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  • Safari Rally Kenya 2026 Preview

    Safari Rally Kenya 2026 Preview

    Time for the first round of this seasons championship on gravel and on some of the most iconic roads of Kenya. After their win last time out Elfyn and Scott lead the championship and will open the road throughout the stages on Friday.

     

    This years edition has 350 kilometres over twenty stages. The action begins with shakedown on Thursday morning before two stages that afternoon which total just over 33 kilometres. Then Friday sees the most amount of stages at eight with almost 140 kilometres of action. Saturday is a little shorter with six stages and almost 123 kilometres of action whilst Sunday’s stages see the crews tackle four stages with just over 57 kilometres of action.

    Let’s hear from the drivers.

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s been an incredible start to the year for the team, but we certainly can’t underestimate the challenges ahead of us, especially going into a rally like Safari. It can be a really unpredictable event: you can find rocks in the middle of the road or hidden in the grass, and when it rains there can be standing water and zero grip. It’s been a very successful rally for our team, which works hard to give us a strong car with modifications to help us in those tough conditions. Last year’s rally was quite extreme with the weather, and I was very happy to get through it and come away with the win for the first time. It won’t be an easy feat to repeat but that will be the target.”

    Oliver Solberg

    “Safari Rally Kenya is a rally that I love and I’m looking forward to doing it with the GR YARIS Rally1 car for the first time. It’s a very different type of rally to somewhere like Sweden or Estonia because it’s not about pure speed or finding the ultimate feeling with the car. There are some sections you can attack and have a lot of fun in the car, but you can’t do that everywhere, so you need to try to find a consistent and safe pace. The team has an amazing record in Kenya, and we can be confident that the car will be strong. The main goal is to have a clean rally and if you can do that, you can bank some very good points.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “It will be a pleasure to return to Kenya after missing the last two editions of the Safari Rally. I look forward to being back in this beautiful country and seeing the excitement of the African fans, and it’s always a unique experience different to any other rally. It will be my first time being there at this earlier time of year, and it looks like it could be wetter than I’ve seen in the past. How you approach this rally depends a lot on the conditions you face, and these can evolve very quickly. It’s an event you need to start with humility, but the team has been in amazing form and Kenya has been good ground for us in the past, so let’s hope we can achieve another great result.”

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “It was enjoyable to be in the fight in Sweden and hopefully I can take this feeling forward to Kenya, even though that will be a very different challenge for everybody. For the Safari, you need to forget about driving flat-out like in Sweden and sacrifice some speed to try to manage everything. Despite this, it’s another rally that I really like, and it seems to suit me quite well. Our team has also been very good there and they are always providing us with a strong and reliable car for those tough conditions. It’s a special rally for me and for the team and we always feel great support, and I’m confident we can aim for another good result.”

    Sami Pajari

    “Sweden was a really nice rally for me with a solid performance and result, but Kenya will be a completely different and unique challenge. Doing the rally for the first-time last year was a real adventure. On some stages it’s more a matter of surviving, but there are others which are more fast and flowing. It’s a rally where I believe experience is playing quite a big role. Last year we had a clever approach and finished fourth, which was a good result for our first time, but I hope this year we can have more speed and fight for the podium positions, while still needing to be smart about where we push and where we back-off.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Thierry Neuville

    “Safari Rally Kenya is one of the most demanding events on the calendar for both man and machine. It’s been a tough event for us, but last year we were able to secure our first podium, and that’s where we want to get back to. It’s hard to know what the conditions will be like but based on what we’ve had over the past few years, we expect a huge variety. Rain tends to be very localised, but it’s usually heavy across stages like Sleeping Warrior. As well as navigating the conditions, we must optimise our setup to protect the car as much as possible. Balancing reliability with the right setup is always a challenge, but avoiding punctures is an even bigger one. My goal is to have a trouble-free event; we can be fast in Kenya, but we’ve also struggled to get through without any issues. Hopefully this year we can bring home another strong result.”

    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

    “Safari Rally Kenya is a unique event for our championship. Everything from pacenotes to the unpredictable weather are very different to other rallies, and they’re not necessarily things that we are used to. This event can be a mix of fesh-fesh, mud and deep puddles across rough sections – this can be very hard on both the car and the mechanics. Tyre management is crucial; we have to get the best out of them without doing too much damage. We’ll be fourth on the road in Kenya, which is a strong position for this event. It’s ideal because you avoid the destroyed roads you’d get starting further back, and you can also make the most of the lines in the road from the cars in front. Our target is to have a clean rally – avoid damaging the car and risking any punctures – so we can finish on the podium.”

    Esapekka Lappi

    “We’ve tried to maximise our preparations for Kenya by focussing on reliability, including enhancing our demisting system for the best visibility in wet conditions. Pure performance is not as crucial in Kenya, so we are at less of a disadvantage there. It’s difficult to prepare for the fesh-fesh as it’s almost impossible to find similar conditions in Europe, so it’s often just full throttle and fingers crossed. Enni hasn’t competed in Kenya before, but she did do a recce there two years ago, which gives her some understanding of what it’s like. Her most important preparation will be getting advice from our co-driver colleagues. I’d like to be in a position where we’re on the pace to fight for a good finish, but to do that we need a calm and collected approach.”

     

    M-Sport Ford WRT

    Josh McErlean

    “Safari Rally is one of the toughest events of the year. The focus is on being smart, looking after the car and putting together a consistent performance. If we do that, we can come away with a really positive result.”

    Jon Armstrong

    “Kenya will be a unique challenge for me and Shane, as it’s our first time there it will be a lot to discover. As we work through our preparations and research, I can tell it’s not going to be easy, but we will give it our best shot and focus on keeping it as clean as we can! We recently spent time in the workshop preparing with the team and working on the car which was very valuable going into such a rough event.”

    Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)

    “Kenya will be a very different challenge compared to the rallies I’ve done in the past. Maybe Greece in my Junior WRC years compares a little, but it’s definitely an event where we have to think about the long game and getting through without major issues to secure a good position in the end. That will be our aim, to get the experience of this unique and great event and then just hope for the best result we can get.”

    Summary

    The action gets underway tomorrow with shakedown before the first two stages in the afternoon.

    Who will take victory this year?

  • Honda’s future in F1 at stake if they cannot fix latest problems

    The 2026 Formula One season is now underway, and while Mercedes confirmed themselves to have the best chassis and engine, it was actually another engine supplier whose performance was the biggest talking point in Melbourne.

    Honda sounded warning signs about the performance of its engine from pretty early on in pre-season, but nothing could have prepared both it and F1 team partner Aston Martin for the pain that it would endure during the two official test sessions and the Australian Grand Prix.

    Lance Stroll failed to run at all on Saturday and both he and Fernando Alonso were unclassified on Sunday due to the need to save engine components as Honda tries to work out what’s causing all of its reliability problems.

    Regulations mandate this season that the power is split almost 50/50 from the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and the electrical element from the battery, with 350kw (469 bhp) supplied from the retained MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic) – which harvests energy from  braking, coasting and on throttle.

    Honda and Aston Martin’s engine woes were laid bare in pre-season testing

    Expectations set very low on Thursday

    The writing was on the wall as early as the Thursday media day when Design Technical Partner and Team Principal Adrian Newey and Honda Racing Company’s F1 boss Koji Watanabe called a press conference, after being unable to run on the final day of testing two weeks prior in Bahrain due to battery issues and a lack of stock.

    That session drew enough headlines to last an entire weekend, where Newey revealed that excessive vibrations from the ICE was causing the battery to fail (this would eventually leave the team with two working batteries going into Saturday) but more strikingly was a possible risk to the drivers’ long term health.

    “That vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems. Mirrors falling off, tail lights falling off – all that sort of thing, which we are having to address. But the much more significant problem is that the vibration is transmitted ultimately into the driver’s fingers,” Newey began.

    “So Fernando is of the feeling that he can’t do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage to his hands. Lance is of the opinion that he can’t do more than 15 laps before that threshold.”

    Honda introduced countermeasures aimed at reducing the effects of those vibrations but even after two weeks of testing on the dyno at their factory in Japan, they still have not been able to identify the root cause of those vibrations. While that remains the case, Honda will not be able to solve that problem and extract any more performance from an engine widely thought to be the weakest in terms of power output, behind newcomers Audi and Red Bull/Ford.

    And when they got to the track?

    Friday and Saturday went broadly as Newey warned it would.

    Alonso failed to run in the first Friday Practice while Stroll completed three laps, while in FP2 Stroll ran 13 laps and Alonso 18.

    Stroll may as well have stayed at his hotel on Saturday as he failed to run in either the third practice or in qualifying. Alonso did complete 20 laps in FP3 but was unsurprisingly out of qualifying in the first session, outqualifying only the Cadillac duo of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez while Carlos Sainz of Williams, Stroll and Max Verstappen failed to set a time.

    A crash for the McLaren of Oscar Piastri on his way to the grid, and a DNS for Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg promoted both men up the grid by two spots. Alonso ended up 10th on the opening lap before a lack of power and reliability curtailed his afternoon as he completed 21 laps. Stroll, fresh from his enforced Saturday hiatus, saw the chequered flag – albeit 15 laps down.

    This was broadly in line with what was briefed, with Newey explaining that “we will need to be very restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source.”

    Hasn’t Honda been here before?

    Fernando Alonso was driving for McLaren when it disastrously linked up with Honda in 2015

    On the face of it, yes.

    Honda announced that they would return to Formula One in 2015 with McLaren towards the end of 2013, with the hope being that they could rekindle the glory days of the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

    To say that failed to materialise would be a catastrophic understatement as the three year partnership ended with McLaren breaking its contract at the end of 2017 to conclude a partnership that failed to even yield a podium and became synonymous with endless engine failures and a lack of performance.

    The reality is that there is more nuance to this, more reasons to be positive and more questions about how Honda found itself in this position yet again.

    In 2015 McLaren demanded that Honda fit its Power Unit within the team’s bold “size zero packaging” requirements that Honda simply couldn’t, and the upshot was that McLaren would almost relentlessly brief the media that the car and chassis was up to standard and being let down by the engine.

    McLaren did not compromise throughout those three years, and would ultimately find out the hard way that was not the case, only returning to true competitiveness in 2023.

    Honda and Red Bull linked up in 2019 and built a good working relationship with Newey in his previous role at the head of the Red Bull design department, and Newey referenced that with his comments on Thursday about Honda “having a track record” of recovering from a bad start to engine regulations.

    Honda announced it would leave Red Bull and F1 at the end of 2021 in early 2020, but gave Red Bull and sister team Alpha Tauri (Now Racing Bulls) technical support over the next two years.

    Honda will now be operating under an engine budget cap of $130m and so cannot just throw money and resource at the problem, and will be limited by upgrade windows to a maximum of two upgrades this season, in the name of reliability.

    Did Aston Martin know about these issues before the season started?

    Another telling quote from Newey revealed that Honda’s engine department had been gutted in that time away, and he estimates that 30% of the original engine department remain now.

    “Honda pulled out at the end of 2021. They then re-entered the sport kind of at the end of 2022, so roughly a year and a bit out of the competition. When they reformed a lot of the original group had, it now transpires, disbanded, gone to work on solar panels or whatever. So a lot of the group that reformed are actually fresh to Formula 1, they didn’t bring the experience that they had had previously.

    “Plus, when they came back in 2023 that was the first year of the budget cap introduction for engines so all their rivals had been developing away through ’21 and ’22 with continuity the existing team and free of budget cap.”

    He then went on to reveal Aston Martin were not aware of that when the deal was agreed to link up in 2024 ready for 2026, and that Aston Martin were not aware of any performance deficit until a meeting in Tokyo in November last year to discuss rumours of Honda missing its targets back in November.

    Those unusually candid comments point to a frustration felt by the higher ups at Aston Martin, alongside comments made on the chassis (sound familiar?!) that it was the fifth best with scope to be the most competitive.

    That is not to absolve the team of any blame for this, as while they were not in charge of the Honda engine department and didn’t oversee any of the reassignments, quitting and re-entering F1, the fact they did not know about all of this points to a lack of due diligence done ahead of signing off on the deal to leave a now all-conquering Mercedes to partner with Honda.

    Time will tell on whether Honda can recover again, should they not this crisis could end up costing them their future in Formula One.

     

    Image credit: Pirelli F1 Media

     

  • Russell wins terrific season-opener in Melbourne

    Russell wins terrific season-opener in Melbourne

    George Russell claimed victory in the opening race of the 2026 season in Australia, leading a Mercedes one-two from Kimi Antonelli.

    Charles Leclerc came home third despite enjoying a phenomenal start in his Ferrari from fourth on the grid, taking the lead from Russell into Turn One.

    Several laps of entertaining action saw the pair swap the lead on multiple occasions, but a Virtual Safety Car would prove Ferrari’s undoing.

    Russell and Antonelli, whose poor start saw him fall to seventh on lap one, pitted after Isaac Hadjar’s engine failure brought about a caution period. Ferrari opted not to bring Leclerc or Sir Lewis Hamilton in, costing them valuable time as the Mercedes duo managed to get both cars to the end on one stop.

    Leclerc and Hamilton pitted significantly later, but were unable to reel in either Mercedes car despite the freshness of their rubber, ultimately leaving them third and fourth respectively.

    Chaos had ensued before the curtain could even be raised when Oscar Piastri, at his home race, lost control of his McLaren on his lap to the grid, ruining his McLaren and leaving Lando Norris as the sole runner for the constructors’ champions. Norris finished fifth in a disappointing day for the Papaya squad.

    Mixed fortunes could be found at Red Bull too. Hadjar’s engine failure spelt another ill-fated Melbourne outing for the Frenchman, but Max Verstappen recovered from his accident in qualifying – which saw him start 20th – to finish sixth.

    Oliver Bearman made up impressive ground to end up seventh, and Arvid Lindblad scored points on his Formula One debut in his Racing Bulls car in eighth. Gabriel Bortoleto was the only Audi to take the start after a pre-race issue ruled out Nico Hulkenberg’s car, and the Brazilian crossed the line in ninth.

    Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas’ Esteban Ocon renewed their rivalry with a series of absorbing overtakes on one another, the former beating his fellow Frenchman to the final point.

    Alex Albon finished 12th for Williams ahead of Liam Lawson’s Racing Bull, the Kiwi suffering a disappointing finish having been slow off the line at the start.

    Franco Colapinto took 14th in the second Alpine ahead of the other Williams of Carlos Sainz, while Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, missing a piece of his bargeboard after it came loose, took 16th.

    Lance Stroll was 12 laps behind in 16th, having initially brought his Aston Martin into the pits before heading back out to complete some more running.

    His team-mate Fernando Alonso retired early due to the British team’s persistent safety concerns, and Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac joined the retirement list when he ground to a halt at the final corner midway through the grand prix.

    It is the first time that Mercedes have won the season opener since 2021, and the first time they have opened the season with a one-two since 2019.

  • Russell takes Melbourne pole as Verstappen crashes

    Russell takes Melbourne pole as Verstappen crashes

    George Russell claimed pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered a horrible start to 2026, the Dutchman crashing in the early stages.

    Russell beat team-mate Kimi Antonelli to pole, with Mercedes locking out the front row in Melbourne for the first time since 2019.

    Attention in the early part of qualifying was dominated by Verstappen’s accident which took place on his first timed attempt, confirming a 20th-placed start for the race.

    The rear axle of Verstappen’s RB22 seized as he braked into Turn One, sending the four-time champion skating across the gravel into the barrier.

    The Dutchman’s misfortune did pay dividends to Mercedes, the subsequent red flag offering them more time to prepare Antonelli’s car following his crash in third practice prior to qualifying.

    But more drama ensued in the third and final part of qualifying, when Mercedes sent Antonelli onto the circuit with both sidepod coolers still attached.

    The coolers were inevitably deposited onto the racetrack; one landed in the gravel at Turn One, while one was obliterated by Lando Norris’ McLaren having been flung onto the track.

    The Mercedes driver’s day became trickier when he took an excursion at Turn Three having locked up. However, he recovered from that and his earlier crash to end qualifying second.

    Isaac Hadjar impressed hugely on his Red Bull debut, setting a lap good enough for third behind the Mercedes duo.

    Charles Leclerc will line up fourth for Ferrari, ahead of the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively. Sir Lewis Hamilton will start seventh. The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindlad followed.

    Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto will start 10th having ground to a halt in the pit entry at the end of Q2 – an incident that caught Lawson and Lindblad by surprise. The latter nearly ended up in the barrier as a result.

    Nico Hulkenberg was pipped into Q3 by team-mate Bortoleto and will start 11th, while the Haas cars of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon will take to the grid in 12th and 13th respectively on Sunday.

    Pierre Gasly ended qualifying in 14th ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon, a trip across the grass at the end of Q2 preventing any improvements for the Thai driver. Franco Colapinto will start the grand prix in 16th.

    Fernando Alonso, during a torrid opening to the year for Aston Martin, set a time good enough for 17th, ahead of the Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

    Verstappen, following his shunt, ended the session in P20, while Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll did not manage to get out on track.

    Russell’s pole is his eighth in Formula 1, and his first in Australia.

  • Moto3: Thrilling Thailand

    Moto3: Thrilling Thailand

    A sensational start to the 2026 season with a thrilling race that came right down to the finish line.

    David Almansa (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) claimed a maiden Grand Prix victory in a breathtaking final-corner showdown with Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), the pair separated by just 0.003 seconds at the line. The finish was so tight it required a video review confirmation. The last time the class produced a margin this small was in 2013 at Phillip Island, when Alex Rins edged Maverick Viñales in Australia. Behind the leading duo, Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) secured his first podium in third.

    Photo Credit: Pirelli Press Office

    Polesitter Almansa grabbed the holeshot and controlled the early exchanges, resisting Quiles in a drag race into Turn 3 to lead the opening lap. We had some early fallers with Cormac Buchannan (CODE Motorsports) and Matteo Bertelle (Level Up – MTA) crashing out early. They were followed by Ryusei Yamanaka (AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) crashed at Turn 5 on Lap 2, while Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) also hit trouble at Turn 12 a lap later on his debut with the team, eventually recovering to 20th.

    What initially appeared to be a four-rider escape group — Almansa, Quiles, Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) — was soon swallowed back up. Rookie Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) and Perrone joined the fight, with just one second covering the top six in the opening phase. As the race developed, Almansa and Quiles turned the screw. By mid-distance, they had broken clear — and by the closing stages, the Spaniards were a remarkable nine seconds up the road from the chasing pack. It became a straight duel for victory, both riders circulating in the 1’41s and matching each other corner for corner.

    Quiles briefly seized the lead on Lap 11 at Turn 12, only to hand it back after running wide at Turn 1. From there, it was a tactical chess match.

    On the final lap, a small mistake from Quiles at Turn 12 handed Almansa half a second of breathing room. But the #28 responded with an outstanding final sector, closing rapidly and launching one last attack at the final corner. Almansa defended firmly, forcing Quiles to adjust mid-corner — and it looked settled. Yet on the drag to the line, Almansa found superior drive, inching ahead by 0.003 seconds.

    Behind the runaway leaders, Perrone executed a decisive last-corner move on Carpe to clinch third and open his podium account in style. Pratama impressed hugely in fifth, top Honda on debut, ahead of Fernandez in what had been a brilliant four rider battle for the last podium place.

    Photo Credit: Pirelli Press Office

    Just behind the lead group, Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claimed seventh, followed by Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), Joel Esteban (LEVEL UP – MTA) and David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) completing the top ten. Rookie Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse) narrowly missed out, finishing 11th.

    Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power) took 12th followed by teammate Adrian Cruces. They lead both GRYD – MLav Racing riders Joel Kelso and Eddie O’Shea who picked up 14th and 15th in a rare double points for the Honda team.

    Pos Rider Team Time/Gap Pts
    1 David Almansa (ESP) Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP 32:14.186 25
    2 Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team +0.003 20
    3 Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +9.480 16
    4 Alvaro Carpe (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +9.573 13
    5 Veda Pratama (IDN) Honda Team Asia +9.687 11
    6 Adrian Fernandez (ESP) Leopard Racing +9.723 10
    7 Brian Uriarte (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +11.068 9
    8 Marco Morelli (ARG) CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team +11.334 8
    9 Joel Esteban (ESP) LEVEL UP – MTA +11.541 7
    10 David Muñoz (ESP) Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP +11.657 6
    11 Casey O’Gorman (IRL) SIC58 Squadra Corse +11.863 5
    12 Scott Ogden (GBR) CIP Green Power +13.732 4
    13 Adrian Cruces (ESP) CIP Green Power +16.365 3
    14 Joel Kelso (AUS) GRYD – MLav Racing +17.264 2
    15 Eddie O’Shea (GBR) GRYD – MLav Racing +17.459 1
    16 Leo Rammerstorfer (AUT) SIC58 Squadra Corse +25.668 —
    17 Jesus Rios (ESP) Rivacold Snipers Team +25.731 —
    18 Hakim Danish (MYS) AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI +25.810 —
    19 Rico Salmela (FIN) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +25.898 —
    20 Guido Pini (ITA) Leopard Racing +36.323 —
    21 Ruche Moodley (RSA) CODE Motorsports +36.854 —
    22 Zen Mitani (JPN) Honda Team Asia +37.978 —
    23 Nicola Carraro (ITA) Rivacold Snipers Team +54.641 —
    24 Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN) AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI DNF —
  • Formula One Australian Grand Prix Preview and Predictions

    Formula One Australian Grand Prix Preview and Predictions

    After 85 days, Formula One finally returns this week to the homeland of Oscar Piastri, Jack Doohan and Mark Webber! The Australian Grand Prix marks Formula One’s 76th season and the second year since 2019 that the country has hosted the opening round, the first of a new engine era since 2014…the last era. Not many driver changes this season with Arvid Lindblad being the best (and only) rookie this season, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez returning to the sport with Cadillac and Isack Hadjar moving up to the main Red Bull team.

    Track Preview

    This 5.278km long circuit displays the 30th anniversary since the first Grand Prix held here. There are 5 “Straight Mode Zones”:

    • Main straight
    • Turn 2 to turn 3
    • Turn 5 to turn 6
    • Turn 8 to turn 9
    • Turn 10 to turn 11
    Formula One Australia Grand Prix Circuit Map. Image Credit: Formula One’s website

    The active aero side of the cars, which is new for this season, will impact the races in a way we have never seen it before. 

    Along with Formula 1 starting, Formula 2 and Formula 3 also return this weekend which will see more drivers and teams take to the track and attempt to make their way to F1!

    Countdown to the Weekend

    Its a dream weekend for viewers in the oceanic region of the world and one of the rare weekends that happens before sunrise for many sections of the world. 

    Countdown to FP1

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    Countdown to FP2

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    Countdown to FP3

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    Countdown to Qualifying

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    Countdown to the Australian Grand Prix

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    Predictions

    The Crew over here at Crew Towers have made predictions of the top 5 ahead of the Grand Prix.

    Kieran:
    P1. Leclerc
    P2. Russell
    P3. Verstappen
    P4. Norris
    P5. Antonelli

    Taras:
    P1. Hamilton
    P2. Russell
    P3. Leclerc
    P4. Norris
    P5. Verstappen

     

     

     

  • Formula E Season 12 Rounds 4 and 5: Wehrlein and Da Costa claim victories across the weekend

    Formula E Season 12 Rounds 4 and 5: Wehrlein and Da Costa claim victories across the weekend

    Editor’s Note:

    I apologize for the long delay for his article. I’m trying to see the best way forward for these race reports in the future, especially with double headers. Feedback is appreciated!


    Rounds 4 and 5 have come and gone from Formula E A few days ago with many storylines happening and coming out of the race weekend.

    Round 4:

    Mahindra Highs and Lows
    Oh boy, what a wild race for the Mahindra guys. Before we even went racing, De Vires had an issue that he could not even do a burnout or engage drive so that delayed the start and reduced the grid down to 19. Once the race got going though, Mortara had a MASSIVE amount of wheelspin and fell down a few places off the start. Thankfully for the Indian team and Swiss driver he climbed back up to P2, although it was a big “what might have been” for Mortara.

    Marti vs Maloney Part 1:
    First lap and first contact between the full time rookie and sophomore rookie in the electric pinnacle of motorsport. On lap 1, Marti was fighting for position but Maloney went up the inside, Marti didn’t see him and ended up causing the boy from Barbados to DNF on lap 1 of race 1 of the weekend while Marti finished outside the points.



    Pit Boost Change of Positions:
    Due to the safety car for Maloney’s Lola Yamaha Abt stuck at the side of the road, pit boost activation didn’t occur until lap 16. Rowland, Eriksson and Barnard were the first to take their pit boost but Eriksson went too far wide in his pitstop and received a penalty due to this.

    Wehrlein Takes Off:
    After all of the pit boosts and attack modes were taken, Wehrlein had already reached a large gap between himself and the eventual P2 finisher of Mortara. Wehrlein eventually built an 8 second gap before Mortara took a late attack mode to get within 3 seconds of Wehrlein.

    PositionDriverTeam
    1stPascal WehrleinPorsche Formula E Team
    2ndEdoardo MortaraMahindra Racing
    3rdMitch EvansJaguar TCS Racing
    4thNico MuellerPorsche Formula E Team
    5thAntonio Felix Da CostaJaguar TCS Racing
    6thNick CassidyCitroen Racing
    7thSebastian BuemiEnvision Racing
    8thJean-Eric VergneCitroen Racing
    9thJake DennisAndretti Formula E
    10thTaylor BarnardDS Penske
    11thMax GuentherDS Penske
    12thDan TicktumCupra Kiro
    13thNorman NatoNissan Formula E Team
    14thPepe MartiCupra Kiro
    15thFelipe DrugovichAndretti Formula E
    16thLucas Di GrassiLola Yamaha Abt Formula E Team
    17thOliver RowlandNissan Formula E Team
    18thJoel ErikssonEnvision Racing
    DNFZane MaloneyLola Yamaha Abt Formula E Team
    DNSNyck De VriesMahindra Racing



    Round 5:
    Maloney vs Marti Part 2
    The battle of the 2 F2 graduates from 2024 has taken shape as they both had small contact going into the final chicane. It wasn’t as big as yesterday but this battle could rage on.



    Cupra Kiro Controversy:
    At the latter stages of the race, the two cupra kiro teammates Dan Ticktum and Pepe Marti nearly collided and threw away a double points finish for the team. Marti used an expletive which was not good but he seemed very heated about it. Thankfully the situation didn’t result in either teammates DNFing but the debrief should have been spicy.

    Championship Heats up
    Da Costa’s Jaguar journey had a slow start with not scoring points until Miami at the previous venue. However, his form has returned with Jaguar now winning 2 of the past 3 races and the battle for the championships heating up.

    With Wehrlein then scoring 4 points in the final race of the weekend, the top 2 in the championship are seperated by 6 points with P3, P4 ,P5 and P6 seperated by 4 points.

    PositionDriverTeamChampionship Position
    1stAntonio Felix Da CostaJaguar TCS Racing7th (+26pts)
    2ndSebastian BuemiEnvision Racing9th (+18 pts)
    3rdOliver RowlandNissan Formula E Team3rd (+15 pts)
    4thEdoardo MortaraMahindra Racing2nd (+15pts)
    5thDan TicktumCupra Kiro14th (+10pts)
    6thPepe MartiCupra Kiro11th (+9pts)
    7thMitch EvansJaguar TCS Racing5h (+6pts)
    8thPascal WehrleinPorsche Formula E Team1st(+4pts)
    9thJean-Eric VergneCitroen Racing15th (+2pts)
    10thTaylor BarnardDS Penske12th (+1pt)
    11thMax GuentherDS Penske16th
    12thFelipe DrugovichAndretti Formula E19th
    13thJoel ErikssonEnvision Racing10th
    14thNick CassidyCitroen Racing4th
    15thLucas Di GrassiLola Yamaha Abt Formula E20th
    16thNico MuellerPorsche Formula E Team6th
    17thNorman NatoNissan Formula E Team18th
    18thZane MaloneyLola Yamaha Abt Formula E17th
    19thJake DennisAndretti Formula E8th
    20thNyck De VriesMahindra Racing13th
  • WorldSBK: Bulega starts 2026 with Phillip Island sweep

    WorldSBK: Bulega starts 2026 with Phillip Island sweep

    The 2026 season of the Superbike World Championship kicked off down under at the Phillip Island Circuit with the Australian Round.  In the absence of Toprak Razgatlioglu, there was already a clear pre-season title favourite…

     

    Race 1

    From pole position, all Nicolo Bulega had to do after dominating the weekend so far was make it through the first lap unscathed.  He did just that and won comfortably by 5 seconds.

    Similarly unbothered in Race 1 was Yari Montella who claimed his first front-row start and ran comfortably to his best finish in 2nd place.  His new teammate Alvaro Bautista was not so fortunate, becoming the first rider of 2026 to crash out of a race in the early stages.

    Lorenzo Baldassari made a remarkable return to WorldSBK, forcing his way through to 3rd and just holding on to it ahead of Axel Bassani in a thrilling sprint to the finish line.  The two other podium contenders were the Lowes’ brothers, but Alex fell back in the closing stages to 7th behind his brother in 5th and a charging Iker Lecuona in 6th.

    Running in 8th and by far the best Yamaha rider on his debut for the marque was Xavi Vierge who was sent to the medical centre after a terrifying crash at Stoner corner that strew gravel across the track just before Miller hairpin.  Garrett Gerloff slipped up on the debris shortly after and reignited an intense battle for the lower top 10 positions.

    Gerloff had been battling impressive rookie Alberto Surra with the pair running ahead of a rejuvenated Tarran Mackenzie.  ‘Taz’ had enough pace to hold up Danilo Petrucci for several laps before Miguel Oliveria came through from the back of the grid (after a crash in Tissot Superpole) to clinch 8th at the flag.

    Mackenzie slipped to 12th but was ahead of a despondent Andrea Locatelli – the top Yamaha finisher in 13th and ahead of the two stand-in Honda HRC riders rounding out the points.  Despite the promise shown by Montella, Baldassari, Bassani and Oliveria, nothing could dispel the fact that Bulega was looking unbeatable after the opening race of 2026.

    Race 1 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    For the first time ever, Montella led a WorldSBK race after snatching the lead at the start.  Alex led his brother Sam with Bulega relegated to 4th, and his teammate Lecuona was also forced out wide at the beginning, while Vierge sadly never made the start.

    Bulega was back in the lead by lap 4 after some aggressive moves past the top 3 and was unchallenged thereafter.  Montella faded to 4th, with Bassani fighting through to 2nd ahead of his teammate Alex Lowes for a historic double Bimota podium.

    Sam Lowes was 5th ahead of Gerloff and Bautista with Race 1 star Baldassari down in 8th.  The Italian was fortunate to finish there after Oliveira’s phenomenal charge from the back of the grid fell short after suffering technical issues on the last lap so Lecuona took 9th – thus setting the grid for the first 3 rows of Race 2.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Race 2

    With the white flag being waved midway through the Tissot Superpole Race, rain always looked like a possibility.  The soaking wet affair did nothing to faze Bulega who romped to another victory down under.

    Montella and Bassani broke free of the chasing Lowes’ brothers before Sam went down on lap 8.  Bautista settled in 4th as an impressive Mackenzie was impressively holding off Alex Lowes for 6th.

    Locatelli was having a better Race 2 than his dire Race 1 and was on his own in 7th ahead of a tight battle for 8th between Lecuona and the BMW duo, with Oliveira having come through from the back of the grid for the third race in succession.

    Montella tragically crashed out halfway through by which time Mattia Rato, Ryan Vickers and Vierge had also been eliminated from the wet affair.  Alex Lowes slid out with a fast lowside crash with 4 laps to go so all 15 riders who finished the race scored championship points.

    The retirements left big gaps for Bassani and Bautista to come home comfortably on the rostrum behind Bulega with Mackenzie scoring his best WorldSBK result in 4th, clearly enjoying his time aboard the satellite MGM Ducati.  Locatelli narrowly held off a charging Petrucci for 5th, with Oliveria, Lecuona and Baldassari close behind.

    Gerloff was alone in 10th and not quite as fast as he had been in dry conditions.  Up front, Bulega employed a swimming celebration to symbolise his treble victory around Phillip Island that has absolutely lived up to his reputation as the overwhelming 2026 title favourite.

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    Championship Standings

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • Rally Sweden 2026, Sunday’s Report

    Rally Sweden 2026, Sunday’s Report

    We came then to the final day of action and three stages to run over 61km’s. Not only was the win on the cards for the crews, there were also extra points for the fastest five through the stages, there of course were points available for the five fastest in the powerstage.

    Once again Martins would open the road throughout the day, whilst Elfyn would be last to complete for the top-class car crews. He held a little over thirteen second lead over his Japanese teammate as they fought for victory.

     

    It was an excellent start for the rally leader in SS16 Västervik 1as he set the fastest time from his teammates Takamoto and Oliver. It was also a good stage for Martins who was fifth fastest and only just over one second behind Sami. In the overall standings Adrien remained in fourth now a little under ten seconds behind the returning Esapekka. There was a penalty of a minute placed onto Thierry which was applied at the end of Saturday’s action as the Belgian was penalised for not having his helmet strap done up.

     

    After a visit to the service park for service came SS17 Västervik 2 and Takamoto was fastest from Sami and Elfyn and only seven tenths covered the three of them. There was a change for overall positions as Adrien moved past Esapekka and into fifth overall. Jon was again on the pace going faster than Thierry by a second, yet barring disaster the Belgian would still take seventh given that there was a gap of thirteen seconds between them.

     

    We came then to the final stage, SS18 Umeå 2 the Powerstage. Thierry set the pace in this one and as Elfyn came through he was up on the splits but some of that speed embed away in the final corner towards the flying finish and he finished just one tenth of a second behind giving him second in the stage, whilst Takamoto was third, Oliver fourth and Esapekka fifth.

    Let’s take a look at the results and hear from the drivers.

    Final Classification – Rally Sweden

    1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:35:53.1
    2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +14.3
    3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +46.0
    4 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:11.6
    5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:50.3
    6 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:53.2
    7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:45.9
    8 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +4:05.5
    9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +6:05.4
    10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +10:36.2

    Super Sunday Classification – Rally Sweden

    1 E. Evans 30:38.5
    2 T. Katsuta +1.0
    3 O. Solberg +13.2
    4 S. Pajari +20.6
    5 A. Fourmaux +32.6

     

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s been a great weekend for us and the whole team here in Sweden. The car has been amazing to drive, so a big thanks to the team. It’s an incredible feeling to drive on these fast stages in such nice winter conditions, and when you feel good in the car, it’s always a pleasure. We didn’t have a huge margin coming into the final day, and with so many points available on Sundays, we had to push until the end, but we can be very happy with what we came away with. It’s been a great start to the year, but it’s still early days and we need to keep working hard.”

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “This is a great result for the team and I’m very happy to be part of it, so a huge thanks to the team for all their hard work. Everything was working well with the car, and I was enjoying it a lot. Big congratulations to Elfyn: he was so strong here again this year and deserves this win. Hopefully next time I have a chance to fight for victory I can push harder. It’s always enjoyable to be in the fight, especially on this kind of high-speed rally when it’s so intense and you’re fighting over tenths of a second. Kenya is another rally that seems to suit me, so I’ll look forward to that.”

    Sami Pajari

    “This is an amazing result for us and for the team. I want to say a big thank you to the team and to everybody who was giving us such great support after Rallye Monte-Carlo didn’t go to plan. This time we were back on the pace and I’m of course really happy to be back on the podium. I really enjoyed the driving this week with this car in these conditions. It’s nice to be back on the level where I think we should be and where we were at the end of last year. Now we just need to keep pushing for even better results in the future.”

    Oliver Solberg

    “Of course, I was hoping for more from my home rally, but I think I underestimated how difficult it would be on Friday. My mistake maybe cost a podium and put me on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, but fourth is probably the best I deserve. There’s been a lot of learning in my first proper snow rally with this car and my first time starting first on the road. I tried my best and scored some decent points. The support has been amazing, and I’ve really enjoyed myself in the car. A big thanks to the team: they’ve done a great job and this 1-2-3-4 is a fantastic result.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “The rally was beautiful, and the conditions were good, but we are not where we wanted to be in terms of results. We are still taking home some points, and I’m in a better position than last year in terms of the championship, so we just need to make sure we are on the pace in the upcoming events. We have done a good job at the first two events, but we need to keep our heads down and improve to make sure that the next two rallies are going to be fast.”

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship
    Rally Sweden 2026, 12-15 February 2026
    Photographer: Romain Thuillier
    Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Esapekka Lappi

    “This weekend was probably a bit better than I was expecting in terms of pace against my team-mates, but on the other hand I’m a bit frustrated that we couldn’t be closer to Toyota. I quickly understood that I only need to compare myself to Thierry and Adrien – it’s the only realistic reference that I need, and it went really well throughout the weekend. The conditions on the roads were good and were less of a tyre killer on the second pass, so it was different to what we usually experience here.”

    Thierry Neuville

    “We need to take all of our courage as a team to work hard and bring us back to where we belong. We are doing a lot, driving a lot, but somehow, we’re not moving in the right direction. I don’t know where the improvements need to be made – I made a lot of changes during the weekend and there was no difference. We basically had limited grip and a lot of understeer. Kenya has never been our strongest event, but we need to go forward and hope for the best.”

     

    M-Sport Ford WRT

    Jon Armstrong

    “I really enjoyed Rally Sweden – it’s good to get this finish under our belt after Monte. We’ve shown some good pace and good splits along the way, and for our first time on this surface in the Rally1 car, it’s been great for us and the team. We’re really happy with our progress and now we can see how we can improve that going forward. But overall, it’s been a good weekend, and we can be really proud of what we’ve achieved as a team here.”

    Josh McErlean

    “Rally Sweden done – it’s nice to get to the finish after a really difficult Monte-Carlo, one of the toughest events of my career. It’s been a weekend of ups and downs. Friday didn’t start so cleanly, but we’ve showed some good pace throughout and we’ve got some clear things to work on before Kenya. Overall, it’s been positive from a bounce-back perspective. We’ll focus now on Kenya, and the team has done great to get two cars to the finish inside the top ten – all in all, a good job from the team.”

    Mārtiņš Sesks

    “There were a few unfortunate things happening throughout the weekend, but if you look at the positives, we had our first stage win of the year and we were able to show our pace in some stages – which means we’ve found something good. Jon and Josh also showed some good speed, and overall, as a team I think we can look forward to some more good performances during the summer gravel rallies.”

    Romet Jürgenson WRC2

    “Sweden this year was one of those difficult events where things just weren’t really clicking for us. We were showing some good performance on Friday afternoon and got a joint-fastest stage time there. But again, on the first loops with more snow and ice, we were generally lacking some performance. On Saturday we ended early after a small crash, but the team did a good job and fixed the car so we could get the confidence back on Sunday. I think we can definitely see the overall package has improved on the Fiesta – it shows that when things are clicking with the set-up, we’re producing some very good stage times, and next time we can come back stronger.”

    Mille Johansson WRC2 retired

    “Rally Sweden didn’t go our way this year. We faced technical issues during Friday morning which made the car quite low on power. The afternoon wasn’t too bad, but we filled the air filter full of snow on SS5. I was trying hard to find a good rhythm, but unfortunately it ended early for us after an incident that damaged the roll cage. Not the best start of the season, but we will learn and come back stronger.”

     

    Summary

    Well, what a great drive by Elfyn and Scott in their Yaris this weekend. They maintained a really good pace and when Takamoto and Aaron passed them at the end of Friday they didn’t seems too worried and then we saw them retake the lead on Saturday’s morning stages, they were never headed again on the overall leaderboard and took five stage wins. They join an elite group as three-time winners of this classic rally.

    Takamoto and Aaron also had a fantastic rally taking a well-deserved second place and four stage wins along the way. They held the lead overnight from Friday into Saturday but were not able to hold the pace they’d shown on Friday.

     

    Finally, Sami and Marko took their second overall podium, winning two stages and mixing it at the front. There was a brief moment on Saturday when they started to edge closer to second placed Takamoto and Aaron but ultimately that was not to develop into anything, and they made it to the third place.

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings 
    After Round Two

    1 E. Evans 60
    2 O. Solberg 47
    3 T. Katsuta 30
    4 A. Fourmaux 28
    5 T. Neuville 21
    6 S. Ogier 18
    7 S. Pajari 17
    8 E. Lappi 9
    9 L. Rossel 8
    10 Y. Rossel 6

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
    After Round Two

    1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 117
    2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 66
    3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 18
    4 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 14

     

    Next up is Safari Rally Kenya held from the 12 to 15 March, just three weeks’ time.

  • Rally Sweden 2026, Saturday’s Report

    Rally Sweden 2026, Saturday’s Report

    Onto the second day of action and Martins would return to the action in the Puma, meaning he’d open the road throughout the day, whilst Takamoto would be the final car from the top class to complete. Could his teammate Elfyn retake the lead?

     

    First up then was SS9 Vännäs 1 and it was a great start for Elfyn to the day as he set the fastest time from Oliver and Sami. Takamoto was fourth and 7.2 slower meaning he’d dropped behind Elfyn by 4.4 seconds into second place. Interestingly Martins who opened the road set the best time of all three M-Sport crews. Meanwhile of those three, Jon was the best placed holding eighth position. Also, Oliver’s pace saw him move ahead of both Esapekka and Adrien and into fourth overall.

     

    Onward then to SS10 Sarsjöliden 1 and it was a stage win for Martins in the Puma as all the leading crews came through and could not beat the Latvians time. Elfyn got the closest with a time just nine tenths of a second behind, whilst Oliver was third. It was a good stage for the M-Sport team as Josh was fifth and Jon seventh fastest with the same time as Adrien.

     

    Oliver was fastest in SS11 Kolksele 1 by nine tenths over Elfyn whilst Sami was third and having a good start to the day and actually reducing the gap to Takamoto who was in second overall but now only 12.9 ahead of his teammate.

     

    After the service break came SS12 Vännäs 2 and it was a stage win for Sami by 1.1 seconds over Esapekka, whilst Takamoto was a further 2.1 seconds and third fastest. Elfyn was keeping close though and was fourth and just seven tenths away meaning he maintained a 15.4 second lead over his teammate as they battled for the top spot.

     

    It was a stage win for Elfyn is SS13 Sarsjöliden 2 from Takamoto by 2.6 seconds and Oliver third. Takamoto was not able to set the pace we saw on Friday and was just not comfortable to push as hard as he did. Meanwhile the best of the M-Sport crews was Jon who set the fifth best time putting his car ahead of two Hyundai’s. It was a good run for the Motor Irish Rally Academy supported driver.

     

    Just two stages remained then for this second day and Sami was fastest in SS14 Kolksele 2 from Takamoto and Adrien. It was a great stage from the young Finn as Oliver was only seventh and saw the gap to third placed Sami grow to over thirty seconds.

     

    The final stage of the day then, SS15 Umeå Sprint 2 and Takamoto was fastest from Oliver and Sami. Elfyn was sixth fastest and the gap was now just over 13 seconds between the two teammates as they battled for victory. Jon also had a great stage setting the fourth best time.

    Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

    Classification after Day Two

    1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:05:14.6
    2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +13.3
    3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +25.4
    4 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +58.4
    5 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:09.5
    6 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:17.7
    7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:10.0
    8 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +3:24.8
    9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +4:48.8
    10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +8:24.1

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s been a good day for us overall. In the morning we were strong and that’s when we were able to make the biggest gains. This afternoon was a bit more mixed. It was much harder on tyres than we expected, but we still got through it cleanly. Tomorrow can still be quite a challenging day: the longer stage we do twice is a tough one and it’s been reversed for this year. The gaps are still small, so I’m sure it’s going to be a good fight.”

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “I can’t be so happy with how today went; I think it could have been much better. In the morning I was struggling with the grip and I’m not completely sure why, but we were losing a lot of time. The conditions are tough because it’s very cold, so in the afternoon we had to manage the tyres as well, but thankfully we didn’t lose so much time. I feel the car has been working well and when we had a good feeling, we had the pace. There’s still one day to go and I’ll definitely try my best.”

    Sami Pajari

    “I’m pretty satisfied with today and especially this afternoon when we could take a couple of stage wins. I have a really nice feeling with the car and I’m enjoying the driving in these proper winter rally conditions. Taka has also been pretty strong this afternoon, so he hasn’t been making it easy for us to try and close in. There’s still quite a lot of kilometres to go tomorrow and we just need to try and continue the same rhythm and keep pushing.”

    Oliver Solberg

    “This morning was great for us. The conditions were consistent, the feeling was good, and we could catch some time and some positions. This afternoon I think the road cleaning was playing a bigger part again. There was a lot of loose snow, and I struggled a bit with the rhythm and was sideways a lot. At least we could get up to fourth place today which I think was the realistic goal, as my team-mates are doing a great job in front, and I’ll keep doing my best tomorrow.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Esapekka Lappi

    “Overall, I have to say it was a good day. We changed a lot overnight, and then we made some changes throughout the day, and when it started to feel a bit more natural, I decided not to touch the car. It felt good enough for what I wanted, and I just wanted to learn to drive a bit faster. Being the leading Hyundai is good enough for me at the moment, so let’s see where we finish tomorrow.”

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “I made quite a lot of changes on the car – this morning we made some adjustments to the dampers, and it really helped us this afternoon. It’s a shame we didn’t find this solution earlier, but it’s helped us gain some freedom in the setup to just go for it. Today was quite positive, which is encouraging for tomorrow; it’s still going to be a hard fight against the Toyotas, but we will go for it.”

    Thierry Neuville

    “The conditions were generally nice today – much more consistent – so everything was a bit easier than yesterday, giving us a bit more speed and letting us enjoy the stages a bit more. I pushed hard with the setup today – we tried lots of different adjustments. I forgot to send my wife flowers for Valentine’s Day, so I told her I would at least set a fastest time, so there was extra pressure today!”

     

    Sunday

    The final day then will see three stages and a total of 61km’s to bring this year’s edition of Rally Sweden to a close.

     

    Can Elfyn hold on to take his third win in this iconic rally, or will Takamoto find the pace to pass his teammate and take his first victory?

     

    We’ll find out tomorrow!