Adrian Newey will step down as F1 Team Principal at Aston Martin’s F1 team principal.
The 67-year-old world renowned designer, who replaced previous Team Principal Andy Cowell four months ago, will continue in his work as Aston Martin’s F1 Managing Technical Partner, with Audi’s Jonathan Wheatley – himself less than a year into his role – most likely to replace him.
Wheatley and Newey spent almost two decades working together at Red Bull Racing before both announcing their own departures in the wake of the Christian Horner misconduct scandal in 2024.
The news comes after a disastrous start to the Aston Martin-Honda partnership, largely on the engine side, which has seen repeated reliability issues and a lack of performance at the start of a new era of F1 technical regulations, which has aimed for a near 50/50 split between the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and the battery powered by the MGU-K.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have been unable to finish a Grand Prix due to excessive vibrations that have shaken the engine to the point of failure, with Newey revealing that the drivers risked long term damage to their health in a pre-weekend press conference at the season opening Australian Grand Prix.
Kieran’s Analysis:
This entire Newey/Wheatley/Aston Martin news came out of NOWHERE from my side. Two races into the season and a big change already?! Deja vu from 2025 in the Red Bull stables!
In all seriousness, this change shapes 2 teams futures: Audi and Aston Martin.
Firstly the positives from my side: Aston will have 2 of the biggest personnel at their best areas which will be a MAJOR boost for the entire team and drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Newey is widely regarded as the best car designer in the business and Wheatley, in this writer’s opinion, is one of the best team principals in F1 with DTS showing behind the scenes of the private man who would have been ideal for Red Bull to promote to succeed Christian Horner.
Now the negatives and it will come primarily from the Audi side: losing a key figure to their long term project is a MAJOR negative for their plan. Wheatley was imagined to be the leading man in the case for Audi to become world champions in Formula One. However, it seems that train has been derailed which is not good for Audi. The question then remains: who will take over the seat? They could place Binotto who has experience as being a team principal but is overseeing the engine development. Could Audi promote someone with experience like Andreas Seidl who left the Audi project in 2024? Could we see a name like Allan McNish jump into that seat? Or is there another name in the hotseat? This writer is certain of something: shockwaves will be sent around the paddock as this could shape silly season for both team principals and drivers!
Jack Prentice:
On the face of it, this adds more chaos to an already unstable start to 2026 and the partnership between Aston Martin and Honda.
After firing shots in the pre-weekend press conference at the first round in Australia by telling the world’s media that Aston Martin weren’t aware of how different the makeup of this Honda engine department was from the successful team that powered Red Bull to victory, and that the engine represented a danger to the driver’s long term health, Newey left observers in no doubt as to his feelings on a torrid start to the season.
That however is not thought to be behind Newey looking for a new Team Principal, as is thought to have been leading the process for as long as he has been in that very role and it is coincidental that Aston Martin’s start has been as bad as it has.
Formula One being Formula One, this does increase the spotlight on an already beleaguered partnership with the team 11th in the Constructors’ Championship following well documented inabilities to get the car to the finish.
While this is undoubtedly going to create even more noise around the team, it does not alter or solve Aston Martin’s current problems with the engine and understanding of its car, and while Honda have made progress in identifying the root cause of its well known vibrations that could still take months to get on top of.
Round 6 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place this week with many talking points ahead of the weekend. With pit boost inside a single race this will be a good race!
Track Preview
Most of the grid have experience around this track as the Season 11 pre season testing took place around this circuit at Jarama due to the disasterous weather conditions at Jerez.
Formula E’S Madrid E-Prix Circuit Map.
Image Source: Formula E’s Madrid E-Prix Ciruit Page
A temporary chicane on the main start/finish straight in order to help with the energy regeneration is an important area to note. Turn 1 and turn 12 seem to be the best place for overtaking opportunities as well as the run up to turn 6 and 7.
Rookie Test
The second and final rookie test takes place on Sunday with 20 rookies taking part with a variety of talent including Formula 2 and Formula 3 podium sitters, various championship winners and an overall pool of talent.
Driver
Team
Abbi Pulling
Nissan Formula E Team
Victor Martins
Nissan Formula E Team
Freddie Slater
Andretti Formula E
Callum Voisin
Andretti Formula E
Biance Bustamante
Cupra Kiro
Cian Shields
Cupra Kiro
Nikita Bedrin
DS Penske
Daniil Kvyat
DS Penske
Juju Noda
Jaguar TCS Racing
Bryce Aron
Jaguar TCS Racing
Hugh Barter
Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team
Richard Verschoor
Lola Yamaha ABT Formula E Team
Kush Maini
Mahindra Racing
Theophil Nael
Mahindra Racing
Théo Pourchaire
Citroen Racing
Joshua Durksen
Citroen Racing
Elia Weiss
Porsche Formula E Team
Ayhancan Gueven
Porsche Formula E Team
Ella Lloyd
Envision Racing
Zak O’Sullivan
Envision Racing
Predictions
Pole Position: Mitch Evans
The Jaguar TCS Racing driver went well here at pre season testing in Season 10 and I think a pole Position here is likely.
Race Winner: Oliver Rowland The reigning world champion has not had the best of starts at the final year of the GEN3 EVO era in Formula E. With a long break ahead of us before the double header at Berlin, Rowland will want to go into the break with a victory.
Podium: 1 Porsche and 1 Jaguar Attempting to predict the full podium is near impossible given the nature of Formula E. However, a porsche-nissan power train 2-3 is likely for me given how strong the porsche and jaguar power trains and teammates are.
Cadillac has already ticked off plenty of its 2026 to do list, in not looking like breaching the 107% qualifying rule and getting two cars to the finish at the second attempt at the second attempt in the Chinese Grand Prix.
With those goals achieved, this is not the time for F1’s newest team to rest on their laurels as the scale of their medium and long terms competitive aims has already hit home at the General Motors backed entry.
While the latest American team to join the F1 grid is another to have been built from the ground up after Haas joined the grid, at its core for 2026 is decades of F1 experience with Team Principal Graeme Lowdon having formerly been in charge at 2010 new team Virgin, latterly Marussia, until 2015. Executive Engineering Consultant Pat Symonds having previously worked for Benetton and Renault at Team Enstone and later Williams, while drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas have 14 and 12 years’ experience in F1 respectively.
With the prospect of points an unlikely one for 2026, we take a look at what milestones and achievements would represent a successful debut season for Cadillac.
Consistently Clean Weekends
While Cadillac have gotten two cars to the finish faster than World Champions McLaren, neither weekend has been trouble free for the team, which follows a winter schedule in which the team was ahead of only the beleaguered Aston Martin Honda entry in terms of mileage completed across the two official Tests in Bahrain.
In Australia, Perez only managed 16 laps across the first two practice sessions as reliability issues hobbled the Mexican former Red Bull driver, while Bottas was able only to complete 12 laps on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying before retiring with an engine failure after 15 laps in the race.
In China, Perez was once again hamstrung on Friday morning.
He only completed 13 laps in the sole practice session of the first Sprint weekend of the season before failing to set a time in Sprint qualifying, and having his Sprint race and Grand Prix Qualifying were once again compromised as deployment issues set the 36-year-old back. Those gremlins would last into the race, notwithstanding a clumsy collision with Bottas at the start of the Grand Prix.
This ultra-complicated era of Formula One engine regulations have caused problems for numerous teams including the aforementioned McLaren, who failed to start with either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri in Shanghai on Sunday, while Audi have yet to have both scares start a Grand Prix this season and Red Bull have had at least one retirement in each Grand Prix so far, so this inexperienced at ground level team are far from alone.
Nevertheless, the team will be targeting cleaner weekends as it attempts to build a better understanding of its car and the new era.
Taking advantage of F1 experience inside the team
We earlier referenced the F1 experience that Cadillac does have including a combined 26 seasons of experience across its driver lineup.
Few were enthralled when it was announced that Bottas and Perez would be taking the two race seats ahead of an unlikely berth for now F2 and Cadillac development driver Colton Herta, himself an Indycar race winner.
Coming into the season, the two men had 16 grand prix wins and 527 starts between them. Both drivers have been part of dominant F1 teams in their career, with Bottas a fine understudy to Lewis Hamilton for five seasons from 2017 through to 2021 at Mercedes, while Perez was at Red Bull for four seasons during their return to domination with the all-conquering Max Verstappen up until his untimely departure in 2024.
Both are known to have strong technical feedback which should help the team build a better understanding of their car in more timely fashion compared to an inexperienced rookie, and they will be able to bring to the team elite level processes after recent stints with two behemoths of Formula One.
Cadillac CEO Dan Towriss pointed to the experience brought by the two drivers when both men were announced for 2026 back in August last year.
In Team Principal Lowdon it has a man experienced in starting a Formula One team from Ground Zero. While Virgin’s ambitions and scale did not compare to the plans that Cadillac will eventually have, Lowdon has seen the challenges the team will face all before. Given the difficult birth that Virgin suffered, including a fuel tank that began 2010 too small to complete a Grand Prix, he is quipped to solve problems that new teams will face and implementing processes across an entirely new team.
With Symonds in an Engineering Consultancy role, the team has a man who’s been involved in the good – and bad – of Formula One with his time encompassing title victories at Benetton with Michael Schumacher and Renault with Fernando Alonso. He was a key part of the leadership team during his time there and was in a consultancy role when Lowdon was in charge at Virgin-Marussia.
The presence of both Bottas and Perez have given the new team instant credibility and tapping into the F1 experience and nous they already have will be vital to the team’s short and medium term progress.
Getting on to the back of the midfield
Cadillac’s pace is at the higher end of where they were expected to start in 2026, but over a single lap they are still behind even the troubled Aston Martin package, and while they have been clear in the races that is mostly down to the reliability measures Honda have had to take.
They were a thrice lapped 16th with Perez in Melbourne, while both drivers were lapped down in 13th and 15th in China, albeit aided by a Safety Car after 10 laps as Lance Stroll retired.
The Ferrari Power Unit that the team has until at least 2028 is a competitive one bested only by Mercedes at this stage of the season, and with the current generation of cars being so young the rate of development will be huge, and Perez did tentatively target points by the end of the season when speaking after the Chinese Grand Prix.
Time will tell whether that proves to be realistic this season, but there is only so long that the team will accept being on the back row and a second off the next nearest team.
The team will learn a lot about how well they can develop a car throughout their debut season ahead of providing a solid base for a more competitive 2027.
On the face of it, two races into a season is very early to be talking about a driver losing his place on the Formula One grid, Red Bull and Liam Lawson from last year excepted.
But it is a position that Esteban Ocon could find himself in come season’s end if performances relative to young teammate Ollie Bearman do not improve, with Haas Team Principal Ayao Komatsu admitting at launch that the team “expect(s) more” from Ocon in 2026.
Ocon joined the team as an Alpine refugee, giving up his seat one race early at the end of 2024 after a tumultuous two years as teammate to Pierre Gasly came to a head when Ocon ran into Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix, with the former publicly admonished by then Team Principal Bruno Famin. That followed another acrimonious ending to a teammate partnership with Fernando Alonso two years prior.
The one time Grand Prix winner was 15th in the Drivers’ Championship standings in 2025, three points off 20-year-old Bearman and Ocon is yet to score this season, while Bearman has two top 7 finishes in a Haas that looks a strong contender for points in the early races of F1’s new era in 2026, while comparisons from last season can be split almost exactly between the first and second halves.
2025 Rounds 1-13
In the first half of last season, Ocon seemed a good fit for an improving Haas team as a rapid but raw Bearman would often match the Frenchman for pace if not consistency. This showed in Ocon’s slender average Grand Prix qualifying pace advantage throughout the first half of 2025 of 0.013s, excluding sprints and the Australian Grand Prix where Bearman failed to set a lap time following a crash in practice.
A disappointing start in Australia as the team briefly struggled with ride heights and balance around the high speed Albert Park circuit was followed up with an excellent fifth for the Frenchman in the Chinese Grand Prix, which coupled with eighth place for Bearman confirmed the team’s second highest ever points haul since their inception in 2016.
Ocon would then follow that up with an opportunistic eighth place at the Bahrain Grand Prix two rounds later, before began a run of ten Grands Prix without a points finish, save for two points in the Belgian Sprint race.
Ocon, who by now was in his eighth full season in F1 looked on paper to have the measure of the Brit on race day, having finished ahead seven times to three in the ten races where both drivers finished, and scored further points with seventh place in Monaco, ninth in Canada and a point for tenth in Austria alongside a Sprint fifth place in Belgium.
At this point, he led Bearman 27 points to 8, with notable errors including crashing under red flags in practice at Silverstone seeing the Brit pick up four penalty points and a ten place grid penalty before both men collided in the Grand Prix as one example of the team leaving points on the table early on.
2025 Rounds 14-24
The summer break marked an upturn in form for Bearman, while Ocon grew less comfortable in the car following an undertray upgrade brought to the British Grand Prix.
Bearman put in an excellent charge from the back of the grid in the Netherlands to finish sixth and followed that up with well executed races to ninth place in Singapore and Texas ahead of a more headline grabbing end of season.
That paled in contrast with Ocon’s struggles, with a particular low point in Azerbaijan as braking struggles stymied his weekend on the way to 14th before an 18th placed finish in Singapore.
After a major upgrade package was brought to the Circuit of the Americas, Bearman’s season peaked in Mexico with a fourth position finish as he briefly threatened a podium in amongst the chaos caused by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s early battle, but he was able to keep behind title challenger Oscar Piastri and both Mercedes drivers, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell on pure race pace.
He followed that up with sixth place in a chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix for another flawless drive to finish as best of the rest once again and move well clear of Ocon in the standings, with the Frenchman recovering to take seventh place in the Abu Dhabi finale.
2026 – and what has Komatsu said?
Bearman has continued the form that has led to calls for his promotion to the Ferrari team of which he is a member of their junior driver academy.
For much of the Australian Grand Prix weekend the two were evenly matched and started Bearman 12th and Ocon 13th, but the race was a different story.
Ocon renewed rivalries with former teammate Gasly to finish outside of the points in eleventh, while a strong start for the Brit saw Bearman take seventh ahead of RB’s Arvid Lindblad.
While the Frenchman could count himself unfortunate at the timing of a Safety Car at the Chinese Grand Prix, it is inescapable that a chance for good points went begging solely because of a clumsy move to hit the Alpine of Franco Colapinto after he left the pits, with a top eight finish more than likely. That would have backed up a fifth place for Bearman and left Haas third in the early Constructors’ Standings.
It is a trend that Team Principal Komatsu has been picking up on since the autumn of last year, telling The Race: “I’m not saying he’s (Ocon) slow, but when he’s not 100% comfortable with the car, he cannot go there. Whereas Ollie, Ollie will drive around anything.”
At the launch of this season’s car in January, that feedback became more pointed.
He told F1.com, “If you look purely at a sporting result, without going into details, for sure nobody is satisfied with Esteban’s sporting result last year.
“He’s a team mate against a rookie – yes, an amazing rookie, but nonetheless he’s got 10 years of F1 under his belt. He’s a race winner, he’s a podium finisher, so we expected more from him. Obviously it’s not totally his fault. Sometimes as a team we couldn’t give him the car that he was comfortable [with].”
The Frenchman’s contract is thought to expire at the end of this season, and having fallen out with Alpine and what was Force India prior to their Stroll-backed takeover, no realistic prospect of a drive at another midfield team and with no top drive likely, it’s difficult to see where else he’d fit in what could be a very busy silly season ahead of 2027 should he fail to convince Komatsu.
Ocon’s start to the season has done little to ease his situation, and after losing out to a rookie in 2025, 2026 is threatening to become a Sophomore smashing at the hands of Ollie Bearman.
We came then to the final day of action and the crews would be facing just over fifty-seven kilometres over four stages to finish the rally. Elfyn would open the road throughout the day in these final stages.
First up then was SS17 Oserengoni 1 and Seb set the pace from Oliver and Adrien. Takamoto continued to lead the rally, his lead over Adrien now a few seconds over a minute. The Japanese driver was looking good to take a first victory with his Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston.
Next up was SS18 Hell’s Gate 1, the first run through what would be the powerstage and Elfyn was fastest from Oliver and Seb as the three teammates continued to show their pace at the front of this championship. Takamoto was being careful and taking no chances out there as he set the ninth best time.
Next up then was SS19 Oserengoni 2 and Oliver was fastest in this one as Seb and Elfyn were second and third fastest. Once again, Takamoto continued to manage his pace setting the eighth best time but still maintaining a considerable margin over Adrien with just one stage remaining. Of the three early championship protagonists Oliver was the only one who had remained in the overall top ten, whilst his teammates Seb and Elfyn were holding eleventh and thirteen respectively.
We came then to the final stage, SS20 Hell’s Gate 2 and of the front runners Elfyn set the early pace before first being pushed down by Seb and then Oliver to the third best time as the Swede took the stage win. Adrien came through to take a well fought for second place and Sami for his third-place finish. All eyes were on the number eighteen GR Yaris piloted by Takamoto with his co-driver Aaron as they came through the stage and crossed the finish line to take their first ever WRC victory. There were emotional scenes at the time control before they climbed onto the top of their car.
Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.
Safari Rally Kenya Final Classification
1
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
3:16:05.6
2
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+27.4
3
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+4:26.1
4
E. Lappi
E. Mälkönen
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+6:07.3
5
R. Virves
J. Viilo
Skoda Fabia RS
+11:38.7
6
G. Greensmith
J. Andersson
Toyota GR Yaris
+12:09.0
7
F. Zaldivar
M. Der Ohannesian
Skoda Fabia RS
+12:20.0
8
A. Mikkelsen
J. Listerhud
Skoda Fabia RS
+12:30.7
9
D. Domínguez
R. Peñate
Toyota GR Yaris
+13:28.4
10
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+16:44.5
Super Sunday Classification – Safari Rally Kenya
1
O. Solberg
33:28.9
2
S. Ogier
+3.6
3
E. Evans
+17.5
4
T. Neuville
+26.8
5
A. Fourmaux
+38.4
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Takamoto Katsuta
“It’s such an amazing feeling to achieve this result. It’s hard to describe how I felt when I crossed the finish line: it was just crazy. There have been so many difficult moments, and these memories all went through my head. It hasn’t been easy but finally we are here. Thanks to Aaron who has worked so hard with me, and to every single person in the team, which has always been believing in me. Trying to manage today was really difficult, because you see every small rock and you try to avoid them. But we managed it without any problems, so thank you to the team for giving me such a strong car and strong support. We’re here because we never give up and we’ll keep working hard to achieve more results like this.”
Sami Pajari
“It’s really nice to finish on the podium again. This was a real adventure of a rally, a really tough one but that’s the nature of this event. The performance we had on Friday especially was really nice, and to take five stage wins is great. We had the speed, but the most important thing today was just to reach the finish without any issues. Thanks to the team for keeping the car running all week. I’m super happy for me and Marko and also for Taka and Aaron taking their first win.”
Oliver Solberg
“The goal for today was to have one last push after the disappointment of yesterday. I just tried to turn it around and do the best that I could, and we ended up having a fantastic day, winning Super Sunday and the Power Stage. We did the best that we could possibly could to recover, so I’m really happy with the day. And if it couldn’t be us winning, then I’m also happy to see Taka and Aaron winning the rally. With all the hard work Taka does and the passion that he has, he really deserves it.”
Sébastien Ogier
“Today we tried to get as many points as we could, but it’s never easy to push to the maximum in these conditions like we had in the Power Stage. I just tried to drive clean in the ruts, and it’s possible to go faster if you really push it. Speed-wise I think it’s been a good weekend, but this is also the rally of the year where the speed matters the least. I’m really glad to see that Taka could still bring the win home for the team and for himself: it’s well-deserved for him after all these years of effort.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s definitely been a tough weekend. We tried to use our head but still we weren’t able to get the car through the whole rally. It’s like this, sometimes it happens in rallying like we know. I’m a bit disappointed with today also: we were quite slow in the first stage this morning and conditions were not ideal for us. We tried but didn’t get as many points as we would have liked. I’m pleased to still be leading the championship, and we can look forward to Croatia. I’m very happy for Taka and Aaron who have worked really hard and are very deserving of this win.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Adrien Fourmaux
“I’m feeling relieved finishing on the podium after four tough days; this is a big result. I said often this weekend that Safari Rally Kenya isn’t over until the finish line, and anything can happen. We never gave up, even when we had a lot of time to make up on Friday. On Saturday morning, we had more issues to battle. We knew coming into this event that everyone would have problems, but our plan was to have fewer than everyone else. We can be pleased that we achieved that. Congratulations, and a big thank you, to the team – it has been a proper team effort this weekend. What the mechanics did yesterday was unbelievable. People think rallying is about the driver and co-driver, but there are many others behind the scenes who contributed to this success.”
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya 11-15 March 2026 Photographer: Helena El Mokni Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Esapekka Lappi
“We had a plan this weekend and let nothing deviate us from it, and it has paid off. We might not have won the rally; however, it is the first time I have finished it. If you’d have told us at the start of the weekend we would finish second and fourth as a team, we would have taken it, and considering that we should be very satisfied with the result today. Thanks to the mechanics, who did an amazing job at every service. Today we were slow to be safe, we had a bit more rhythm on the Power Stage, but it was all about ensuring we finished. It was the toughest event I’ve ever done; I’ve never done so many repairs on the road section. The conditions Thursday and yesterday were insane, the mud made it so difficult to drive and keep the car alive.”
Thierry Neuville
“A very tough rally comes to an end; this has been a Kenya like no other. It has been an incredible adventure from the beginning, and the conditions were very difficult. The team has done really well, making some great steps forward with the car to address the issues we had previously and surviving where others failed. Today was tough, we tried hard to fight for Super Sunday, but we just couldn’t go any faster. We didn’t give up, and I’m happy we did what we could after a lot of disappointments on each stage. We will fight back. Finally, a big shout-out to the mechanics who have done an incredible job this weekend to get the car repaired every time – they deserve this great result.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Jon Armstrong
“It’s been one of the toughest weekends we’ve experienced. Some of the issues we had – one of them was my mistake – but at least we were able to fix the car and continue. It’s a big bonus to get to the finish without having to super rally, and the car held up really well apart from a couple of small things. That’s just Kenya – you take it on the chin and bank the experience. I’m quite happy with our pace in some of the stages too, so I’m looking forward to getting back on tarmac – but all of this has been valuable knowledge for the next gravel rally.”
Josh McErlean
“It’s disappointing to retire with the engine issue after the effort the whole team put in this week. Safari is always a huge challenge, but there were some positives for us – especially the third fastest time on Friday which showed the pace we’re capable of. Thanks to the team at M-Sport for all their hard work!”
Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)
“It’s been a really difficult weekend for us, starting with issues already on stage one – and it basically got worse from there. On the second day we didn’t get any further than the first stage again, but at least on Saturday we got to do some proper mileage. Sunday brought another issue, so it’s one of those weekends where you just want to draw a line and focus on the next one. The team put in a huge amount of effort and sometimes it just doesn’t get rewarded – that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Summary
Well, we knew it was going to come one day and now Takamoto and Aaron now join the elite of this championship as rally winners. There were moments during the rally which really tested them including the double puncture on Saturday. Yet, they were just there when their teammates hit problems and took their first win in the rally which gave Taka his first podium in 2021.
Adrien and Alex took a very well deserved second place to add to his previous podiums. Again, there were problems along the way, but their drive gave them good points which has placed them in fourth in the championship standings after three rounds and the top Hyundai crew.
Finally, Sami and Marko took a third overall podium and their second in a row. Lots of stage wins showed that they really have the pace now. Their first win cannot be far away.
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 3
1
E. Evans
66
2
O. Solberg
58
3
T. Katsuta
55
4
A. Fourmaux
47
5
S. Pajari
32
6
S. Ogier
26
7
T. Neuville
25
8
E. Lappi
21
9
R. Virves
10
10
G. Greensmith
8
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 3
1
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
157
2
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
114
3
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2
35
4
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
23
The next round is in Croatia taking place over the ninth to twelfth of April.
Kimi Antonelli took a lights to flag win at the Shanghai International Circuit to win the Chinese Grand Prix for his first ever victory.
Antonelli led home Mercedes teammate George Russell to become the first Italian since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix to win a Formula One Grand Prix and the result puts the Italian four points behind Russell at top of the fledgling 2026 Drivers’ Championship standings.
The podium was completed by Lewis Hamilton, who took his first podium in a Grand Prix for Ferrari following a race long battle with teammate Charles Leclerc, with Ollie Bearman continuing his strong start to the season in fifth for Haas.
Pierre Gasly’s sixth place represented a return to form for Alpine ahead of a resurgent Liam Lawson in the RB, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar recovering to eighth following a spin on lap one ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz in ninth and Franco Colapinto, who scored his first points since the US GP of 2024 in tenth for Alpine.
Max Verstappen retired on lap 47 with a Power Unit failure from sixth, having recovered from a poor start in an underwhelming Red Bull.
Of 22 cars, only 18 took to the start as Alex Albon for Williams, Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi and both McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were unable to start due to technical problems, with Piastri still having not completed a Grand Prix lap this season following a crash on his reconnaissance lap last week.
As has become a theme in 2026, the fast starting Ferraris leapt towards the front as polesitter Antonelli moved to cover off teammate Russell, allowing Hamilton to swoop for the lead as Leclerc attacked Antonelli for second – the Italian holding out and re-taking the lead from Hamilton soon after.
Russell was able to deal with the Ferraris by the end of lap 4 to take second place as the race settled down, before Lance Stroll’s retirement with another Honda engine issue in his Aston Martin sparked a Safety Car on lap 11.
Antonelli was able to retain his lead having pitted for hard tyres as Russell dropped behind Esteban Ocon and Colapinto, who had stayed out, and a tough race was compounded when the Brit lost out to former teammate Hamilton and Leclerc in short order following the restart, to drop to sixth.
The three frontrunners were able to pass Ocon and a particularly stubborn Colapinto, who proved a roadblock to the two Haas’, teammate Gasly and Verstappen before Bearman opened the floodgates on lap 22 with a move into the hairpin at Turn 15, Gasly and Verstappen following shortly after as the tyre advantage told.
That gave way to a mid race scrap between Leclerc and Hamilton that saw a Scuderia battle see-saw until a lockup for Leclerc on lap 38, with the Ferraris side by side through turns one and two on numerous occasions as a frustrated Russell watched on behind in fourth.
Russell would be past them by lap 30 but could do nothing about teammate Antonelli ahead as he was forced to settle for second.
Further back it was another mature drive from Ollie Bearman as the Brit, in his second season, was fifth having had to avoid a spinning Hadjar on lap one, which saw him drop back to 12th.
Bearman recovered in part due to the Safety Car allowing him to pit, but the pace was strong and prior to Verstappen’s retirement he had kept the Dutchman at arm’s length.
This was in stark contrast to experienced teammate Esteban Ocon, who was compromised due to that very Safety Car as he started on the Hard tyres compared to Bearman’s mediums, but the Frenchman wasted a chance to score strong points by needlessly running into the back of Colapinto as the Argentine exited the pits.
Ocon was already placed on notice by Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu prior to the start of the season, and a torrid start to 2026 will not have helped the former Alpine driver.
His former team this week delivered on the promise shown in testing, as Gasly followed up his seventh place qualifying with sixth in the race, notwithstanding the McLarens failing to start he kept pace with Verstappen’s Red Bull and were it not for a delay in the pits, he had the pace for fifth place.
The previously maligned Colapinto put in a similarly mature performance in holding off drivers on fresher tyres for 10 laps prior to Bearman’s pass on lap 22, and would have been likely to finish inside the top eight were it not for Ocon’s brain fade on lap 33.
While Cadillac were able to get both cars to the finish, both Aston Martins were forced to retire as Stroll stopped with an engine issue on lap 11, while Alonso could only last 32 laps before the now infamous vibrations left his hands numb.
Onto Saturday’s action then and the crews had just under 123 kilometres over eight stages to improve their position on the leaderboard. Oliver and Elliott held a one second lead over their world champion teammates, Seb and Vincent. Meanwhile Josh and Eoin returned to the action after their early exit on Friday.
First up then was SS11 Soysambu 1 and Oliver was fastest from Elfyn and Adrien. Seb suffered a puncture and lost over two minutes, the result being that he dropped from second overall to fifth. Elfyn, Sami and Adrien were the three to benefit from the champions problem. Their teammate, Takamoto was also benefitting from problems as he moved up one position at the expense of Thierry who’d lost two positions.
Next up was SS12 Elmenteita 1 and Seb who was clearly fired up set the pace from Adrien and Thierry. The Frenchman moved up the leaderboard and back into third overall, whilst Sami suffered a huge tyre blowout which tore the left rear quarter panel to pieces. He emerged from the stage having lost five positions in eighth position. Elfyn had some drama in this one as he suffered a double puncture on the right-hand side of his Yaris. The three Toyota drivers, Takamoto, Elfyn and Oliver all had something to say about the changes made to the stage since recce earlier in the week. They were really angry.
There was some real drama on the following stage though, SS13 Sleeping Warrior 1. Elfyn’s suspension failed on the right-hand rear, and this was traced back to the double tyre failure in the previous stage having put huge pressure on the set-up. Seb set the pace in this one from Jon with Takamoto third fastest. There was drama for lots of crews, with windscreens covered in mud as they ran out of water to clean it. Esapekka was one of those who lost lots of time just making sure that he and Enni reached the end of the stage. Josh in his Puma also had trouble as his car took in some water into the engine. He and co-driver Eoin pushed the car away from the stop line time control, as the engine had cut out. They would get the engine running though and make the start line for the next stage.
After the service break came SS14 Soysambu 2 and Adrien was fastest from Takamoto and Esapekka. This was also the Hyundai team’s first stage win of the rally and with the demise of both Oliver and Seb from the front of the leaderboard Takamoto was now leading the rally from Adrien and Esapekka, whilst Sami was in fourth and only one and a half seconds behind his fellow Finn.
Onto what was meant to be the penultimate stage of the day then, SS15 Elmenteita 2 and Sami was fastest by almost five seconds from the new rally leader Takamoto whilst Adrien was third fastest. Sami’s pace took him into third overall from Esapekka who suffered a mud splatted windscreen making it really tricky to see the road.
The final stage was cancelled bringing the day to an early end.
Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day Two
1
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
2:41:00.2
2
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+1:25.5
3
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+5:29.1
4
E. Lappi
E. Mälkönen
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+6:18.5
5
R. Virves
J. Viilo
Skoda Fabia RS
+9:42.1
6
G. Greensmith
J. Andersson
Toyota GR Yaris
+10:37.4
7
F. Zaldivar
M. Der Ohannesian
Skoda Fabia RS
+10:43.8
8
A. Mikkelsen
J. Listerhud
Skoda Fabia RS
+11:24.4
9
D. Domínguez
R. Peñate
Toyota GR Yaris
+11:57.8
10
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+18:21.0
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Takamoto Katsuta
“Everybody knew that today would be very tough and that a lot of drama could happen. Of course, I would not have hoped for these difficulties to happen for our team-mates. Already in the morning I was just following my strategy of trying to stay away from problems, and in the afternoon I was really trying to manage the situation and avoid all the rocks. In a way it’s easier to be fighting for tenths of a second, and now it’s more about surviving which is not so enjoyable, but still the times have been quite OK. There’s still quite a long day ahead tomorrow and I will just stay focused and try my best to bring the car home.”
Sami Pajari
“I’m sure today has been an exciting day for the fans to follow, because you could never know what was going to happen next. We were not the only ones to face difficulties this morning, and I think we were lucky to get back to service with the damage we had. Thankfully the team could fix the car and the afternoon was quite positive for us, as we gained some positions and took another stage win. Tomorrow there will be drivers who retired today who have nothing to lose, but I will be very happy to have a clean day and reach the finish.”
Oliver Solberg
“The morning had started really well: we were trying to be clean but still have good speed. The feeling in the car was good and we were able to extend our lead. Unfortunately, after that muddy third stage we had an issue and had to stop on the road section. This team is known to be the strongest and most reliable and unfortunately this was just one of those days where we got an issue. It’s hard in the moment, when you’re leading the rally and the car stops on the road section trying to get back to service, but we will come back with a big push tomorrow.”
Sébastien Ogier
“We were having an eventful morning, but we managed to complete the last stage of the loop with a good time, coming back into second position. Unfortunately, it looks like some of the mud got into our alternator and although we tried everything we could on the road section, we ran out of battery before we could get back to service. This has been the most extreme Safari Rally we’ve seen in recent years: considering that our team has a reputation for having the strongest car, today has proven just how tough this year’s rally is. Tomorrow there will be quite a few of us fighting for Super Sunday and Power Stage points and we’ll see what we can do.”
Elfyn Evans
“This morning started pretty well for us and things were going fine in the second stage as well, but we unfortunately got caught out by the layout of the end, hit a rock and picked up a double puncture. It looks like there was some more damage caused by the impact because in the next stage when we came to the first braking point, something gave way at the rear, and unfortunately there was no chance to continue. After a long run of events without retirements, it’s a huge disappointment of course, but it’s one of those things and we have to move on. Tomorrow we’ll be looking to get back at it and try to fight for some points.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Adrien Fourmaux
“Today has been one of the toughest days of my career. We have to say thank you to the mechanics and the whole team who did a very good job at midday service to prepare the car for the afternoon, they did a fantastic job. Tomorrow we will try to push for the Super Sunday points, but we still need to secure the podium. Everybody had technical issues today, and we were struggling with the transmission because of the amount of mud we faced on the stages. Tomorrow will be tricky, but the Power Stage is flat out, so we’ll see what that is like if the rain comes.”
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya 11-15 March 2026 Photographer: Helena El Mokni Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Esapekka Lappi
“We have been trying to survive since SS1. The stages are more or less fine, but we are really busy working on the car on the road sections, trying to keep it moving on to the next stage. We have had overheating issues almost every stage; the mud is coming into the radiator and blocking it, so that’s one area that we had to focus on. We had so much mud on Sleeping Warrior that it went in the clutch as well. We need some food and a good night’s sleep before we go again tomorrow.”
Thierry Neuville
“We had multiple problems throughout SS14 that led to our retirement. First of all, we had a harsh impact on the front left in the first section and I felt that something wasn’t 100% right on the car, but we carried on. A couple of kilometres later we got a double puncture, so we immediately stopped to change the tyres, and then four to five kilometres later the driveshaft snapped, and we knew we were finished. There’s still one more day to go, and we just need to try to get through. It will be difficult, but we will see what we can bring home tomorrow.”
Sunday
The final day will hopefully see all the stages run and no cancellations. There are 57 kilometres over four stages. Sadly, Josh and Eoin won’t be returning to the action as the damage to the engine in their Puma from the water taken in is too bad.
Piastri set the early benchmark from Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Norris in the top 5. Russell and Antonelli waited until the clock ticked down a bit before getting their laps in. Hamilton, Verstappen and Hadjar started on the mediums before Hamilton had a spin. Russell and Antonelli then set the times up at the top for a 1-2. Alonso went P17 as the clock ticked to 7 minutes 30 seconds remaining. Hamilton manages P3 as both Williams, Aston and Cadillac were the bottom 3 in the dropzone as 6 minutes remained. Lindblad then had to box as they had an issue. As drivers like Hamilton, Norris and Gasly crossed the line, no one could dethrone the silver arrows until Leclerc went ahead by about 1 second.
Lindblad managed to get out onto the track with around 3 minutes remaining as the final laps came in with Albon moving up to P16, Hadjar up to P7, Verstappen P4, Sainz P14, Lindblad P11, Stroll and Alonso remain P21 and P19 respectfullt, Bortoleto up to P7 and Bottas remains P20.
Out in Q1: Sainz Albon Alonso Bottas Stroll Perez
Q2
Q2 got underway and Bortoleto and Hadjar were marked as “No Further Investigation” for an impeding incident. Russell set the earl;y pace ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc, Antonelli with Verstappen, Norris, Hadjar all qualifying P5 and dethroning each other. Bearman manages to go P6 with Bortoleto only managing P6. Gasly manages P8, Colapinto P13, Lindblad then ahead of Bortoleto before the two Alpine times with Lawson P14.
In the final laps of Q2, Piastri had the most amount of pressure and went out to get clean air earlier than most drivers to manage P5 before Leclerc manages to go P1. Norris then managed to get P5. Hulkkenberg missed out on Q3 by 0.002s as Antonelli managed P1. Hadjar only managged P10 with Verstappen to P6. Bortoleto then spun at the final corner and ruined laps for many drivers as Colapinto wasn’t able to get through. Out in Q2: Hulkenberg Colapinto Ocon Lawson Lindblad Bortoleto
Q3
Q3 saw Russell’s car get a new rose but then his car stopped on track and then get going but being unablce to change gears. Antonelli manages a 1:32.332 with Leclerc manages P2, Hamilton P3 and Bearman P4. Norris and Piastri manage P3 and P4 respectfully with Hadjar P7 before he goes P6.
Drivers headed out to qualifying with just over 3 minutes 30 seconds remaining that Russell was ale to make it out of the pitlane. Purple sectors were being traded between Antonelli and Norris and Leclerc. Antonelli was the first to cross the line and extend his gap ahead as Norris remained P3, Leclerc P2, then Hamilton P2, Gasly P6, Bearman P7, Hadjar managed P7 then Verstappen P7. Russell managed to get a lap in for P2 so Andrea Kimi Antonelli managed to become the youngest pole sitter in F1 history!
The first full day of this rally would see the crews tackle 137 kilometres over eight stages. There had already been two stages on Thursday afternoon with really tricky conditions in the first one and Oliver led from Elfyn by over thirty seconds with Seb a further thirty seconds back in third overall. Thierry was the best of the three Hyundai crews holding sixth overall, whilst Jon was seventh for M-Sport.
Onto Saturday then and unfortunately the first stage was cancelled, SS3 Camp Moran 2. This was the stage hit by huge rain and puddles on Thursday afternoon.
The first action then was in SS4 Loldia 1 and Seb set the pace from his teammate Sami, whilst Adrien was third. Oliver who was leading the rally was eighth fastest whilst his closest challenger for the lead, Elfyn, was sixth. The Frenchman reduced the gap to the front in this stage.
Next up then came SS5 Kengen Geothermal 1 and Sami set the pace from Seb and Elfyn in this one. Once again Oliver was near the bottom end of the top ten with the ninth best time and thirteen seconds off the pace. His two teammates had reduced the gap as well with Elfyn less than thirty seconds away and Seb now under forty seconds. It was an impressive stage win for the Finn as he suffered a puncture as well.
Sami also won SS6 Kedong 1, the stage with the jump near the tree, from Takamoto and Thierry was third fastest. Interestingly, Oliver beat both Seb and Elfyn in this stage going sixth fastest with Seb eighth and Elfyn tenth. There was no big-time gaps between the three of them meaning the gaps remained pretty much as they were at the end of Kengen.
After service the crews returned to SS7 Kedong 2 and Seb was fastest this time from Sami and Esapekka. There was a little bit of movement on the overall leaderboard as Seb passed Elfyn for second overall and despite a twenty second penalty Sami moved ahead of Takamoto. The Japanese driver sadly suffered double punctures on his front tyres, losing thirty-two seconds and falling to fifth overall. At least he had two spares on-board to be able to change before the next stage. It was a good drive from Jon in this one who set the sixth best time, just four tenths of a second behind former M-Sport driver Adrien.
Then it was back to SS8 Kengen Geothermal 2 and once again Sami showed that he had this one figured out going fastest again from Seb and Thierry. With no spare tyres, Takamoto just took it easy going sixth fastest. There was some time loss for the rally leader though as Oliver had a puncture on the right-hand rear corner which then saw his lead reduced to just one second over Seb with Elfyn now just a further 4.7 seconds back. Also getting a puncture was Jon in his Puma and he fell one position overall to ninth as Esapekka moved into eighth.
Seb ended Sami’s run of fastest times, winning SS9 Loldia 2 from Adrien and Oliver who set the identical time of fourteen minutes, fourteen seconds and four tenths. Seb’s pace took him a little closer to his Swedish teammate, with just seven tenths of a second between them! There was some movement further down the leaderboard as both Thierry and Adrien passed Takamoto for sixth and seventh overall. There was more drama for Jon though who stopped in the stage for over twenty minutes. The reason was that he’d lost the rear and clipped something at the edge of the road and broke the driveshaft and a part of the suspension. He and co-driver Shane got it changed, but this left the Puma with front-wheel drive. They did make it through to the end which was important.
Onto the final stage then, SS10 Mzabibu 2 and Sami was once again setting the pace from Oliver and Seb. Oliver opened the gap to his world champion teammates to one second whilst Elfyn who remained in third overall saw the gap grow to just under twenty seconds.
Let’s take a look at the top ten positions and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day One
1
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
1:33:50.2
2
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1.0
3
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+20.5
4
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:10.5
5
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+1:46.1
6
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+1:47.3
7
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:53.3
8
E. Lappi
E. Mälkönen
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+2:53.2
9
R. Virves
J. Viilo
Skoda Fabia RS
+6:53.6
10
G. Greensmith
J. Andersson
Toyota GR Yaris
+7:08.1
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Oliver Solberg
“Today the goal was to try to be clean and keep a similar pace to Elfyn. This afternoon was so rocky, and for my first time in the car in these conditions it isn’t easy. We probably lost half our lead from being careful, and half the lead from the tyre damage in SS8. That was unfortunate but a lead is a lead and I have to be happy with that. Seb has been incredible today, probably taking more risks, but there’s such a long way to go and to be one second in front is better than two minutes behind.”
Sébastien Ogier
“I think I can be very happy with today, starting with a deficit of more than a minute and being only one second from the lead tonight. Of course, we always believed that we could come back after last night, but it felt like a long shot even here in Kenya. Now it’s all very open, so let’s see. I think we are all expecting that tomorrow is the biggest day of the rally with three very demanding stages, so many things can still happen, but we’ll try to keep the same approach and a strong rhythm.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s been a bit of a mixed day for us. We gave away a bit of time at moments, some of it a bit unnecessarily, but that’s also the nature of this rally. We damaged a wheel in the first run through Kedong and dropped a bit of time with that. It’s been going OK but I wouldn’t say I’m happy. The stages that are coming tomorrow are prone to a lot of rain, especially in the afternoon, and conditions could be difficult already in the first pass. We’ll just keep trying to do the best we can.”
Sami Pajari
“It’s been a nice day for us. The conditions were relatively straightforward, and I just tried to choose the sections where I could push. I still felt that in the most tricky and rough places I was trying to back off. Still, we could set the fastest time in four of the stages and be very close in the others, and that was really nice to see. It’s not like we were just flat-out everywhere because that will end very quickly: you need to be clever too. That will be important too on tomorrow’s stages, where we’ve seen a lot of rain and drama before.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“This morning I was driving quite steady and not really pushing, but still the times were not too bad and the feeling in the car was good. Unfortunately, in the first stage of the afternoon we got the double puncture. That was really not ideal, and I just tried to survive the afternoon with so many rough sections knowing that we didn’t have any spare tyres. We’ve lost a few positions but a minute on this rally is almost nothing and we know that tomorrow anything can happen. Hopefully there will be some drama and I’m ready if it rains.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“It has been an eventful day here in Kenya. I didn’t have the best start this morning, but when we got into a rhythm we felt more comfortable, especially this afternoon after we made some changes. The roads are more rutted, but I just couldn’t drive the car faster. We had a few troubles this afternoon with a stone causing our fan to break and our radiator to overheat. Tomorrow, we’re expecting the worst, although we’re not quite sure what that will be – so we need to focus on getting through, keeping a rhythm, accept the weather isn’t in our favour and do everything we can to stay out of trouble.”
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya 11-15 March 2026 Photographer: Helena El Mokni Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Adrien Fourmaux
“I was really enjoying today – we had the pace, and we were able to do some very good times, so overall I am pleased. We were missing out on the fastest time by a few tenths each stage, but at least we were there and able to close the gap to those ahead of us. That is a positive, and let’s see what we can do tomorrow. We know many things can happen, so we just need to make sure we are performing well in the rain.”
Esapekka Lappi
“This morning it became clear that the settings I have on the car, which I chose myself, are not right, but there isn’t much we can do about the situation. Instead, we focused on what we can control, and were able to make it a bit better. Today we took a similar approach to yesterday – just try to survive until the finish.”
Saturday
The second full day of both morning and afternoon stages sees the crews tackle just under 123 kilometres over six stages, with the longest stage of the rally Soysambu as well at twenty-four kilometres run twice. There is also the possibility of rain arriving in the afternoon as well.
Who will be holding the top positions at the end of the day?
This article is the latest in a series looking back at the Super Touring era of the BTCC.
The Super Touring era was in full swing, and manufacturers from around the globe were staring to take notice. There were already representatives from the UK, France, Germany and Japan, but a certain Italian marque would make their mark in 1994; and in controversial fashion too.
Alfa Romeo entered the fray with their 155, bringing along Formula One driver Gabriele Tarquini with them. Volvo also joined the growing list of factory backed teams with their some would say kooky, this author would say excellent, 850 estate. Other drivers were in a sense of disbelief seeing the boxy entry on media day but the car is now a modern cult icon.
Alfa, and in particular Tarquini, hit the ground running. He won the first five races at a canter, with the likes of Paul Radisich and John Cleland chasing him down. But all was not what it seemed…
Their advantage was attributed to the aerodynamic wing package, a myth since debunked by Tarquini himself, who states the engineering in the car was what made it better than the rest.
The ToCA rules stated teams had to build their cars based off their road-going counterparts. So many of these had to be produced in order for the car to be legal to race. Alfa exploited this rule by creating a ‘homologation special’ of the 155 – named the Silverstone (I would’ve thought an Italian team would choose the Monza but there we go…). This was purely to receive the aero advantage, much to the chagrin of other teams on the grid.
Many teams complained, rumour has it Ford’s Andy Rouse actually bought a 155 Silverstone, just to see how it was engineered. At Oulton Park, Alfa famously withdrew from the meeting in protest, having been told to run without the aero package on their car. For the next round at Donington, Alfa returned with the wings lowered. While not as fast, Tarquini was consistent enough to maintain his gap at the top of the leaderboard, with wins at Brands Hatch and Silverstone and a bunch of second placed finishes sealing the title.
For 1995, the competition was only getting stronger, with Formula One teams now getting involved. Renault were being backed by Williams, and Volvo by Tom Walkinshaw of Benetton and Arrows fame. With reigning champion Tarquini departing (though he would return midway through the season), Alfa signed up ex-F1 racer Derek Warwick. Aero was now also legal to avoid any issues like the season before.
At Vauxhall, John Cleland was so confident after pre-season testing, he told his team: ‘Clean it, put it back in the truck, and bring it to Donington, don’t change a thing.’ Confidence? The charismatic Scot had the ability to back it up too. The ageing Cavalier had one last dance before the Vectra would be introduced for 1996 – and it saved the best for last.
He didn’t have it all his own way though, Rickard Rydell, now in the Volvo 850 saloon, and Alain Menu in the Williams Renault Laguna were at times faster and staked their own claims to the title.
Menu was arguably the fastest over the course of the season, but the 1994 runner up suffered with teething problems between Williams and his Laguna. If he wasn’t winning he was out of the points. He took seven wins to Cleland’s six, including three of the last five races to help Renault to the manufacturers crown. Will Hoy, Menu’s Renault teammate, won the other two.
Rydell started the season strongly but a poor end to the season stunted his title hopes. He took just 13 points from the last six races of the season with a high speed spin into retirement at Snetterton being the nail in the coffin for the charismatic Swede.
Cleland was consistent and smooth in his Cavalier, giving the car the perfect swansong. A streak of seven podiums, including four wins, in mid-season helped his title bid. From 25 rounds, Cleland scored 18 podiums, and taking his second title in the process.
This one will have meant more to John, as his 1989 title always comes with the caveat of being won under the old class rules system where he was fastest in his class and secured the most points, but he rarely took the chequered flag. 1995 was different, he was the class of the field and earned it the right way.
For the majority of the season it was a three horse race, and with no less than eight different winners, 1995 was one of the closest seasons in a long time and a marker of things to come.
