Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) channeled his inner Johann Zarco and gave us a backflip backflip in Le Mans after a sensational last-lap victory in the Michelin Grand Prix of France.
The #99 played it smart throughout the race, gradually moving through the lead group to sit third as the final lap began—just in time for chaos to erupt ahead of him.
Photo Credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Intact GP) launched a bold late attack on race leader Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA), the two colliding and running wide in the final corner complex. Rueda seized the moment, sweeping past both to snatch a dramatic win.
“I saw them go wide and just went for it,” he said. “You never know what can happen on the last lap in Moto3, so I stayed patient and it paid off. Winning at Le Mans like this feels incredible—this one is special.” – Jose Antonio Rueda
Muñoz was later penalized for the incident and dropped to third, promoting Kelso to second. It was a significant result for Rueda in the title fight too, as key championship rival Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) crashed out mid-race.
At lights out, rookie polesitter Max Quiles (CFMoto Gaviota Aspar Team) got the best launch, battling Kelso for early supremacy. The Australian eventually took control by the end of the opening lap and set the pace from the front, as the typical Moto3™ slipstream shuffle played out behind.
Photo Credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
The lead group eventually narrowed to Kelso, Muñoz, rookie Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), and Rueda after Piqueras’ exit. Pini’s hopes ended in a sudden crash, leaving a three-way fight for the win, with Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in pursuit but just out of reach.
Kelso kept things tidy up front and seemed on course for victory—until Muñoz launched his final-corner lunge. The resulting contact pushed both riders wide, and Rueda needed no second invitation to sweep into the lead and take the flag.
Carpe came home fourth, narrowly missing out on the podium after the late drama, while David Almansa (Leopard Racing) led the second group to round out the top five. He was followed by Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), a fading Quiles, Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing), Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse), and Argentine rookie Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), who secured a strong P10 finish for the French squad.
Just outside the top ten were Dennis Foggia (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) and Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power), with Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Cormac Buchanan (DENSSI Racing – BOE), and Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team) all picking up points. Pini remounted to finish 17th, missing out on points but leaving France with plenty of attention after a standout qualifying and race showing.
Feature image photo credit: Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool
Charles Rainford picked up his maiden win while securing a clean sweep for WSR in the process. In just his sixth BTCC race, Rainford moved up from third on the grid to take the lead.
Jake Hill came home second behind his teammate with Tom Ingram having to settle for third. It’s the first time since 2015 that three different WSR drivers picked up wins over a single race weekend.
Dan Rowbottom had pole position thanks to the reverse grid draw, and led off the line; despite a brilliant start by Hill. Rainford managed to get past Hill before making a move on Rowbottom into Paddock Hill on lap two.
The BTCC is renowned for its bumper to bumper action, but Aiden Moffat took that too literally when he was repeatedly tapping the rear end of Ash Sutton’s Ford Focus. The Scot was handed a warning and backed off.
Hill fought and finally passed Rowbottom on lap nine, and went in pursuit of Rainford ahead. Meanwhile behind, Ingram made his way from 11th on the grid up to third in his Hyundai, setting the fastest lap in the process.
A few laps from the end Rainford was under pressure, trying to keep his composure and secure his win. Max Hall going off at Clearways and parking his Cupra could have brought out the safety car, but the stewards let the race come to a natural conclusion.
On the penultimate lap Ingram fought Hill for second, making slight contact into Druids. Despite the scuffle, Hill prevailed, and it allowed Rainford to get away and secure his first win.
Rainford took first, Hill second and Ingram third. Sutton came home fourth with Chris Smiley and Josh Cook following behind. Tom Chilton recovered from a poor race one to finish seventh. Moffat, Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden rounded off the top ten.
James Dorlin, Adam Morgan, race two winner Daryl DeLeon took home points. Dan Cammish recovered from his race two DNF to take 14th with Aron Taylor-Smith grabbing the last point for 15th.
Ash Sutton retakes the lead of the championship by just five points to Ingram, with Hill third heading to the next trio of races at Snetterton.
Daryl DeLeon secured his maiden BTCC win as he took the chequered flag for WSR in round five at Brands Hatch. A chaotic race dominated by tyre compounds and interrupted by two safety car periods, DeLeon was on the better soft tyre and powered to victory in his BMW. Adam Morgan finished second with Ash Sutton taking his 100th BTCC podium in third.
Race one winner Jake Hill started on pole with Charles Rainford second to make it an all-BMW front row. They sped off the line, both on the hard tyre, which would mean a deficit in pace to the soft tyre shod cars.
Dan Cammish made his way up to third, battling Rainford for second before passing him on lap four at Clearways.
Lap five saw DeLeon take third from Rainford, his hard tyres making it hard to defend. The first piece of drama came when Dan Lloyd was punted wide on the Cooper straight. He made a pit stop but finished a lap down in 21st.
The first of two safety car periods came on lap seven when Max Hall and Dexter Patterson collided at Paddock Hill and ended up in the gravel trap. After a near ten-lap delay, the safety car was halfway down the pit lane when it was to be re-deployed.
As is standard procedure with safety car restarts, Hill was bunching up the pack. However Dan Cammish encountered an issue with his Ford Focus, causing it to stop. Cars made their way past the stricken Yorkshireman, but Aiden Moffat wasn’t as lucky; running into the back of Cammish. Causing another safety car to clear his car and the debris on the circuit.
This promoted DeLeon up to second, and on the restart he wasted no time. He passed Hill into Paddock Hill bend in what was a gutsy overtake. He pulled it off and led away to the chequered flag. This began Hill’s descent down the grid as the soft tyre cars made their way through.
The best of the overtakes on Hill however, went to Adam Morgan, who rounded the BMW on the outside at Paddock.
DeLeon strolled to the finish, taking his first win in the series. Morgan and Sutton finished on the podium, with Chris Smiley following Sutton through the grid for fourth place.
Moffat finished fifth despite the contact with Cammish, making up 15 places in the process. Josh Cook was sixth with Rainford and Hill following behind. Dan Rowbottom and Ronan Pearson rounded out the top ten.
Championship leader Tom Ingram could only finish 11th on the hard tyre, with Tom Chilton in 12th. The final three points places were taken by Stephen Jelley, Michael Crees, and Aron Taylor-Smith.
Dan Rowbottom will start the final race on pole thanks to the reverse grid draw, with Sutton and Ingram looking to fight through the grid for vital points.
Jake Hill ignited his championship defence with a lights to flag win in round four of the British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch.
BMW teammate Charles Rainford followed for a one-two finish for the WSR team; a record breaking 133rd win making them the most successful team in BTCC history. Tom Ingram claimed third place, and while briefly threatening the BMW’s in front, he managed his race well for third.
Hill and Rainford got away well at the start, settling into a formation which wouldn’t be breached for the duration of the 24 lap race. Ash Sutton was the one who started best, making three places off the grid from 13th. Dan Lloyd was given a five second penalty for a false start, taking him from seventh to ninth.
Ingram started to pressure the BMW duo on lap two, the Team Vertu driver had a promising opening weekend at Donington Park last time out, and pulled away from teammate Adam Morgan in pursuit of the leaders.
The BMW hadn’t shown much pace at Donington, but with Brands favouring rear wheel drive, they came to life here. Rainford set a new lap record not once, but twice; showing Donington was just a blip.
By lap nine Hill had settled into a rhythm, while Rainford had Ingram to deal with. The Hyundai driver putting pressure on Rainford, the rookie who was starting his fourth BTCC race.
After a few laps of pressure, Ingram decided to play the long game, and eased off, settling for third. This led to Morgan closing in, and the Excelr8 drivers running in formation.
Hill strolled to his first win of the season, in the process kick-starting his championship defence. Rainford followed home six tenths behind for his first BTCC podium. With a performance like that, it will surely be the first of many.
Ingram and Morgan followed behind with Dan Cammish having a quiet race, coming home fifth. Mikey Doble was sixth for Power Maxed Racing with Lloyd finishing seventh on the road, but dropping to ninth once his penalty was applied.
Daryl Deleon and Sam Osborne were the beneficiaries of Lloyd’s penalty, finishing seventh and eighth. Ash Sutton rounded off the top ten for NAPA Racing. Ronan Pearson, Chris Smiley, Michael Crees took points finishes with the two ONE Motorsport Honda’s of Stephen Jelley and Josh Cook taking the final points places.
Tom Ingram takes the lead of the championship, capitalising on Sutton finishing lower down the order, with Jake Hill now third. The BMW man will be starting on pole for race two, which will give him an advantage and a chance to climb further up the table.
Formula E made history in Monaco as not one but two rounds were held around the iconic streets of Monaco. Rain was forecast for these 2 rounds and while the rain didn’t come in round 6, it came in for round 7 and brought old faces back to the podium. Let’s get into it!
Round 6
The McLaren rookie of Taylor Barnard led us away from pole position after The Nissan of Oliver Rowland hit the wall at the start of the final duel for pole position. Rowland cut across the Cupra Kiro of Dan Ticktum at the start to stop him from getting into P2 but that compromised him and turned P3 into P4. The Andretti of Jake Dennis, Tag Heuer Porsche of Pascal Wehrlein and Envision Racing of Robin Frijns were all close together while Dennis’ teammate Nico Mueller had to pit at the start due to a puncture. Due to Ticktum’s drop in place from the start, he was struggling to pass the Mahindra of Nyck De Vries so his team suggested he overconsume energy. Ticktum was managing to stay in his position until Wehrlein’s teammate of Antonio Felix Da Costa crashed at the final corner while attempting to overtake the Mahindra of Mortara. This brought out a Full Course Yellow. Once we went back to green flag racing, the season 9 champion of Jake Dennis IMMEDIATELY went up to P3 however he received a 5 second time penalty due to over speeding under that FCY. We didn’t stay green flag racing for too long as Mitch Evans came to a stop on track and this let Buemi pit.
Once green, Rowland lost the lead due to taking attack mode but he managed to easily retake the lead. Towards the end, everyone pitted with Mueller, Cassidy and Rowland being the top 3. However, Mueller and Cassidy encountered some energy issues so the Jaguar driver had 9% LESS energy than everyone and Mueller didn’t actually get the extra 10% from pit boost. This led to them having to conserve a LOT more energy compared to their other racers. Rowland took the lead but De Vries and Rowland were fighting for the win until Barnard went into the barrier at Casino Square and fell out of the points. Dennis made his way up to P2 and De Vries was not happy about this so they were fighting with the Dutchman managing to reovertake P2 from the Brit.
By the end of the race, Oliver Rowland took victory on the streets of Monaco! Nyck De Vries took his first victory since London 2022 and Mahindra’s first since Mexico City 2023. Jake Dennis scored his first podium of Season 11. De Vries’ teammate Mortara finished P4, Mueller managed to finish P5, reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein finished P6, Dan Ticktum P7, Robin Frijns P8, Vandorrne P9 and Max Guenther P10!
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – MAY 03: David Beckmann of Germany driving the (3) CUPRA KIRO Porsche 99X Electric WCG3 during the Monaco E-Prix, Round 6 of the 2025 FIA Formula E World Championship at Circuit de Monaco on May 03, 2025 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Simon Galloway/LAT Images for Formula E)
Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank
Round 7
Thankfully, Oliver Rowland did not crash at turn 1 at the final for pole. However, there was NO final duel for pole due to both DS Penske cars going over the chicane after the tunnel and having their lap times deleted. This did lead to Nyck De Vries getting promoted up to P2 for the starting grid!
We went racing in Monaco for the second time this weekend with a clean getaway from all drivers. 21 drivers started on the grid with Sam Bird starting from the pitlane after a crash in qualifying. The track was greasy and slippery but it was drying fast. Barnard fell down to join his teammate Bird at the rear of the field with Vergne, Da Costa and Buemi jumping up a place each. Once the attack modes were taken, De Vries has to defend from Vergne, but this in turn helped Rowland as he had not taken either attack mode by this stage. A brief yellow flag saw David Beckmann and Jake Hughes make contact with the Cupra Kiro driver having to do a 3 point turn at turn 1. The Maserati driver obtained a 5 second time penalty due to this.
Di Grassi went into the barrier after contact with Dennis which brought out a full course yellow. Once the yellow was brought in, Ticktum hit the barrier after a battle with Cassidy, went down the escape road just before the casino section, did an amazing spin and managed to get away. At this stage, Vergne had a lead of 3.1 seconds over Rowland with Wehrlein attempting to do a successful move that his teammate failed to do the day prior but it didn’t work out. Mueller then brought out the safety car after hitting the barrier on his own.
Once we went green, Buemi managed to make his way up to P4 with only Rowland, Barnard and Evans having attack mode remaining. Towards the latter stages of the race, De Vries managed to make his way up to the front and battle for the lead while Rowland maintained the lead despite going over the chicane. Buemi saw this opportunity and managed to take the lead before a brief yellow. De Vries, Vergne, Rowland and Cassidy were all very close together for P2 down to P5 with the latter 2 of that array manages to swap with the former 2. Barnard, Maloney and Ticktum all received time penalties for track limits while Sebastian Buemi went on to win the Monaco E-Prix and secure his first win since 2019 and Envision Racing’s first win since 2023. Rowland managed to keep P with Cassidy obtaining his first podium of the season. Da Costa finished P4, De Vries P5, Vergne P6, Wehrlein P7, Guenther P8, Dennis P9 and Vandoorne P10!
Nicolo Bulega picked up where he left off the previous day to more-or-less ease to victory in the remaining 2 races at the Cremona Circuit in Italy, with an ardent home crowd and MotoGP figures from Ducati in attendance to witness his historic achievement.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE
The 10-lap Tissot Superople around the shortest circuit on the World Superbikes calendar was a rapid affair. The Sunday morning race took just under 15 minutes and was in many ways a repeat of Race 1 from the previous day.
Bulega led from pole position ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista while Sam Lowes once again fell back from the front row of the grid. Razgatlioglu tried his best to stick with Bulega but by as early as lap 3 it was evident that the latter was managing to pull away at the front.
While Bulega stretched out his lead, Razgatlioglu kept him in sight but was unable to close in while Bautista once again settled in 3rd. Andrea Iannone was hit with a double long-lap penalty for narrowly jumping the start and found himself in 9th after serving his punishment, having been in contention for 4th before it.
Sam Lowes held onto 4th ahead of an Xavi Vierge, with the two faster riders of Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci running out of time to make up more positions. Crucially for Petrucci he was able to secure 6th place in the race and the same spot on the grid for Race 2 to make up for his shambolic qualifying in the Superpole on Saturday.
As for Lecuona, he crashed out on lap 9 to make it 2 retirements in 2 races so far in Cremona despite having some scintillating pace. After the Honda rider crashed out, Andrea Locatelli, Iannone and Michael van der Mark were those who rounded out the top 9 and inherited those same places for Race 2.
Given how short the race was, the independent Ducati riders Scott Redding and Gabriele Ruiu gambled on running the qualifying tyre but were unable to make much progress. Redding fell short of the crucial 9th place require to get a better grid position for Race 2, coming home in 11th while Ruiu was 21st.
TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULTS
Image Credit: WorldSBK
RACE 2
It became known that Lowes was suffering from illness this weekend and this was perhaps why he once again went backwards at the start of the 3rd race of the weekend. Despite Bautista starting on the front row, he was unable to challenge Bulega and Razgatlioglu who once again held 1st and 2nd places at the start.
Just as in Race 1, Razgatlioglu scythed up the inside of Bulega with a block pass at the final corner of the 1st lap. Bulega then stalked his rival for another 3 laps before an unsuccessful move at the end of the back straight on lap 4, which he converted successfully at the same spot a lap later to retake the lead.
Unsurprisingly, that was the last Razgatlioglu or anyone else saw of Bulega. In front of a 45,000 strong home crowd and senior figures from Ducati’s MotoGP management, the 25-year-old delivered while the pressure was on to secure an emotional hat-trick that will live long in the memory for him – and his stunned competitors.
Razgatlioglu nonetheless did well to bank three 2nd place finishes this weekend as he noted Bulega’s superior speed on corner exits, but even Bautista on the other factory Ducati was unable to get close to his teammate. At least Razgatlioglu was much closer to Bulega in Race 2 than he was in Race 1, with one mistake by Bulega probably enough to put himself under pressure from the BMW rider, however the Italian was peerless around Cremona.
After Bulega retook the lead the main action was taking place further down the order. Petrucci was able to take move from up from 6th into 4th after dispatching Lowes and Vierge. Of course it was still a disappointing weekend for the man who won all 3 races at Cremona last year, and the gap to Bautista in 3rdsuggests that 4th may have been the maximum that the Italian could have hoped for anyway.
The battle for 5th was a thrilling and borderline disastrous affair between the factory Honda duo and Lowes. Lecuona was again coming through from the midfield and after a tough battle with Locatelli he had around 6 laps to catch and pass his teammate and Lowes up ahead.
By the time Lecuona became a factor in the battle for 5th, time was running out. Some very aggressive racing between the two teammates saw them almost collide at the final corner, then Vierge made contact with Lowes coming onto the start-finish straight.
A thrilling final lap saw Lowes valiantly retake P5 with just 3 corners to go while Vierge had to settle for 7th behind his teammate – a damning result giving their grid positions. Locatelli was 8th on a difficult weekend for Yamaha, with Michael van der Mark and Remy Gardner rounding out the top 10.
A hat-trick of wins for Bulega and 3 straight 2nd places for Razgatlioglu sees the Italian rider stretch his lead in the World Championship to 34 points heading to Autodrom Most for Round 5 in a fortnight’s time. By then, it would not be a great surprise if Ducati has their fuel-flow slightly restricted to try and peg back Bulega in particular, but the concessions system in WorldSBK might not be enough to stop the 25-year-old from running away with this year’s title if the Acerbis Italian Round was anything to go by.
Nicolo Bulega enjoyed a thrilling battle with championship rival Toprak Razgatlioglu in Race 1 at Cremona before blasting off into the distance to win in front of his home fans and senior Ducati management.
After denying Sam Lowes back-to-back pole positions, Bulega launched away from pole position in the first WorldSBK race at Cremona but was pursued by Razgatlioglu. Come the final corner of lap 1 Razgatlioglu muscled his way past to herald the start of a titanic fight for the win, however things would peter out around one-third distance…
On Razgatlioglu’s first visit to the Cremona Circuit after injury ruled him out of last year’s event, the Turkish rider had a great opportunity to take advantage of the pressure that might have been affecting Bulega. Not only was the Italian rider racing for an Italian factory on home soil, but Ducati had some of its senior MotoGP personnel in attendance to keep an eye on the man that might bring the WorldSBK crown back to them this year if recent form is to be believed.
Everyone in attendance was treated to a great battle between the two that seemed to be going Razgatlioglu’s way in the first few laps before the two almost collided at the end of lap 3. The BMW rider’s defence proved successful but Bulega was never far behind and always able to quickly recover from his failed attempts to pass the Turk.
By the end of lap 6 of 23, Bulega finally made a move stick on Razgatlioglu. Despite a valiant attempt to retake in an unconventional spot for overtaking through turns 3 and 4, it would mark the end of Razgatlioglu’s time in the lead of the race as Bulega stretched his lead by around 0.3 seconds per lap.
At the start of the last lap, Bulega was so far ahead that by the time he swept through the notoriously fast turn 1 at Cremona, Razgatlioglu was not even in the same camera shot on the start-finish straight. Bulega declared this the most important win of his career thus far in World Superbikes and it is hard to see why with all eyes on him and such a crushing performance to rebound from the heartbreak of Assen.
Someone who was unfortunate not to feature in the fight at the front was Sam Lowes, whose P2 on the grid disappeared almost immediately once the race got underway. Lowes slipped down the top 10 in the early stages but after running wide on lap 6 he was consigned to 12th place at the chequered flag.
Alvaro Bautista was in a race of his own in Cremona as he had neither to pace to challenge the front two but more than enough to keep the chasing pack behind. Andrea Iannone spent the majority of the race in 4th but was passed by Iker Lecuona about halfway through.
By the time the Honda rider had made it into 4th following a frighteningly close battle with his teammate Xavi Vierge, the Spaniard was already 7 seconds by Bautista. Rather foolishly, Lecuona pushed too hard for too little of a chance to take 3rd and threw away valuable points for a guaranteed 4th in a self-induced crash on lap 15.
Iannone was left to fend off Vierge and Remy Gardner while Danilo Petrucci tried his best to make progress but could only manage 7th. The Italian rider was unable to repeat his 2024 feats around the Cremona Circuit and started outside the top 10 having been blocked by his compatriot Andrea Locatelli during qualifying (for which the Yamaha rider received a grid penalty and then had an underwhelming race of his own).
Michael van der Mark came home in 9th while Scott Redding split the Bimota duo, then came Lowes in 12th ahead of Dominque Aegeter, Yari Montella and Garrett Gerloff as the last of the points scorers. The Tissot Superpole and Race 2 at the Acerbis Italian Round get underway tomorrow and Bulega looks odds on to make it a hat-trick at home.
It is May 1st, which means we have officially entered the month of May for motorsport! Indy500, Formula One in Miami! For Formula E, however, we are starting at a landmark in the motorsport’s history: Monaco! The famous landmark where a single race event has been held…until now.
Formula E is making history this weekend as we have our first ever DOUBLE HEADER in Monaco! As it is a double header, PIT BOOST RETURNS! Since its debut in Jeddah, Saturday’s race around the close streets will have a mandatory pitstop for all 22 drivers to make to gain an extra 10% of energy.
Weekend Schedule
Round 6 Schedule: All times are in local time. Free Practice 1: 7:30am Free Practice 2: 9:10am Qualifying: 10:40am Monaco E-Prix: 3:05pm
Round 7 Schedule: All times are in local time. Free Practice 3: 8:30am Qualifying: 10:40am Monaco E-Prix: 3pm
Weekend Preview
Formula E Monaco’s Track Map for Season 11,
Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank
This 3.337km circuit has been iconic throughout motorsport. However, Formula E has only started racing at the same configuration as Formula 1 for a few years. The tight walls, sharp corners, and difficulty overtaking for certain series make this a very difficult challenge for all 22 drivers, and now the teams have an extra strategy with pit boost.
Round 6 Predictions
Pole Position: Pascal Wehrlein The reigning world champion took victory last time out in Miami after a chaotic final few minutes of that race. I think Wehrlein will take that motivation and confidence that he has in the car and use it to his and his team’s advantage in order to snatch pole position on Saturday! Race Winner: António Félix da Costa Is this a bold choice? Possibly. However, Da Costa has been very strong recently and was on for the win in Miami until the late safety car and red flag ruined his chances. He will be carrying a lot of self-motivation in order to show that he still has what it takes to be at the front and to fight for this title, even after all of the rumors last year of his seat being under threat.
Round 7 Predictions
Pole Position: Taylor Barnard After McLaren announced their departure from the series last week, both McLaren drivers will be ready to make their case for their seat to be theirs; at least Taylor will. Getting a pole at the circuit he made his debut at in Formula E and a debut win in Formula 2 would be a great statement! Race Winner: Taylor Barnard What’s better than getting laid? Winning from pole! Which is what I think will happen on Sunday!
Overall Weekend Predictions
Biggest Surprise of the weekend: Jaguar Jaguar’s season has been horrid. DNFs in multiple races, not many points scored in comparison to their rivals, the reigning team champions have entered a slump. However, with both Cassidy and Evans coming back to a track where they have both won at, I think they’ll take the confidence to score extremely strong points for their team.
Biggest disappointment of the weekend: Nissan. After an optimistic weekend, despite Rowland and Nato scoring fewer points than they should have in Miami, their season hasn’t been bad, as Rowland currently leads the drivers championship. Something in my gut tells me, however, that this will not last forever and this weekend will result in them scoring very few points
Do you have any bold predictions for this weekend? Let us know!
Well, we came to the final day of this event, and it was all looking very good for Kalle and Jonne to take their first win of the year. Toyota were also set for a lockout of the top four positions as well. Of course, it should be mentioned that Sami and Marko would not be returning to the action after their crash in the penultimate Saturday stage twelve. Once again Greg would open the road throughout the day.
First up was SS14 Agüimes – Santa Lucía 1 – 14.97 km and there was drama from the start as Josh went wide and hit a barrier at a third of a way into the stage. He and Eoin were out on the spot sadly. Kalle was again fastest from Seb and Elfyn.
Next up was SS15 Maspalomas 1 – 13.47 km and Kalle again set the fastest time from Elfyn and Thierry was third. Greg gained another position on the leaderboard moving into eleventh overall and was now fifty-four seconds from tenth placed Nikolay Gryazin.
Onto SS16 Costa Canaria – 1.50 km and it was another mickey mouse stage won by Adrien, whilst Seb and Yohan set the same time to go second and third. These silly stages are not rallying and quite honestly utterly pointless.
Seb was fastest in SS17 Agüimes – Santa Lucía 2 – 14.97 km from Elfyn and Kalle. There was a position change as Ott moved into sixth place at the expense of Thierry who had a puncture and lost almost a minute and a quarter.
Onto the final stage then, SS18 Maspalomas 2[Power Stage] – 13.47 km. The top five in the stage and therefore securing power stage points were, Kalle, Seb, Elfyn, Adrien and Thierry. Kalle had secured victory from Seb and Elfyn. Takamoto was fourth meaning that the Toyota team secured the top four positions.
Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.
Final Classification – Rally Islas Canarias
1
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
2:54:39.8
2
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+53.5
3
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:17.1
4
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+2:02.9
5
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+2:31.0
6
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+3:11.4
7
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+3:40.7
8
Y. Rossel
A. Dunand
Citroën C3
+7:10.7
9
A. Cachón
B. Rozada
Toyota GR Yaris
+7:40.2
10
N. Gryazin
K. Aleksandrov
Škoda Fabia RS
+7:58.4
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä
“It’s been a super weekend for us and also the whole team. To get a 1-2-3-4 result like this again is quite amazing. We have just been enjoying the driving. The car has been super-fast, so a big thanks to the whole team for preparing it so well. Jonne has also been doing a great job and we drove well so it’s probably one of my best wins so far. It’s not so often on this level when you can be so consistently fast through the whole weekend. To get maximum points was our goal today and we really needed that. It’s still a big gap to Elfyn but at least we are now a step closer, and we keep working.”
Sébastien Ogier
“It’s an amazing result for the team to lock out the top four. It doesn’t happen every time and we need to be very happy with that. On our side, second place is not my favourite position but it’s still a good one. I think we drove a pretty good rally. I enjoyed it so much; the car was fun to drive and a big thanks to the team for giving us the best tools this weekend. Kalle and Jonne were untouchable but it’s still a very positive weekend for us, securing maximum points for the team.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s been a great weekend from the team with an incredible performance from the GR YARIS Rally1. A big thank you to the team who’ve done a great job understanding the challenges of this rally, preparing the car and adapting to the new tyres. A big well done to Kalle because he had pace that nobody else could match this weekend, and well done to Seb also. I’m not wholly satisfied of course to have been a bit behind them and not fight for the win with equal machinery, but it’s still good points and we have to be relatively pleased with that.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“I’m very proud to be part of such an amazing result for the team. A big thanks to everyone in the team for preparing the car so well. It’s been such a nice car to drive all weekend, and this is why we could finish 1-2-3-4 on such a new and different rally that we haven’t been to before. On my side it would have been nice if we could have finished even higher, but it’s been a good rally for us with no big moments, and I will focus now on the next one to keep improving.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Adrien Fourmaux
“While there are some positives from the weekend, such as that amazing final stage and winning our inter-team battle, for sure it is not what we wanted. Sometimes in difficult rallies like this you can learn a lot and take steps forward for the future – I’m confident in the team that we can do that. We managed to take some points, which is good, but we will keep pushing to come back stronger.”
2025 FIA World Rally Championship Round 04, Rally Islas Canarias 24-27 April 2025 Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak
“It’s difficult to find the words to describe such a demanding weekend. I think it’s the worst we’ve been across all three crews, with none of us able to compete at the front. It is tricky when it is hot, as I get more understeer, and when the car is not working I really struggled to push. We didn’t do our homework and we weren’t prepared for this event, and Toyota set the bar very high – it was a great job from them.”
Thierry Neuville
“It hasn’t been a good weekend for us. We struggled a lot, and even though we were working hard to fix the situation, everything we tried didn’t seem to work. We still need to put our finger on what has caused these issues for us and come back stronger. Nevertheless, the team kept fighting despite all our struggles; we weren’t lucky with the puncture today, otherwise we might have got a reasonable result. We expected much more from this weekend, and we didn’t get it.”
M-Sport Ford
Grégoire Munster
“Although we learnt a lot in our pre-event test, sadly we still got something wrong and once we are here with sealed mechanical components we can’t really do much to try and solve it. Sometimes that’s just how it is, but we never gave up all weekend and we kept trying to find solutions. Certainly, we don’t have the result we wanted to achieve, but we didn’t give up and that’s the most important thing. I’m looking forward to bouncing back on gravel in Portugal in only a couple of weeks.
“Thanks must go out to the organisers for such a well organised event; it is amazing to see how many fans came out to watch us. It made the weekend incredibly enjoyable, even if the stages were a challenge.”
Romet Jürgenson
“The rally on Friday sadly ended quite quickly for us, we missed a whole day and after that it was quite difficult to get the confidence back for Saturday. But once we got out there it got better, and then I think especially on the Power Stage I felt quite ok. There’s a lot more to learn and a lot to improve on, but I think for our second Rally2 event on Tarmac we can be satisfied. It’s just this kind of pure racetrack tarmac, for me, is really new but it has been a really good experience for us.”
Josh McErlean, Retired Sunday
“This island has produced many memories! It’s been difficult from the start; we began to make small progress over the three days with the whole package. It’s a big shame what happened today, a little too ambitious pacenote meant we carried too much speed and ran wide into an armco. I’m sorry for the whole team for this mistake. We have learnt a lot about the car and my own driving this weekend. I look forward to getting back on the gravel now and into more familiar territory, everything should come a little more naturally and we can push on from here.”
Oliver Solberg
“Experience and a deeper understanding of how the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 works on dry Tarmac was what we’re all about here. I take much more confidence away from the event.
“Today was really cool, really nice. We were winning a lot of stages, which was great given how close the fight was at the front of the WRC2 class. We’ve worked a lot with the set-up for the car and today showed what’s possible – Elliott and I were really enjoying the driving and having so much fun.
“The whole Printsport team has done such a good job with the car, like always and the same with Elliott on the notes.
“The speed on these roads from these cars is fantastic. What’s also been great this week is the atmosphere. I know we talk a lot about how much we love to see the fans and interact with them on events, but it’s really what our sport’s about – we have to take it to the people.
“On Saturday night, the spectator stage went into the Gran Canaria Arena, and we actually did some donuts in the middle of a basketball court – the whole place was packed with thousands of people. It was just fantastic.
“OK, we didn’t get the chance to actually look and see the faces from the fans, but you could really feel the noise inside the car.
“Now, we turn to the gravel rallies through the middle of the season. Portugal is next and that’s a very, very different event to this one – but definitely one of the highlights of the year.”
Next rally is in Portugal from the 15 to the 18 of May.
2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 4
1
E. Evans
109
2
K. Rovanperä
66
3
T. Neuville
59
4
S. Ogier
58
5
O. Tänak
57
6
A. Fourmaux
44
7
T. Katsuta
39
8
S. Pajari
19
9
G. Munster
16
10
M. Sesks
8
2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 4
Winning at Jerez is the dream for every Spanish rider. This year, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) turned that dream into reality, making the leap from passionate spectator to home hero. Dominating the Moto3™ race from start to finish, Rueda delivered an emotional victory in front of a raucous Andalusian crowd that was no doubt packed with his family, friends, and fans.
Starting from pole, Rueda wasted no time seizing the holeshot, leading the field into Turn 1 with the determination of a rider racing not just for points, but for pride. Early chaos, however, unfolded behind him: at Turn 6 on the opening lap, Ruche Moodley (DENSII Racing – BOE) clashed with David Almansa (Leopard Racing) and David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP), two separate incidents converging into one messy moment. Muñoz, already facing a back-of-the-grid penalty for riding slowly on the racing line during qualifying, remounted and rejoined but was left with a mountain to climb.
Image Credit: PirelliMoto press release
The drama didn’t stop there. Lap 2 saw more casualties as Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team), Vicente Perez (LEVELUP-MTA), and Cormac Buchanan (DENSII Racing – BOE) all crashed out separately — underlining just how dirty the track was offline. Buchanan was able to remount and continue, but the early attrition was already reshaping the race.
Out front, Rueda was untouchable. Setting a relentless pace, he began to edge away from the chasing duo of Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) and Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI), the three riders creating a clear gap back to Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), who rode lonely races in fourth and fifth.
Just past the halfway mark, Rueda fired in the fastest lap of the race, daring his rivals to keep up. Piqueras responded, launching a move on Kelso into Turn 1 on Lap 13. However, in his haste to close the gap to the leader, the #36 ran wide, handing second place straight back to Kelso and allowing Rueda to extend his lead to over 1.5 seconds.
Image Credit: PirelliMoto Press release
From there, the race was Rueda’s to lose — and he showed no signs of cracking. Calm and composed, he ticked off the final laps and crossed the line to achieve a lifelong dream: a dominant, emotional victory on home soil at Jerez.
The battle for second wasn’t over, though. On the final lap, Piqueras made another attempt, attacking Kelso at Turns 5 and 6. This time he made it stick, securing a Spanish 1-2 and sending the home crowd into celebration. The pair enjoyed a special moment together on their slow-down lap, saluting the fans at Turns 9 and 10.
Kelso claimed third — his second podium of the season — while Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) produced a strong second half of the race to snatch fourth from Yamanaka. Furusato finished a solid sixth, followed by a career-best result for rookie Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) in seventh. Fellow JuniorGP™ graduate Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished eighth, while Jacob Roulstone and Valentin Perrone (both Red Bull KTM Tech3) completed the top ten, overcoming Long Lap penalties received for qualifying infractions.
