27/02/2022
Motorsport, Rally, British Rally
Motorsport, Rally, British Rally
After more than 50 years of rallying moments, Rally Sweden bidded farewell to Värmland and headed North for the second round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championships at its new home of Umeå. Since the start of the WRC back in 1973, Rally Sweden has been based in the Värmland region, however, in recent years, more specifically the 2020 event, the climate has changed in the region around February.
It is only fitting that one of the oldest World Rallies in existence, The Monte Carlo Rallye will signify the beginning of a new chapter in the World Rallying history books.
On Thursday 20th January at the Casino Square in Monaco, a new generation of Hybrid Rally1 cars will line up at the ceremonial start ahead of the opening round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season.
Making its return to the FIA World Rally Championship and closing the season for the second year running (after a forfeiting Rally Japan); the ACI Rally Monza signified the final outing for the outgoing generation of World Rally Cars before the switch is made to Hybrid next year.
inal event in which last year saw Frenchman Sébastien Ogier clinch his 7th World title after snatching the Championship away from his Welsh teammate Elfyn Evans; would once again also deliver one last battle for the 2021 title between the pair of Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers.
After a two year, COVID enforced absence from the FIA World Rally Championship; The RACC Rally Catalunya De Espana made a welcomed return for round 11 of the 2021 season. For an event that first joined the WRC in 1991 and relocated to Salou in 2002, after many years of being a mixed surface event; the penultimate round of the seasons saw a return to an entirely Asphalt event for the first time since 2009.
With 17 fast, flowing, super-smooth tarmac stages that covered 280km, the event got underway on Thursday morning with a short 4.3km shakedown test stage over part of the Riudecanyes stage. Here is where the current championship leader Sébastien Ogier posted the fastest time.
Toyotas Elfyn Evans arrived at the final day of Rally Finland 2021 with a 9.1 second lead over Hyundais Ott Tänak. After a dominant performance on Saturday morning, Welshman Evans then came under pressure in the afternoon from the surging Estonian but held on to his lead heading into the final morning of the rally.
All Evans had to do is keep his nerve and make it through the final 45km and 4 stages of the rally.
The second day of Rally Finland consisted of 9 stages covering 152km of competitive action. Overnight rally leader Craig Breen began the day with a 2.8 second lead over his Hyundai teammate Ott Tänak.
However, over the course of the morning, there was a swing in the balance of performance, with Toyotas Elfyn Evans seemingly finding an immense amount of both speed and confidence overnight.
The FIA World Rally Championships arrived in Jyväskylä, Finland for Round 10 of the 2021 season. Affectionately known by rally fans worldwide as “The Grand Prix On Gravel”, Rally Finland is a high-speed blast through the Finnish countryside and always delivers what the fans and drivers want.
Normally run in summer and the rally that typical restarts the Championship after its mid-season break, this year’s event has relocated to a later autumn date, which in itself brings different conditions to the norm, but that same intense, flat out, full throttle, high-speed, adrenaline-filled challenge still remains.