sixth WRC Rally Portugal win — providing he can maintain his lead over Hyundai rival Ott Tanak on Sunday’s final leg.

A dramatic and at times chaotic Saturday on the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship’s fifth round wreaked havoc among the leading drivers, reshuffling the overall places and leaving Ogier with an 11.9s overnight lead.

The eight-time WRC champ’s Toyota Gazoo Racing team began the penultimate leg in a position of dominance, locking out the podium after Friday’s near-perfect opening leg. However, its fortunes took a dive early on Saturday morning when Kalle Rovanpera and Takamoto Katsuta both faltered on the brutal gravel roads.

Overnight leader Rovanpera looked poised to tighten his grip on the top spot after blitzing the morning’s Felgueiras opener, but the two-time and reigning WRC champ misjudged a right-hand turn in Montim shortly afterward and rolled out of contention. Katsuta’s exit was less dramatic, but equally devastating: a rear impact shattered the suspension of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 as the Japanese driver battled to hold onto third overall.

Toyota’s hopes now rested on Ogier who, like Rovanpera, is running only a part-time WRC program this season. The Frenchman dueled for the lead with Tanak, briefly relinquishing the position on Amarante 1, before going back in front when the Estonian lost valuable seconds with a deflated tire in the next stage.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak kept the pressure on Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier until losing precious seconds with a deflated tire. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Although Tanak maintained the pressure with fastest times over the first two stages of the repeated afternoon loop in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, Ogier responded with a pair of stage wins to widen the gap.

Victory for Ogier on Sunday would put him in rarefied air at one of the WRC’s classic events. Currently, he shares a record-setting five Portuguese wins with Finnish legend Markku Alen, who dominated with Fiat and Lancia in the 1970s and ’80s.

“It’s been a good day,” said Ogier. “A tricky one, and we didn’t expect so many things happening today. Unfortunately, on Toyota’s side it was not a perfect day. For me it was good, but the team lost two cars. Now, we have to try and finish the job tomorrow now.”

The drama for the leading Toyotas was good news for Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, the WRC points leader ending the day 59.5s behind teammate Tanak after climbing from sixth to third. With his main title rival, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, languishing in sixth, Neuville is poised to extend his championship lead as his Saturday standing will earn him 13 points — that’s providing he completes Super Sunday.

Neuville passed teammate Dani Sordo on the overall leaderboard after the first stage of the day, but the Spanish part-timer kept in touch, ending the day 14.2s further back to make it three Hyundais in the top four.

Lagging Sordo by only 7.3s was M-Sport Ford’s fifth-placed Adrien Fourmaux, who held a comfortable buffer in his Puma Rally1 of almost two minutes to Evans. Evans shas truggled to get into a rhythm with his GR Yaris, and an early spin exacerbated his challenges.

M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux has played it steady, but now holds fifth overall after the attrition among the leaders.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Jan Solans is on the verge of securing his maiden victory in the class following a Saturday that echoed the dramas at the front of the field and allowed the Spaniard to jump from fourth to first.

Several of WRC2’s big names ran into trouble on this penultimate leg. Overnight leader Oliver Solberg was the first casualty. A momentary lapse of concentration while passing Kalle Rovanpera’s stricken Toyota GR Yaris caused him to veer wide, rolling his Skoda Fabia RS into retirement. He will not restart on Sunday.

Solberg’s exit propelled Yohan Rossel, who arrived in Portugal tied in the WRC2 points battle with the Swede, to the forefront. However, the Frenchman’s time at the top didn’t last long as he had to stop to change a wheel on his Citroen C3 in Paredes 1, losing more than 1m30s.

Gus Greensmith became the third leader of the day, but just when it seemed that no more drama was possible, the Briton ran wide on a low-speed right-hand turn during the afternoon’s opening stage and beached his Skoda on an embankment.

At day’s end, Solans led Ireland’s Josh McErlean by just 8.0s, with Rossel just 3.0s further back and everything still to play for.

Jan Solans has a first WRC2 class win in his sights, but the Skoda driver must first survive Sunday’s final leg. McKlein/Motorsport Images

Sunday’s final leg consists of four stages, with Cabeceiras de Basto and Fafe each running twice to make up a short, sharp 38.64 competitive miles. The second 6.95-mile blast through the twists and iconic jumps of Fafe is the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Portugal, positions after Leg Two, SS18
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h01m55.8s
2 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +11.9s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m11.4s
4 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m25.6s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m32.9s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m23.8s
7 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2, non-points) +9m25.5s
8 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris – WRC2 leader) +9m35.2s
9 Josh McErlean/James Fulton (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +9m43.2s
10 Yohan RosselArnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +9m46.8s