Gravel Notes - Rallying News

Tom Howard and Michael Haffenden are back from WRC Ypres Rally Belgium where Ott Tänak secured his second rally win on the bounce, as a high rate of attrition saw multiple crashes. 

Last weekend witnessed a truly incredible Rally Finland with WRC's best battling it out for the win. Today on Gravel Notes with Tom Howard he talks to all three podium teams - Tanak, Rovanpera and Lappi. We also hear how Hyundai ended Toyota's winning streak in Finland, and how the land of 1000 lakes was able to keep Lappi's car topped up with water after a massive shunt. Stick around to the end o...

Kalle Rovanpera clinched a fifth win from seven World Rally Championship rounds with a masterclass display to defeat Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans at Rally Estonia. The WRC championship leader produced yet another stunning performance, despite starting first on the road in changeable weather conditions, to beat Evans by 1m00.9s on Estonia’s fast gravel roads.  Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to...

Round 7 of the World Rally Championship in Estonia kicks off tomorrow just after 6:30pm UK, and Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to preview the action. Safari Rally Kenya was a car-breaker with harsh conditions hurting many teams and drivers, whilst 2022's sensation Kalle Rovanpera dominated from first on the road. Can home hero Ott Tanak fight back at an event he has won multiple times, and wil...

Kalle Rovanpera enhanced his World Rally Championship title credentials with victory at a gruelling Safari Rally Kenya, as Toyota locked out the top four positions.  Tom Howard is back on the podcast to review a weekend of attrition and superb performances. Martyn Lee is your host.  

Tom Howard is live from Africa as he previews all the action for this weekend's Safari Rally Kenya

Tanak is back on top of the podium after 462 days, Rovanpera extends his championship lead and Craig Breen has technical trouble with his giggling pin. Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to look back at WRC Rally Sardinia.

WRC teams have made the relatively short hop from Portugal to Italy for this weekends WRC Rally Italia Sardegna. The more observant podcast fans will have noticed we didn’t bring you our usual review show last week to wrap up Portugal, and we explain why on today’s podcast. So we look back at Portugal and the incredible job by Kalle Rovanpera to win his third consecutive event this year. Tom Howar...

Tom Howard and Andy Simmons are in Portugal to preview the next round of the World Rally Championship. They were also present at the gala dinner last night to celebrate the 50th season of WRC, and bring us all the news about how the special anniversary is being marked this weekend.

Tom Howard is back from Croatia to analyse all the action from WRC Rally Croatia, including a frantic Sunday when sudden rain and tyre choices  were the story of the day.

Mechanics are an integral part of motorsport regardless of discipline and those that work in the World Rally Championship mechanics are regarded among elite. These unsung heroes are expected to perform miracles against the clock to prepare and repair WRC cars during events. Unlike other forms of motorsport, rallying’s version of the circuit racing pitstop is known as a service and these occur afte...

Tom Howard talks to new FIA Rally Director Andrew Wheatley . Wheatley took over the position vacated by Yves Matton last year, and steps up from being WRC category manager. He’s a rally veteran having worked across Belgian and Polish championships, including a long spell at M-Sport in the early 2000’s.  WRC’s new Rally1 hybrid era is underway, and today we talk about how the FIA plans to take that...

Tom Howard is fresh off the plane from Sweden with his full review of how Kalle Rovanperä took an emphatic victory to take charge of the championship. The 21 year old decided on muted celebrations, after giving his support to the people of Ukraine currently under Russian invasion, exactly 21 years after his father Harri took his only World Rally Championship victory at the same event.    In contra...

This weekend there'll be no Sebs, plenty of studs and guaranteed sub-zero temperatures.  Following a 2021 break, Rally Sweden is back on the calendar and moving to a new location further north, which will guarantee a spectacular backdrop of snow and ice.    On the podcast today we hear from Esapekka Lappi about his first start of the year and how the new cars will handle in the conditions. Plus we...

Tom Howard is back for a new season of WRC. Joining him on the podcast today is Martyn Lee to talk about the new Rally1 cars and championship battle with Ogier running a limited season. We also hear from Sebastien Ogier, Craig Breen, Oliver Solberg, Ott Tanak, Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans ahead of action starting later today.

Tom Howard (News Editor, motorsport.com and Autosport) is joined by rally legend Petter Solberg to look back at the Acropolis Rally and why he's so happy it's back on the calendar. Petter also talks about the success of son Oliver's own career and some of the pressures which come from social media.

Tom Howard talks to Molly Taylor who is currently competing in Extreme E and this weekend's WRC Acropolis Rally Greece. Molly reveals how a facetime call from Nico Rosberg got her interested in Extreme E, how successful female drivers can inspire a generation of young girls who see them as role models, and she previews this the WRC action this weekend.

Tom Howard is joined by M-Sport Ford team principal Richard Millener to talk about their success in Safari Rally Kenya. Due to Covid restrictions, Rich and Malcolm Wilson had to run operations from their base in the UK and he talks about the logictical problems they faced. But also how technology has opened up the new oppotunities to get close to the rally without having the travel. The team have...

Sebastien Ogier further extended his lead in the World Rally Championship with a comfortable victory in Rally Sardinia ahead of Toyota team-mate and title rival Elfyn Evans. On Gravel Notes today, Tom Howard is joined by Nick Garton to look back on the good, the bad and the sweary.

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville has tempered his team's hopes of victory in this weekend's Arctic Rally, ahead of the second round of the 2021 World Rally Championship. Team principal Andrea Adamo has declared that "nothing less than victory" is acceptable for the defending manufacturers' champion on the WRC's first visit to Lapland, which is a late COVID-related substitution for Rally Sweden as the on...

David Evans brings you another episode of Gravel Notes to look back at Rallye Monte Carlo. His thoughts on why Ott Tänak's crash won't play on his mind and certainly won't slow him down. Plus, what is next on the calendar? Will there be snow in Sweden on 13-16 February or will WRC head straight to Mexico? Finally, as you may have read in Autosport or Motorsport News, it was the last week for David...

David is joined by former Autosport journalist Anthony Peacock as they drive to Rally Monte-Carlo for the opening round of the season. The guys look back at their favourite Monte Carlo stories including a pant-wetting moment as they drove home late at night in a Peugeot 106. They discuss what could happen this weekend as the rally kicks off from Casino Square and heads into two night stages in the...

David Evans and Colin Clarke @VoiceOfRally look back at 2019. The highs, the lows, the winners and the crashes. Don't miss this feature-length edition of the Gravel Notes podcast as we raise a glass of sherry and scoff a mince pie during this special Christmas edition. Plus two exclusive interviews to end the year. David reviews the season with Kalle Rovanperä and Manchester's Chris Ingram.

Toyota’s driver line-up, the RAC Rally and mince pies. Those are the three key elements in this week’s Gravel Notes. Obviously, David’s paying most attention to Sebastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä’s arrival in Puuppola, but there’s still plenty of time to talk through the hot potato that is, when the season’s fit for that first mince pie...

Citroen Racing has announced it will depart the World Rally Championship with immediate effect - stating Sebastien Ogier's decision to move to Toyota left it with no alternative. The firm announced its decision on Wednesday, confirming mounting speculation of a withdrawal. Ogier and team-mate Esapekka Lappi had a year left to run on their contracts, but the six-time world champion's decision to wa...