Ash Sutton stormed to this third win of the season in round 11 at Thruxton. He was unchallenged and comfortably secured victory, with title rival Tom Ingram second and Josh Cook securing another third place finish.
Sutton, the only multiple winner so far this season, got the best possible start off the line, surging from fourth to first by the end of the first corner. He scythed between Cook and Dan Cammish in front, before diving down the inside of Ingram at turn one. He built a lead of near two seconds and never surrendered it.
Ingram was largely unchallenged behind from Cook, with the title in mind, the Hyundai man held off Cook’s Honda for second.
Further down the field there were some scrappy moments. Jake Hill was in the wars, making contact with Adam Morgan into the final chicane – pitching the latter into a half spin. Hill then also battled Dan Rowbottom throughout as well as Cammish, with both Ford drivers finishing ahead of Hill’s WSR BMW.
Sutton, Ingram and Cook took the top three spots, but Cook was disqualified after the race for failing the ride height check in parc ferme, with everyone moving up a place.
Rowbottom took third, with Cammish and Hill battling for fourth. Senna Proctor’s fine return to the championship continued with a seventh place finish on the road, promoted to sixth, from ninth on the grid in his Hyundai. He was initially rewarded with reverse grid pole for race three but Cook’s exclusion means that now goes to James Dorlin.
James Dorlin had another fine race as the Toyota Gazoo Racing team are still getting to grips with the Corolla this season, he took seventh. Chris Smiley, Daryl DeLeon and Dan Lloyd rounded off the top ten.
Charles Rainford was next, ahead of Adam Morgan, who had finished eighth on the road but a track limits penalty sent him down to 13th before being promoted back to 12th.
The final points places were taken by Aiden Moffat, Ronan Pearson and Dexter Patterson.
Tom Ingram became the ninth different race winner from ten rounds as he cruised to victory in race one at Thruxton.
The Hyundai driver gained the lead from Ash Sutton and sailed into the distance for his 34th BTCC win. Dan Cammish secured second, but the story of race one was Josh Cook taking third in his ONE Motorsport Honda.
Having crashed heavily in qualifying, resulting in a trip to A&E for Cook, and a late night for the mechanics, Cook started 14th and surged to third. A fine reward for the team, and a good haul of points for the man who’s previously been dubbed the ‘King of Thruxton.’
The start was a hectic affair, with both Charles Rainford and Tom Chilton being pitched into spins. Further into the lap Max Hall got wide on the grass, pitching his Cupra into a spin. He collected NAPA’s Sam Osborne with both ending in the wall and the safety car deployed.
On the restart on lap eight, Cammish lunged past Mikey Doble for third at the Complex. Meanwhile coming into the final chicane, Ingram was battling Sutton for the lead. Ingram broke last on the outside, with Sutton on the edge of control. He understeered into Ingram with both going wide and cutting the chicane. Ingram was through, and never lost the lead.
Further down the order Senna Proctor, returning to the sport after a three year absence, was battling with Cook, Jake Hill and Gordon Shedden. The latter ran wide and lost the back end, spinning and collecting a large amount of turf in his radiator. He ended the race in 18th.
The later stages of the race saw Ingram unchallenged. Sutton reported a loss of power as he was lacking top speed. If there’s one thing you need around the fastest circuit in the UK, is top speed. Cook seized the opportunity and passed the beleaguered Ford driver for third place.
Ingram took the win, boosting his title chances. Cammish was second with Cook third. Sutton brought his stricken Focus home in fourth with teammate Dan Rowbottom fifth.
Jake Hill was sixth with James Dorlin securing his best finish of the season for Toyota in seventh and Adam Morgan eighth. Proctor was ninth in his return with Tom Chilton coming home tenth on the road, but a ten second penalty was applied for frequent track limits infringements.
Daryl DeLeon inherited tenth with Chris Smiley and Aron Taylor-Smith securing decent points. Dan Lloyd and Aiden Moffat coming home ahead of Chilton, who dropped to 15th.
Onto Saturday’s 121km’s over six stages then and we had a number of returning crews following incident’s from Friday’s stages. Two of the M-Sport crews returned with both Greg and Josh returning as well as Thierry for Hyundai. The M-Sport duo would open the road, with Josh heading first into the stages throughout the day.
First up was SS7 Coiluna – Loelle 1 – 21.18 km and Seb was fastest from Kalle and Ott. The gap between Seb and Adrien who held second overall grew to 7.4 seconds. Meanwhile Kalle’s pace took him ahead of his teammate Sami and into fourth place.
Into SS8 Lerno – Su Filigosu 1 – 24.34 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Kalle. Adrien fell from the podium positions after getting a puncture which he and co-driver Alex changed at around 5km’s into the stage. The result of this was he emerged from the stage in seventh position.
The final morning stage then, SS9 Tula – Erula 1 – 15.28 km before service saw Seb again set the pace from Kalle and Ott. Adrien had more problems on this stage going off road and losing two more positions.
After the service break SS10 Coiluna – Loelle 2 – 21.18 km was next and Ott was fastest from Seb and Kalle. Adrien found some luck and pace to go fourth fastest and climbed two positions back into seventh. However, at Toyota, Takamoto fell to tenth position after suffering a puncture.
There was more drama in SS11 Lerno – Su Filigosu 2 – 24.34 km with both Elfyn and Sami getting punctures in the stage. They both stopped in the stage to change the tyre. Of course, they were in fourth and fifth coming into the stage and Elfyn ended up passing his younger teammate as he and Scott were able to change the tyre quicker. Ott was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Adrien luck ran out again as he rolled his car at 1.9km’s into the stage. He was out again sadly.
The final stage then of the day, SS12 Tula – Erula 2 – 15.28 km which had really rutted up and become very rough with rocks over the stages. Seb was fastest from Ott and Kalle and the gap between the top two was just 11.1 seconds.
Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day Two
1
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
2:32:38.9
2
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+11.1
3
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+55.5
4
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+4:33.3
5
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+4:56.3
6
N. Gryazin
K. Aleksandrov
Škoda Fabia RS
+5:59.6
7
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+6:11.4
8
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Toyota GR Yaris
+6:19.5
9
E. Lindholm
R. Hämäläinen
Škoda Fabia RS
+6:36.6
10
L. Joona
S. Vaarleri
Škoda Fabia RS
+7:48.1
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“I’m happy with how we managed today. It was a long and demanding day with rougher sections than yesterday, especially this afternoon. The lead is not a huge one, but we will certainly take it. It’s always nice to fight with Ott and we know that he always pushes hard, so we will have to be at our maximum tomorrow if we want to win. It’s a long final day with new and difficult stages and we need to prepare as well as we can because it’s going to be intense. Everyone will be pushing hard for points so I’m sure it will be interesting to watch.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“Today we continued with the better feeling that we had in the car yesterday afternoon, and that together with the better starting position was making a big difference on the first pass. The morning was surprisingly rough already, so we were expecting the afternoon to be tough, and it definitely was. There were quite a few surprises, so I’m happy to finish the day without any issues. Tomorrow won’t be easy at all with the new stages, and it could be quite rough again, but let’s see what we can do.”
Elfyn Evans
“Conditions were tough today like always here in Sardinia. We were just trying to drive at a good pace and with a good feeling in the car and trying to stay out of trouble. The puncture this afternoon was not ideal – it was an exposed rocky place that I tried to avoid, but in doing so I perhaps made it worse for myself – but with Sami losing more time than us we were able to gain a place. Fourth is not a bad position but attention turns to trying to score some extra points tomorrow. It won’t be easy with the strong pace of the guys ahead, but we’ll give it a go.”
Sami Pajari
“This morning I was expecting a big push from Kalle and from the top three. The feeling for me wasn’t too bad, but I was probably a bit on the safe side and could have been quicker. Still this afternoon we were having quite a nice flow until we got the puncture. At first I tried to continue carefully, but then it started making a lot of noise and we stopped to change it and not damage the car. In the end, it wasn’t so bad, we just swapped places with Elfyn. Then I was careful on the last stage, but I hope to find a good flow again tomorrow.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“Today I was focused on getting a good feeling in the car and trying some different things with the setup. Unfortunately, we had to stop and change a tyre in the first stage of the afternoon, but after that the pace was pretty good and I felt quite confident with the car. I didn’t expect that I could set those kind of times from my starting position. Tomorrow’s stages are a bit different to today’s, so I will need to find the right compromise in the setup and my driving.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Ott Tänak
“Today has been all about managing the tyre wear but also the risk of punctures. The roads have been very punishing with a lot of loose stones and bedrock, as well as many surprises, so it has been quite the challenge today. We were trying to keep a good rhythm, as well as a good gap to Kalle behind us. Now our aim is to continue that tomorrow, although the nature of rallying means it is very difficult to forecast what will happen next. Tomorrow is a very different day, and we don’t expect it to be easy, but we will give it our best.”
2025 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally de Portugal 5-9 June 2025 Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville
“It was hot and exhausting out there, but it was a clean run through the stages for us. We tried some new settings to see if we could find something interesting for tomorrow, as we have everything to play for. Obviously, our new road position will help after we managed to catch Jourdan Serderidis, but we didn’t expect our team-mates to crash out and to gain a place as a result. It’s going to be tough with two brand-new stages and a lot of cleaning expected, but anything is still possible. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“On approach to a corner that was tightening, I confused two trees and missed the braking point, which was enough to go wide and cause the car to roll. I think the car can be repaired, but we won’t know until we have a proper inspection. It was a shame to end the day like this, as I already knew Elfyn had a puncture on the stage, so decided to go with higher tyre pressures to avoid one myself, but I should have also avoided missing the braking point.”
Oliver Solberg
“It’s been a fantastic day. We’ve been able to find a nice rhythm and show some good speed. It’s always such a fine line on this rally between setting fast times and making the finish. You have to be quick, but not too quick. I think we’ve been nice and consistent today.
“I’m here to take more experience and that’s what I’m doing – the feeling is nice from the car and hopefully we can bring everything home tomorrow. Winning all of the stages except for the first one is good for Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and me. We missed [winning] the first one this morning when we had a little bit of a handbrake problem caused by a sensor.
“We had to make some nice Scandinavian flicks to get through some of the hairpins – that was a lot of fun. We reset the sensor after that stage, and it was fine for the rest of the day.
“Tomorrow is still quite an intense day, with a lot of kilometres still to come and some really tricky sections in the two stages.”
Sunday
The final day will see the crews tackle four stages. However, with two of them being 25km’s in length the total stage distance is almost 78km’s. There will not be any cruising around out there, particularly with just a little over ten seconds between the top two. What can Thierry do as well to score some points?
The first full day of this season’s round on the island paradise and there was loads of drama in the stages. Of course, compared to last year there were 50km’s extra with an extra two stages giving a total distance of 120km’s.
As mentioned in my preview as they are championship leaders Elfyn and Scott would open the road, whilst their teammates at Toyota due to their current championship position would potentially have a road advantage due to the top surface being swept clean by the number 33 Toyota.
Also eyeing up an advantage would be the Hyundai team and their three crews given their present position in the championship. The team have not yet taken a victory this year but have been knocking on the door with Ott and Martin.
Into the first stage then, SS1 Arzachena 1 – 13.97 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Sami. Elfyn and Scott who opened the road managed eighth, 10 or so seconds slower than Seb, but it was a surprise to see Kalle slower as well. He and Jonne were a further two positions back in eleventh place. Josh and Eoin were the top placed M-Sport crew, holding sixth place.
Next up then was SS2 Telti – Calangianus – Berchidda 1 – 18.43 km and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Adrien, a Hyundai, 1-2-3. This led to some significant position changes with Thierry moving into the lead from new second placed Ott who’d gained three positions, whilst Sami remained in third. Seb fell four positions down to fifth overall, whilst teammate Elfyn claimed seventh. There was huge drama for M-Sport though. First Greg took a chunk out of his rear suspension after clipping something at the side of the stage. They finished the stage and would look to carry out repairs. It was worse though for both their teammate. First Josh lost a wheel at around halfway through the stage and would retire. Then Martins hit a fence after a jump and the car rolled a number of times. Both crews were fine, but the loss for the team was huge. Unfortunately, Greg would ultimately have to retire for the day as they could not repair the damage caused.
Onto SS3 Sa Conchedda 1 – 27.95 km which was the longest stage of the day and a much more flowing stage with open corners as opposed to the narrow stage two and this time Adrien was fastest from Takamoto and Seb. The two Frenchman were on the move with Adrien gaining two places and taking the lead and Seb moving into third. Also gaining a position was Kalle as he found some pace and moved into seventh pushing Elfyn down one place.
After the service break came SS4 Arzachena 2 – 13.97 km and Ott set the pace in this one from Thierry and Seb and this meant more changes in the leaderboard. Thierry moved back into the lead, Adrien who was only sixth fastest in the stage fell to second overall and Ott moved back into third overall.
Onto the penultimate stage then, SS5 Telti – Calangianus – Berchidda 2 – 18.43 km and Kalle was fastest this time from Ott and Seb. There was drama further back though with Thierry clipping something at the side of the stage and having to retire after losing a wheel. Also having drama was Takamoto and Jourdan who both rolled in the stage at the same place. The fans got them back on four wheels with damaged windscreens and bodywork, but they both finished the stage. The new leader by the way was Adrien who held a 1.2 second lead over Ott with Seb now into third.
Time then for the final stage, SS6 Sa Conchedda 2 – 27.95 km and Seb was fastest from Kalle and Adrien. The multiple champions retook the lead from Adrien whilst Ott was now in third overall. It had been a very good day for Sami who was best of the rest in fourth and within 10 seconds of the podium positions.
Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day One
1
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
1:10:33.1
2
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+2.1
3
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+7.3
4
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+16.8
5
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+22.8
6
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:09.8
7
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+2:27.9
8
N. Gryazin
K. Aleksandrov
Škoda Fabia RS
+2:33.3
9
E. Lindholm
R. Hämäläinen
Škoda Fabia RS
+2:41.2
10
Y. Rossel
A. Dunand
Citroën C3
+2:57.5
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“To be in the lead after Friday was not what we were expecting, so we must be very pleased with our day. We made some changes to the setup based on our experience in Portugal and I’m feeling happier with the balance of the car here so far. We had a strong, consistent day and I believe it was our good tyre management that allowed us to take the lead in the last stage of the day. Still, the gaps are very close to Adrien and Ott, so we will need to keep pushing just as hard tomorrow as we did today.”
Sami Pajari
“It has been a really good day for us. I think we have been quite consistently on a solid pace. We maybe had some advantage from the road position compared to some, but I don’t think this was the only reason we could be quick. I don’t feel like I’m pushing more than on previous rallies, rather that the pace is just coming more and more naturally as we get used to the car. I’m sure the top three will be pushing very hard tomorrow and I’ll just be happy if we can keep up the pace we’ve had today.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“Overall, it has not been too bad a day for us. We expected this morning to be difficult running second on the road and I struggled to get comfortable with the car. But based on this we could make quite a few small changes around the car in service, and we found a better feeling, and the afternoon was definitely better. Still, I think there was some cleaning for us on the second pass, so I’m really happy to have set such good times. With this better feeling in the car and a better starting place, I hope we can keep up a good pace tomorrow.”
Elfyn Evans
“As we expected it was a challenge to open the road today with quite a big cleaning effect. The feeling in the car this morning was actually not too bad with some improvement from Portugal, but the road was evolving a lot behind us and other drivers could take big chunks of time, especially in the last stage of the loop. In the afternoon there was still some cleaning effect for us, but when the road was hard and rocky I was also struggling more with the feeling, so that’s still something to work on overnight. A better road position will definitely help and we’ll go again tomorrow.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“At first this morning I struggled with the feeling, but we made some changes to the setup between stages, and it was getting better and better. Unfortunately, in the second stage this afternoon, in a very tight corner, we turned in quicker than I had expected and hit the rock on the inside and rolled. I’m very disappointed but at least we could reach service. We will try to reset tomorrow; it won’t be an easy day, but I will just keep focused and do my best. We have seen how a small mistake can catch people out on this rally, so let’s see what happens.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Adrien Fourmaux
“I’m quite happy with how my day went, fighting for the lead and finishing just two seconds behind Ogier. Of course, I would prefer to have been ahead of him, but I enjoyed the fight out there. Unfortunately, I changed a few things on the car for the final stage and went too stiff, so I was losing time everywhere. I’ve learned a lot today; it’s been a different experience being in the lead and now I know what to do tomorrow. It’s very small margins, and anything can happen – to get a good result here, first you need to finish.”
2025 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally Italia Sardegna 5 – 8 June 2025 Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak
“It was a tricky morning, but on the first stage of the afternoon I felt the car was working well thanks to more grip and the hard tyre. However, I started to struggle again on the middle stage, and we later discovered we had a damper issue. We just had to get through the final stage, which wasn’t easier with it being both fast and rough at the same time – very punishing for the car. We made some improvements for the second loop, so let’s see how we do on fresh roads tomorrow.”
Thierry Neuville
“It’s disappointing to end our day in retirement – our first since Sardinia last year, so a shame to end our positive run of results. I lost the front of the car on the entry to a corner at high speed, and we went maybe 15cm wide and hit something with the rear, ripping our tyre off too. Unfortunately, that was the end of our running. It was a bit of a surprise as I was close to flat out this morning and similar this afternoon, but unfortunately it didn’t end well for us today.”
Oliver Solberg
“What a day! We knew that Sardinia could be tough and today really showed that. The day ends is a very positive way for Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and me with fastest [Rally2] time on the last two stages.
“The car was working really nicely; we could follow the line and really commit the car in those two. The second pass of stages here is always tricky, with so many rocks being pulled out into the line – but our Toyota ran really well all day.
“We’re not quite at the front, but I think when you see how tough today has been we can still be in the fight to finish the top Rally2 car.
“We had a small communication issue on the second stage, we kissed a wall and dropped some time. Apart from this, it’s been a good day. Thanks for the whole Printsport team, who have done another great job for Elliott and I today.
“Tomorrow’s going to be another long and tough one, but we’re ready for the challenge!”
Saturday
The second day will see the crews tackle 121.6km’s over six stages. Can Seb hold onto the lead, or will we see either of the Hyundai crews move past him?
What can Elfyn do with his better road position as well and could he close the gap to the top four?
Time then for the sixth round of this year’s championship and the second in a row on gravel. This round is famous for the dust that is thrown into the air by each passing car, as well as some really rough roads, with large rocks being pulled out and giving the second run of the stages additional risk for the tyres and suspension components.
Interestingly, this season’s round has the same number of stages as last year with sixteen stage, but a longer distance with 320km’s up from 266km’s. The day which has changed a lot is in fact Friday which has changed from four stages and 77km’s to six stages and 120km’s.
Elfyn and Scott will again open the road throughout Friday’s stages and will hope for a better result than last time out in Portugal, but this will depend on the position in which they hold at the end of the first day.
Those with a good stating position will be eyeing up a good result and perhaps victory. In that group will be Ott and Martin who took victory last year and after the pace they had in Portugal the Estonian crew will likely want to repeat this victory this year.
Let’s take a look at the stages and hear from the drivers.
Weekend at a Glance
Cars take to the stages for the first time with the Olbia Cabu Abbas Shakedown (2.19km) on Thursday afternoon.
Friday’s itinerary features six stages: Arzachena (SS1/4, 13.97km), Telti-Calangianus-Berchidda (SS2/5, 18.43km) and Sa Conchedda (SS3/6, 27.95km)
Saturday’s six stages are set to cover 121.60km: Coiluna-Loelle (SS7/10, 21.18km), Lerno-Su Filigosu (SS8/11, 24.34km) and Tula-Erula (SS9/12, 15.28km)
Competition concludes on Sunday with four stages: San Giacomo-Plebi (SS13/15, 25.19km) and Porto San Paolo (SS14/16, 13.70km).
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Elfyn Evans
“After a bit of a frustrating rally in Portugal we certainly want to be stronger in Sardinia. It’s a similar rally in some ways and maybe a bit more demanding in others. We will also have the challenge again of running first on the road on Friday, although the more typical schedule should hopefully help in that respect. We’re still looking for some more performance on this type of rally, and with the limited testing available it’s not easy to find an immediate solution, but we’re going to give it our best like always and try to come away with as many points as we can.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“Sardinia has always been quite a tricky rally and we know every time we go there that we face a big challenge. The result in Portugal was not so bad considering our start position, but we know that we need to keep working to get the feeling and the pace where we want it to be if we are going to have a good rally in Sardinia. Like always, everybody starts each rally from zero and we will try to do our best to come away with good points again.”
Sébastien Ogier
“Our victory in Portugal is good motivation to keep working hard with the team in this busy period of rallies because we know that we can still improve. Sardinia has always been a difficult challenge, one that it took me some years to master. This year it can be even tougher for our team because we have the top three drivers in the championship, and we will have the biggest job to sweep the road for our rivals on Friday. But I have good memories from our win in 2021 from first on the road and we know well that it’s a rally where anything can happen.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“Sardinia is going to be another difficult and demanding rally. We learnt a lot of things about the tyres in Portugal and we need to take that knowledge and adapt it for Sardinia, where the gravel surface is a bit different. In general, it’s going to very important to prepare well and decide upon the right setup, but I know that the team is working very hard on that, and we will do our best to have a good rally.”
Sami Pajari
“For the first time with the Rally1 car I’m going to a rally that has similarities in style to the previous one, so there is more that we can learn and carry from one event to the next. In Portugal we had a nice clean weekend with some consistent speed, and so I’m feeling much more prepared for Sardinia. This was a good rally for me last year, when I won in WRC2, and we should have a nice starting position for Friday so let’s see what we can do.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Rally Italia Sardegna is an event we’ve always been competitive at. The roads play to our strengths, particularly on the second pass, so we’re really looking forward to it. We learned some things about how the car behaves on this surface in Portugal, so we’ll be taking that knowledge with us to testing. We need to be consistently fast, and there’s no room for mistakes, so we will be pushing across every stage. I want to be fighting for the win, so I need to finish ahead of my main championship rivals.”
Ott Tänak
“Sardegna is another super punishing event. At first, it can look smooth and sandy, but roads normally develop quickly. We can suddenly find solid rocks sticking out from the ground, which will make life hard for both the car and tyres. This year we will have many new stages, but we know these are often quite low grip, which makes driving very challenging on these narrow roads. We know our car is not easy to find good setup for different surfaces, but in the past we have done well in Sardegna. Hopefully, we have done our homework, and we are going to be on the pace from the start!”
2025 FIA World Rally Championship Round 6, Rally Italia Sardegna, 6-8 June 2025 Photographer: Vincent Thuillier Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Adrien Fourmaux
“We had really good pace on Friday morning in Portugal, but we all know that Rally Italia Sardegna can be a bit different. We got an understanding of how well the tyres are working in the dry conditions; we can push hard, and tyre wear is not so bad. The surface in Sardinia is a bit sandier, and there are some super narrow passes. It’s challenging because you want to commit fully, but there’s not much margin for error. We need to have a clean rally and score some good points for the team – this is crucial for our fight at the moment.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Grégoire Munster
“Sardinia is another long-standing event on the WRC calendar, and it’s also where we scored our first top-five result last year, so we’re hoping for a good feeling again! It’s a well-known event, but really quite different to Portugal. The stages can be a lot rougher, and their characteristics vary a lot – sandy, rocky, narrow, and technical.
“There are also a couple of new stages, which will make it interesting for everyone, especially the M-Sport crews as we’re a bit less experienced. We’ve done some good testing and gained some real positives, so hopefully we can see that benefit on the event. And hopefully it stays sunny and dry!”
Josh McErlean
“Rally Sardinia is one of the toughest events on the European calendar – rough, technical, and relentless. But you have to learn to love this rally. It’s a real test for both car and crew, and that’s exactly what makes it so rewarding. We had a positive run in Portugal, and the goal is to carry that rhythm into this weekend.”
Mārtiņš Sesks
“After quite an eventful rally in Portugal, I think we’re looking for a trouble-free week to regain some consistency. That’s the goal for Sardinia, because – just like Portugal – it will be our first time there in four-wheel-drive machinery. There will be lots of learning again, and nothing will be easy, but let’s see what it brings!”
Jourdan Serderidis
“Happy to be back in the WRC after our top result in Kenya! We come to Olbia with reasonable optimism; we have good memories from Sardinia 2022 in WRC2, and we had an excellent test last week where we discovered an enhanced package for the Puma. On the technical stages of the island, we believe a top-20 finish is possible for us.”
Romet Jürgenson
“I think going into Sardinia I already feel more confident compared to Portugal. In the past we’ve done some testing there with the Rally3 car and the FIA Rally Star team, and we competed in the rally last year, unfortunately not the full event, but we still gained experience, which definitely helps.
“With the car, on Sunday in Portugal we felt like we were in a good place, so I definitely expect a better performance from myself in Sardinia.”
Pierre-Louis Loubet
“I’m very pleased to be in Sardinia again, a place where I have so many nice memories – especially from 2022 when we were fighting for the podium in the Rally1 car! I hope I’ll be able to progress with the car during the event and try to get closer to the top. I’m really happy with the work of my engineer and the team to optimise everything with the car, so let’s see what we can do!”
Oliver Solberg
“The start to the season has been pretty good,” Oliver said. “We’ve taken two [WRC2] wins from three starts with the Toyota and the car feels like it’s getting better and better.
“It was quite a change from what I was driving last year and with the three-cylinder engine and a few other things, it maybe took a little bit of time to find my feet with this one. I’ve driven a lot of cars, a lot of R5 and Rally2 cars, so I have a good idea of what I want and how to make a car fast.
“Working with Toyota and the Printsport team has been really good, we’ve worked well together, and the pace is getting better and better. This week is about learning more and more from the car and how it works with the tyres. The new Hankook’s are also quite different from what we had last year, so that takes some time to understand the best set-up and how to get the best from the whole package. I really feel we’re getting there, and Sardinia is another step for that.
“And, yes, it’s fair to say I don’t know this rally so well as some of the others. I started here only two times – I have started Monte Carlo six times now! There’s definitely a rhythm to find on these roads, you can’t push too hard and go too crazy, there will be a rock waiting for you. It’s nice to come here without so much pressure for the [WRC2] points and we can drive our own race and keep trying different solutions for the car.
“At the same time, it’s always nice to come to Italy for a rally. There’s so much history for the sport in this country – and Sardinia is a beautiful place with beautiful weather. It’s going to be a good week.”
Summary
Well, who do you think will win this rally and stand on the podium? In my view it is possible to see Ott and Martin take victory this weekend. Also, possible to take a victory are Thierry and Martijn who won this rally a few years ago. Could their teammates Adrien and Alex take their first win? They have shown good very good pace this year.
At Toyota Kalle and Jonne could have a great rally. Although they are starting second on the road, it will be interesting to see if they could win this weekend as well or stand on the podium as they did last time out. Elsewhere Seb and Vincent also return to on a fourth round this year and third in a row for their part time season. For Elfyn and Scott as championship leaders will have to make the best of the road position and hope to take a good level of points away to keep them at the top of the standings.
Finally at M-Sport the young team will continue to develop their pace, whilst learning the stages on this new event. Of course, Greg and Louis have some experience from last year and will hope that they can build on this. For their rookie teammates Josh and Eoin and Martins and Renaur they will just look to build experience with the creation of new notes on stages which they have not driven before.
Formula E returned to the Shanghai International Circuit this past weekend for its sophomore year, and these past 2 rounds did not disappoint in terms of action.
Round 10: DS Penske driver Maximilian Guenther led the field away from pole position ahead of Taylor Barnard, who started in P2. Pascal Wehrlein managed to jump him at the start with the peloton style of racing returning to Formula E. There was disaster for the Jaguar TCS Racing driver Nick Cassidy as he was spun at the chicane after getting tapped by the Mahindra Racing driver Edoardo Mortara. Contact occurred later on between Rowland and Vandoorne while the peloton style occurred, and by lap 11, De Vries was leading ahead of the Andretti driver Nico Mueller and Envision Racing’s Robin Frijns.
Pit boost was active in this race, and many drivers immediately took the opportunity to pit, starting at the end of lap 12 and the start of lap 13. Drivers such as Guenther, Buemi, Bird and Maloney all took attack mode immediately after their pit boost.
The race started to heat up from here, as it was a flat-out race with Barnard having a 2.5-second lead before that shrank with Guenther and Rowland then battling for the win towards the end of the race. Barnard and Nato were battling before a massive battle on the last lap for 2nd, with Barnard and Ticktum looking likely to take the positions before Jean-Eric Vergne made a move into the final chicane to take P2 and secure DS Penske’s first 1-2, with Guenther managing to hold onto the win with Barnard in P3. Dan Ticktum finished P4 from P21; championship leader Oliver Rowland finished P5, Norman Nato P6, Sam Bird P7, and Nyck De Vries P8, with the Envision duo of Sebastian Buemi and Robin Frijns rounding out the points-paying positions.
SHANGHAI, CHINA – MAY 31: Stoffel Vandoorne of Belgium driving the (2) Maserati MSG Racing Maserati Tipo Folgore leads Oliver Rowland of Great Britain driving the (23) Nissan Formula E Team Nissan e-4ORCE 05 on track during the Shanghai E-Prix, Round 10 of the 2025 FIA Formula E World Championship at Shanghai International Circuit on May 31, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Simon Galloway/LAT Images for Formula E) Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank
Round 11: After a delayed start due to the rain, we had a rolling start on lap 8, which saw Nick Cassidy lead the field away from the Porsche duo, and all 3 of them instantly took attack mode, including the top 11 apart from Di Grassi. Wehrlein went for a longer attack mode, so he and Da Costa swapped positions. Many drivers struggled throughout the race, including Nyck De Vries, who went through the gravel, and Wehrlein went sideways.
Towards the middle section of the race, both Lola Yamaha Abt cars were battling with Maserati and Mahindra of Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck De Vries. The most recent race winner, Maximilian Guenther, got a red car, but this did NOT cause a red flag. He had to pull off to the side of the track to retire. There were 3 added laps due to the safety car, with Cassidy having a MAJOR lead over Pascal Wehrlein. Cassidy held onto the lead to win his first E-Prix of 2025! Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix Da Costa closed out the top 3. Jake Hughes finished P4, Jean-Eric Vergne P5, Nico Mueller P6, Stoffel Vandoorne P7, Robin Frijns P8, Lucas Di Grassi P9, and Taylor Barnard P10!
Oscar Piastri dominated to win a controversial Spanish Grand Prix for McLaren ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
Charles Leclerc took an opportunistic third ahead of George Russell, who was seemingly deliberately hit by an angry Max Verstappen three laps from the end.
Verstappen received a 10s penalty for that and is the subject of another investigation, which saw him drop from fifth to tenth.
Nico Hulkenberg took a masterful fifth after overtaking an off-colour Lewis Hamilton in the dying stages, with Isack Hadjar seventh.
Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso completed the top tenth ahead of Verstappen.
Controversy came after the a Safety Car ten laps from the end was brought out after Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine failure in his Mercedes.
Almost all of the drivers still left pitted for used or fresh softs, with the exception of Verstappen who stopped for new hards from third.
The Dutchman made his frustrations with his Red Bull team clear, and on the restart nearly spun into the inside wall leading on to the main straight.
That allowed Leclerc’s Ferrari alongside and ahead into third, via a touch on the straight, before the seeds of this race’s defining incident were sewn, as Russell made contact with a now mad Max at the first corner to force him off the track.
An angry Verstappen was then told to let Russell through having retained fourth, and on lap 64 he appeared to comply with that instruction into Turn 5, before ramming the Brit’s Mercedes in what appeared to be retaliation similar to his incident with Hamilton at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was given a ten second penalty for his act of retribution meaning he scored one point for tenth.
Piastri made an excellent start to lead away from the grid, while teammate Norris dropped behind Verstappen after they went three wide with Russell, who was subsequently baulked and passed by the two Ferraris.
Norris would eventually pass Verstappen after 12 laps and Red Bull switched to a three stop race.
That looked like it may pay dividends as McLaren woke up to the possibility that they may be caught napping, and before the Safety Car Verstappen was only two seconds behind Norris having covered off a previously two-stopping Leclerc.
Oscar Piastri will start tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix from pole position ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Norris had set the early Q3 pace before Piastri powered to pole over two tenths of a second ahead of the British driver for McLaren’s first Spanish Grand Prix front row lockout since 1998.
Max Verstappen will start third for Red Bull after setting the exact same lap time as George Russell’s Mercedes, the Dutchman starting ahead as he set his time first.
They’re ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari and the second Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, with Charles Leclerc a distant seventh.
Pierre Gasly was top of F1’s “Class B” with eighth in his Alpine ahead of RB’s Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in tenth
The first qualifying session saw a two shocks, with eight tenths separating the grid from top to bottom.
Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda continued his tough start to life at Red Bull with yet another Q1 exit. This time, the Japanese driver will start last on the grid.
Carlos Sainz was equally displeased with his efforts as after outqualifying teammate Alex Albon for five straight race, he will line up tomorrow in 18th ahead of Franco Colapinto, who will rue a technical issue that left him stuck in the pit lane at the end of the session.
Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon will start 16th and 17th for Sauber and Haas respectively.
The second qualifying session provided fewer shocks as Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson all fell by the wayside when it looked as if they might dislodge Gasly’s Alpine from tenth.
For Lance Stroll and Ollie Bearman, things were a little more distant as they completed Q2s driver exits.
Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) delivered a masterclass in comeback racing at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom, charging from the back of the grid to claim his third consecutive victory — and one of the most impressive of his career. The Spaniard, who had taken pole before being penalized for riding significantly more slowly on the racing line, joined an elite club of riders to win from last, standing alongside the likes of Marc Marquez (Valencia 2012, Moto2™), Brad Binder (Jerez 2016, Moto3™), and David Alonso (Silverstone 2023, Moto3™).
Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
What followed was a clinical ride through the chaos of a classic Moto3™ lead group. Rueda got a solid launch and was already picking off riders into Turn 1, while teammate Alvaro Carpe grabbed the holeshot. By Lap 3, the #99 was leading the second group, and by Lap 4 he’d bridged the gap and joined the freight train at the front. With five laps to go, Rueda had cracked the top five—and not long after, he was at the head of the pack.
Still, he had to fight for the win. Rookie Maximo Quiles (CFMoto Valresa Aspar Team) impressed when he refused to back down, making it a thrilling final-lap showdown. The two went side-by-side through the final sector, with Quiles slightly wide at the final chicane. Rueda didn’t hesitate—diving up the inside and powering out of the last corner to snatch victory in a photo finish.
“I took making the comeback calmly because I knew the front group wasn’t going to break away, and we also had good pace, so we were able to be patient and attack at the right time” – Jose Antonio Rueda
Quiles, despite losing out by the narrowest of margins, still secured a stunning maiden podium in just his rookie season.
Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completed the podium in third, bouncing back impressively from a Long Lap penalty for contact with David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) earlier in the race.
Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)
Just off the podium, Alvaro Carpe finished fourth ahead of fellow rookie Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), with David Almansa (Leopard Racing), Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) fifth and sixth respectfully. Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI), Vicente Perez (LEVELUP-MTA), and Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team) rounding out the top ten.
A late incident involving Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) and Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) saw Piqueras crash out and Furusato hit with a Long Lap-equivalent 3 second time penalty. That moved home hero Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power) up to P11, followed by Furusato in P12. Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Cormac Buchanan (DENSSI Racing – BOE), and Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) all picked up points in the race.
As the iconic month of May draws to a close, so does this section of Formula E, as we have rounds 11 and 12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship Season 11. We enter the scene of the Chinese Grand Prix at a modified version of the Shanghai International Circuit.
Track Preview: After debuting last year as a doubleheader, the Shanghai E-Prix was a goldmine for Jaguar drivers, with Mitch Evans and Antonio Felix Da Costa picking up a win each around this circuit in Season 10.
Formula E Season 10 Shanghai Circuit. Image Credit: Formula E Media Centre
The 3.051-mile circuit allows 12 corners to challenge drivers, with round 1 being a pit boost round. The main overtaking opportunities are into turn 1, turn 6, and through to turn 9, with turns 10 and 12 also being the best opportunities to overtake rivals.
Round 10 Predictions: Pole Position: Pascal Wehrlein As Rowland starts to put one hand on the championship trophy, the reigning world champion will want to put as much performance in as possible in order to maintain his reigning world champion status. Getting pole at Shanghai would be the best way to start.
Winner: António Félix Da Costa The Season 6 champion is currently P2 in the standings with over 50 points separating him and the Briton Rowland. Da Costa will want to minimise the gap as much as possible, and the pit boost opportunities will allow him to get a jump on Rowland.
Podium: Cassidy and Evans The Jaguar duo was strong here last year, with a victory and podiums from both. I think they will obtain more podiums; Evans’ first points since his win in Sao Paulo back in 2024.
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st position, stands on his car in Parc Ferme Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank
Round 11 Predictions: Pole Position: Oliver Rowland Rowland will NEED to maximise as many points as possible this weekend, and not finishing on the podium on Saturday will hurt him.
Winner: Oliver Rowland In order to maximise, Rowland will go from pole to win on the latter part of the weekend as he manages to claw back the deficit from Saturday.
Podium: Andretti Yes, that is correct. I am predicting a double Andretti podium on Sunday to end the most recent run of Formula E races before entering the final 3 weekends of Season 11.
