Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja ended a rough, puncture-riddled opening day of EKO Acropolis Rally Greece with a three second lead over Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria, giving Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT hope for a repeat win on one of their most successful events.

Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais ended third in their Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris, some 16.9 seconds off the lead, having led the event heading into the mid-day service break.

Thierry Neuville controlled a Hyundai one-two-three after stage three before the Belgian’s miserable luck continued when he suffered a left-front puncture in stage four, the final test of the morning loop, leaving the i20 N trailing home 40 seconds adrift and on three tyres and a rim.

“It was the right decision to carry on,” Neuville explained. “Obviously disappointing, but the rally is long. There are going to be a lot of punctures.”

Behind the leading trio, Sami Pajari continued his impressive form, briefly holding third overall and ending the loop in fourth. He was 4.9sec ahead of Kalle Rovanperä, who has struggled with confidence and reported excessive oversteer in his GR Yaris.

Neuville is sixth, followed by Elfyn Evans, who is enduring a tough start to his Acropolis campaign. First on the road, the Welshman described his car as “really difficult to turn” and dropped 42.5sec off the lead by midday.

Grégoire Munster was eighth, with WRC2 frontrunners Oliver Solberg and Kajetan Kajetanowicz rounding out the overall top 10. Mārtiņš Sesks, Takamoto Katsuta and Josh McErlean all dropped time earlier in the loop after stopping to change wheels.

Ogier’s pace ebbed away in the afternoon, dropping to third behind the top two Hyundais. Fourmaux was on fine form, taking two stage wins on the bounce. Evans was fourth, a solid run after sweeping the road in the morning stages.

Munster held an impressive fifth overall from Katsuta, Rovanperä and Neuville.

Pajari’s great run ended with a mechanical retirement en route to stage six.

Oliver Solberg held a solid 53 second lead in WRC2 over Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

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Sébastien Ogier was a surprise overnight leader at Vodafone Rally de Portugal after Ott Tänak’s hopes of a long-awaited victory were ruined by a power steering failure late on Saturday afternoon.

With an overnight lead of seven seconds over Ogier, Tanak saw his lead shrink on Saturday’s opening test which was won by Ogier to trim the Estonians advantage to 4.4 seconds.

Tänak had led the gravel fixture since stage two on Friday morning and showed steely determination and lightning speed to win three consecutive stages and rebuild his advantage to 13.9 seconds. Heading into the penultimate test, Amarante 2, the Hyundai driver looked firmly in control – but it all came undone on the rally’s longest stage.

A power steering issue struck halfway through the 22.10km test, forcing Tänak to wrestle his i20 N Rally1 to the finish. He dropped over 45sec and relinquished the lead he had fought so hard to build, tumbling to third overall in the process.

Ogier, who had spent most of the day shadowing Tänak, suddenly found himself at the top of the leaderboard. The eight-time world champion and six-time Rally Portugal winner leads the rally by 27.0sec heading into Sunday’s six-stage finale and stands on the verge of a record-extending seventh Vodafone Rally de Portugal triumph.

“It’s not the way you want to win any fight,” said Ogier. “We were both pushing really hard – that’s the game. We tried to keep the pressure on, even if he was a bit quicker. At the end of the previous stage, I actually said to my engineer: ‘Honestly, anything can happen – it’s rough out there. He’s pushing really hard, we need to keep the pressure on.’”

“I’m not happy,” he continued. “I don’t want to celebrate this way. I just hope he can still recover as many points as possible – it’s not over. Tomorrow is a long day.”

Tänak said: “It’s part of the game, I guess. Very unfortunate, but we gave everything from our side.”

Kalle Rovanperä moved up to second, 8.5sec clear of Tänak. The Toyota star had started the day in fourth but overtook Takamoto Katsuta during the morning and gradually pulled clear as the day progressed.

Katsuta’s pace faded in the afternoon, and he dropped behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who climbed to fourth on the penultimate stage. The Belgian now trails Rovanperä by 17.0sec, with Katsuta a further 2.2sec back in fifth.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans endured another difficult day and sits seventh overall behind Sami Pajari. After losing time as Friday’s road opener, Evans struggled again to find a rhythm despite a better starting position on Saturday and now trails Pajari by 17.5sec.

Josh McErlean moved up to eighth, edging past M-Sport Ford colleague Grégoire Munster on the opening stage. The Irishman ended the day 28.5sec ahead in their intra-team duel. Oliver Solberg rounded out the leaderboard in 10th and continued to dominate the WRC2 category, maintaining a 50.1sec margin over Gus Greensmith.

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Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen completed their domination of the fourth round of the World Rally Championship, winning 15 of the 18 stages en route to building a 53.5 second cushion over the eight-time WRC champion Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were ranked third in all the metrics; overall, Super Sunday and Wolf Power Stage extending their advantage at the top of the championship leaderboard to 43 points.

Rovanperä won the Super Sunday standings and topped the Wolf Power Stage timesheets giving the Finnish Toyota Gazoo Racing crew the maximum haul of 35 points which elevates them to second overall in the title race, up from sixth in one fell swoop.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston made it a Toyota 1-2-3-4 exorcising the Japanese driver’s ghost from Safari Rally Kenya where he crashed out on the final stage.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria were the leading Hyundai team in fifth place, followed by Ott Tanak and Martin Järveoja in sixth and the luckless Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe coming home in seventh after a puncture in the penultimate stage cost them a minute.

Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy crashed their M-Sport Ford Puma out of the rally in the morning’s opening stage.

Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand took their second victory of the year in WRC2 and lead the championship after fending off the very close attention of Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada in a thrilling battle.

Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov brought their Skoda home in third place.

Read Motorsport Monday for the full report. On Monday, obviously!

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With just the super special stage remaining on Saturday, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen won every stage of the day, giving the rally leader not only a full house of 12 stage wins out of 12, his lead extended to an impressive 45.7 seconds ahead of Sebastian Ogier, who eased away from Elfyn Evans who was 23 seconds adrift in third.

The morning loop of the longest day of the rally saw ‘business as usual’ at the head of the leaderboard. Rovanperä won all three of the morning stages to extend his lead over Sebastian Ogier to 36.9 seconds.

Ogier ran Rovanperä close in the two opening tests, finishing one second adrift in SS7 and 0.7 seconds in the following stage. Rovanperä re-asserted his mastery in the final stage before service, hustling his GR Yaris through the 23.3km test 8.4 seconds quicker than anyone else.

Elfyn Evans maintained his third position in something of a no-mans-land; too far behind Ogier to challenge for second and well ahead of Toyota’s rising star, Sami Pajari. Stage eight saw the top four Toyotas covered by 1.2 seconds, with Pajari snapping at Evans’ heels on occasion, finishing stage eight and nine 0.4 seconds behind the championship leader on both occasions.

Takamoto Katsuta got in on the action as well, setting the third best time in SS9 but remained behind Pajari in the overall standings.

Adrien Fourmaux was once again the quickest Hyundai and pushed his teammates down the order as he re-claimed sixth overall. Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak were still experiencing handling issues and languished in seventh and eighth. They set near-identical times in stage eight but were still only seventh and eighth quickest.

M-Sport Ford’s duo of Grégoire Munster and Joshua McErlean were mired at the foot of the Rally1 standings, battling their ill-handling Pumas.

After the service break the order remained unchanged with one difference. Evans only set the sixth fastest time, beaten by Pajari, Katsuta and Fourmaux in stage 10.

Munster was a little optimistic in stage 11, hustling his recalcitrant Puma too fast into a corner 3.5km into the stage. He missed a tree by millimeters but beached himself in a clump of thick bamboo and lost three minutes as spectators battled to manhandle the car back onto the road.

Stage 12 brought disaster for Sami Pajari; with a split time well up on Katsuta, he understeered into a barrier around 20km into the stage and damaged the right front corner of his Yaris. Game over.

The fight in WRC2 was intense: Yohan Rossel still led but he was under attack from Alejandro Cachón and Nikolay Gryazin. Rossel’s lead was down to 14.8 seconds after the morning loop but by close of business ahead of the super special stage, the French ace’s lead was back to 20.5 seconds.

The final 1.8km stage brought an end to Rovanperä’s rout. Evans took the stage win from Ogier with Neuville tied on time with Rovanperä.

Five stages and 58km remain with ten bonus points up for grabs.

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Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen dominated the opening day of Rally Islas Canarias, winning all six stages to enjoy a commanding 26.8 second lead over Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais, heading a stunning Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2-3-4-5.

Rovanperä laid down his marker as early as the shakedown stage on Thursday, setting the quickest time by just over four seconds. The double world champion made his GR Yaris Rally1 obey his every command around the twisty, sometimes narrow 118.8km of tarmac stages.

Ogier had the measure of Evans – who opened the road – but the gap between the two Yaris drivers was just 9.6 seconds.

The championship leaders Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were doing what they needed to do, setting a risk-free pace knowing their title rivals Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe were enduring a miserable day along with the entire Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team squad.

Adrien Fourmaux was the leading Hyundai across the morning loop of stages while Ott Tanak/Martin Järveoja and Neuville languished in seventh and eighth respectively, mystified by their i20 N’s poor handling. To put that in perspective, Neuville lost 13 seconds in the opening stage alone…“Honestly, it’s not very enjoyable and it’s just not working,” Neuville said. “I can’t take any line. Nothing is working.”

Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen ended the opening three-stage loop 0.2 seconds behind Fourmaux; after the first stage after the midday service, Pajari had moved ahead of the Frenchman with the fifth Toyota of Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston lining up the Hyundai who duly took fifth in stage five.

From being the fastest Hyundai before lunch, Fourmaux became the slowest and lost positions to Neuville and Tanak although the advantage between the two champions was a whisker at 0.8 seconds with Fourmaux another 0.7 seconds further back. There were no happy faces in the Korean camp…

The M-Sport Ford Pumas were – there’s no other description – pedestrian, propping up the bottom of the Rally1 timing sheets. In the opening stage, Munster was more than one second per kilometer off the pace and ended the day a whopping 2’11” off the lead. Both he and Josh McErlean reported handling issues.

In WRC2, Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand were doing a “Rovanperä”, winning all six stages in their Citroen C3, if not at a canter, sufficiently quick to hold off the Spanish Rally Champion Alejandro Cachón/Borja Rozada in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Leo Rossel Guillaume Mercoiret in the second PH Sport Citroen rounded out the class podium.

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Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais overcame everything that Rallye Monte Carlo could throw their way to claim a dominant 10^th victory at the famous event. He used every ounce of experience he’d gained over the years to conquer the treacherous route, his only moment over the entire weekend came when he clipped a pole in Thursday evening’s third stage. Flawless, in other words.

Their winning margin over their Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin was 18.5 seconds although the Welshman had to dig deep on Sunday as Hyundai’s new signing Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria closed to just four seconds in the fight for second overall.

Fourmaux started the day in third position overall but was quickly swept aside by a determined Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja in Sunday’s opening stage, not helped by the Frenchman’s slow time in the dark and icy stage.

Fourmaux struck back on stage 17, pummeling the Estonian’s time by 23.3 seconds on the penultimate test of the rally, demoting Tanak back to fourth. Tanak’s slow time put him into the clutches of Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen and sure enough, in the final Wolf Power Stage, Tanak was pushed back to fifth.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe had a torrid start to their title defense, clawing their way back to sixth place after three separate issues struck on Friday and Saturday while newbies Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy brought their Ford Puma home without a scratch on it to complete their Rally1 debut in seventh.

Toyota locked out the top three Super Sunday points paying positions with Fourmaux and Neuville taking the crumbs home this time out.

The opening stage of the day took care of Sami Pajari who skidded into a bridge and landed in a ravine, while  Takamoto Katsuta buried his GR Yaris into the undergrowth 1.8km into the stage.

Johan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand were untouchable in their Citroen C3 Rally2, taking a dominant win in WRC2, beating the non-points scoring Nikolay Gryazin by 1’13.9”. Eric Camilli took a last gasp second place in WRC2, beating out Leo Rossel in the final stage. It was the younger Rossel’s first rally in WRC2 and a first podium…

Read the full story in Motorsport Monday tomorrow.

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The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship got underway with three night stages high up in the French Alps. Under the gaze of tens of thousands of spectators who lit up the night sky with fireworks and flares, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe ended the trio of stages on top of the standings by two seconds after cautiously threading their Hyundai i20 N through the tricky mountain pass roads.

Conditions ranged from dry and wet tarmac to hidden patches of black ice which Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais conquered to lead after two stages. An expensive spin into a pole in the final stage saw the multiple champion lose 12 seconds and drop to third overall.

“On the first part [of SS3] I was painting the road, and in the last part I was cleaning the road!” Neuville smiled. “Super tricky to keep it on the road. I’m happy with the first day. Overall, our target was to finish today.”

“[It was] difficult of course. A lot of mud on the road and we hit a pole sideways. It’s always lucky to get away with that,” said Ogier at the stop control.

Sandwiched between the Hyundai and Ogier was Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin in their GR Yaris, two seconds off the lead.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja ended fourth, some 27 seconds adrift of the reigning World Champion with Hyundai’s third crew Adrien Fourmaux/Alex Coria finishing in fifth. The Frenchman shone on stage two, beating Tanak’s time by 3.1 seconds.

Kalle Rovanpera, returning for a full season campaign with Toyota was a little rusty and ended down in sixth position with M-Sport Ford’s new team leader Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka slotting into seventh in the standings. The Luxembourger hustled his Puma to the fourth fastest time in the final stage of the evening, narrowing the gap to Rovanpera to 4.9 seconds.

Fighting a bout of flu, Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston ended eighth, 4’30” behind the Ford.

Sami Pajari, making his Monte Rally1 debut and with Marko Salminen reading the notes finished a cautious ninth ahead of the top Rally2 team of Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov, now Skoda mounted.

Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy, making their Rally1 debut in the second M-Sport Ford Puma, ended in 12^th position after taking a sensible approach to the start of their new career path.

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Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team has announced its line-up for the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship season as it further strengthens its squad of drivers with a mix of young talent and title-winning experience.

After winning eight out of 13 rallies in 2024 and claiming a fourth consecutive manufacturers’ championship at the season-ending Rally Japan, TGR-WRT will enter 2025 with the mission to defend its crown and fight for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles. It will be able to count on an expanded line-up of cars and drivers, with four or five GR Yaris Rally1 entries set to appear on each event.

Joining the team to start his first full season at the highest level will be22 year-old Finn Sami Pajari, following an impressive 2024 season in which he won the WRC2 drivers’ championship driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car and performed well in his first three outings in Rally1 machinery in Finland, Chile and Central Europe. Pajari’s inclusion in the TGR-WRT roster demonstrates their commitment to developing young drivers as well as the GR Yaris Rally2’s role in providing a pathway to the top of the sport.

Pajari, who will confirm the identity of his co-driver in due course, is one of four drivers who are set to feature on every rally.

Double world champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen will return to competing full-time with the team in 2025 after taking four wins from seven starts during a partial campaign this year. Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin, winners of last weekend’s Rally Japan, continue for their sixth successive season with the team, with Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston also returning for another year. Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais will once more contest a partial schedule of selected events after scoring three victories this season.

Jari-Matti Latvala will continue in the role of Team Principal and will drive one of the most successful Toyota rally cars – the Celica ST185 – in Toyota Gazoo Racing colours in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship.

Juha Kankkunen will take up the role of Deputy Team Principal. A four-time world champion, who won the last of his titles driving the Toyota Celica ST185 in 1993, Kankkunen will bring considerable experience to share with the drivers and other team members

The post Toyota Gazoo Racing announces strong WRC line-up for 2025 appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Ott Tanak and Martin Järveoja completed Saturday’s six stages with a healthy 36 second lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin with just the super special stage still to run.

The championship leaders, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe stormed through the field from 15^th overall to seventh to provisionally earn four of the six points they need to secure their and Hyundai’s first Driver’s and Co-Driver’s Championships.

Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais are currently in third, followed by Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria in the Ford Puma.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston are fifth after spinning in stage 12, dropping out of the podium fight.

Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka are sixth.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov are safe in the lead with Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen comfortable in a championship-winning second.

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The fierce battle for the lead of WRC Central Europe Rally raged over Saturday’s six stages where Sebastian Ogier emerged at the end of the day with a 5.2 second lead over Ott Tänak with Elfyn Evans giving Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Manufacturers’ Championship hopes a boost in third.

The overnight leader, Thierry Neuville suffered  a major setback in stage 11, the third of the day when he spun his Hyundai i20 N and a minute slater, went off the road altogether and got stuck in a ditch which cost the Belgian nearly 40 seconds which knocked him out of the lead and down into fourth position overall.

Neuville, hoping to claim his long awaited maiden WRC title needs to outscore Tänak by two points, but facing a 39.8 second deficit, may have to put the champagne back in the fridge until Rally Japan.

Four stages and 54km await on Sunday and as today’s action proved, nothing is certain in the WRC!

Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari held fifth and sixth places overall respectively, with Grégoire Munster in seventh. Adrien Fourmaux had a spin in stage nine, the first of the day, and was later forced to retire his Ford Puma with a differential problem.

Nikolay Gryazin and Citroen rule the WRC2 roost from the non-points scoring Oliver Solberg by 31 seconds, leaving Filip Mares in second and Miko Marczyk third in the premier support class.

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