By: FIA | October 7, 2018 11:12 AM Sebastien Ogier secured a remarkable victory at Wales Rally GB, an event that saw so many twists and turns in the fight for both outright victory and the World Rally Championship itself.The Frenchman fought back from setbacks on Friday to take his first win since the Tour de Corse in April, and in doing so become the most successful crew in the history of Rally GB with five wins. With the win, he also significantly boosted his hopes for a sixth consecutive WRC crown, with the battle looking set to go down to the wire at the final round in Australia.Jari-Matti Latvala looked set to spoil his party by taking the lead three stages before the end, but the Finn dropped time in the closing two stages to slip back to second, 10.6 seconds behind. Toyota teammate Esapekka Lappi rounded out the podium.In the Driver’s Championship, Thierry Neuville managed to cling onto his lead but having only finished fifth, the Belgian’s advantage over Ogier has been slashed to just seven points with two rounds remaining. Ott Tanak’s heartbreaking retirement yesterday means he drops from second to third, a further 14 points behind. In the Manufacturer’s Championship, another double podium for Toyota sees the Japanese marque extend its advantage over Hyundai to 20 points.Four crews went into today’s closing five stages still in the fight for victory, with Ogier holding a slim advantage. He pushed hard over the slippery stages and maintained his lead over Latvala until the Power Stage, which unusually ran as the second of the five stages. But, when Latvala picked up the maximum points for fastest time in this single stage, he leapt into a 3.6-second lead. The battle continued through the following stages with Latvala leading after SS21 before Ogier’s comeback and two stage wins saw him inch ahead of the Finn.Behind Latvala and Lappi — who picked up a stage win today and his third podium of the season — Craig Breen finished a fine fourth for Citroen. The Irishman was on the outside of the four-way fight but he lost 26 seconds with a spin in the Power Stage and dropped out of the battle. After going off the road yesterday, Neuville managed to salvage fifth position and two points in the Power Stage but the Belgian has lost significant ground at the head of the championship table.Teammates Andreas Mikkelsen and Hayden Paddon finished sixth and seventh respectively, the three Hyundai drivers and Mads Ostberg all in a close-knit group. Ostberg started the day fifth but gradually slipped back throughout the day, including with a spin, to finish eighth.Kalle Rovanpera was another sensation of the event, the 18-year-old Skoda driver dominating the FIA WRC 2 Championship. He notched up his second WRC victory in just eight events to claim the win by more than 90 seconds over reigning category champion, Pontus Tidemand. Tom Williams also took a commanding victory in WRC 3, the Briton’s winning margin nearly five minutes over Enrico Brazzoli.The penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the mixed surface Rally of Spain from October 25-28 October.

By: MazdaMotorsports.com | 11 hours ago While not a requirement, autocrossing can help a driver tackle a road course for the first time. Just ask Tamra Hunt.Tamra Hunt has been competing in autocross for five years, making four visits to Solo Nationals, where she has accumulated two championships and two second-place finishes.At each autocross event, track time is minimal compared to other racing verticals such as road racing. Most autocross runs last round 60 seconds. But according to Hunt, “Those 60 seconds are some of the most exhilarating moments of my life. Pure, raw driving with no fear of crashing. I get to push the car to its absolute limits… and it’s addicting.“However, when I tell people I race cars, their first question is usually. ‘Oh sweet; have you been to Lime Rock?’ (She lives in Connecticut, where Lime Rock Park racetrack resides.) Then I go into this awkward explanation of ‘No, I actually race in parking lots or abandoned airports on a course made of cones, and I’m racing against the clock, not wheel-to-wheel on a race track.’ In fact, I’ve never even been on a racetrack!”But Hunt decided to change that earlier this month, signing up for her first High Performance Driver’s Education (HPDE) day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a very low modified 2005 Mazda RX-8 Shinka.

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By: Red Bull content pool | November 4, 2018 9:38 AM Sebastien Loeb will return for another shot at a maiden Dakar Rally win next January as a Red Bull privateer.Loeb has driven the world’s most grueling rally raid race three times before in a factory car. His second place behind teammate Stephane Peterhansel in 2017 was his best result for Team Peugeot Total.After retiring in 2018 due to an injury to co-driver Daniel Elena in the Peruvian sand dunes, it looked like he would not race it again. But emboldened by his 79th FIA World Rally Championship victory in Spain last weekend, has decided to give it another shot.The privateer car that he will pilot alongside navigator Elena will be a Peugeot 3008DKR similar to the one that he finished runner-up in at the 2017 edition. His car will be run by independent French team PH Sport with Loeb looking to become the first privateer to win the race since Jean-Louis Schlesser in 2000.The 41st Dakar Rally in Peru takes place solely in one country for the first time from January 6-17 with around 3,100 miles over 10 stages awaiting the world’s best off-roaders leaving Loeb little time for testing.The 44-year-old, who also has Silk Way Rally and Rallye du Maroc experience with Peugeot, said: “Throughout my career I’ve always been considered to be a favourite. While I’m obviously motivated by winning, having fun is important too, so taking part in the 2019 Dakar with Daniel, as private outsiders, is a fantastic challenge. I’m ready to give it a go: a little bit like my three WRC appearances this year, where success was far from being guaranteed.”The Haguenau native will test the PH car privately in December before the rally start in Lima where he will be up against the likes of familiar foes Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Cyril Despres and Nasser Al-Attiyah.Loeb added: “I think all these guys will be strong rivals. I couldn’t go with the wider 3008DKR Maxi from this year due to the latest regulations, so we go with the 2.20m wide car from the year before, maybe with a few small evolutions on the engine similar to this year.”Peruvian sand dunes undid Loeb this year with next year’s edition seeing a whopping 70 percent of the route made up of them, something that he is not afraid of.He explained: “I like the dunes, but the key thing will be not to get stuck. This is what I will work on during my test and there will also be some work for Daniel too, as navigation in the dunes is really tricky. I only made the decision to go to Dakar again at the last minute, but I’m still hungry for the win. We’re probably lacking some preparation compared to the others; equally I didn’t forget everything I learned over the last three years. It’s an adventure that I’m looking forward to experiencing again.”