Rally

Tokyo, July 16, 2008 — Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has developed a new competition car, the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer (MRX09), whose mission will be to target victory on next year's Dakar which breaks new ground in 2009 with a switch from Africa to South America. For Mitsubishi Motors, not only does the Dakar serve as a platform for the sales and marketing of the Pajero/Montero but it also provides a unique proving ground for powertrains and 4WD transmission systems.

Mitsubishi 'Racing Lancer' for 2009 Dakar Rally

6/15/2008 -- The eighth round of the 2008 WRC World Championship, the Rally of Turkey, came to its conclusion today. At the end of this hot Sunday, Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena brought their Citroen home to finish on the third step of the podium. Team-mates Dani Sordo / Marc Marti finished the punishing event in their wake in 4th place.

The last leg was shortened to just 67.56km of against-the-clock action. The two runs through the Olympos stage, 31.03km, of which the first 7km seven were new, served as the event's sting in the tail, while the Çamyuva test – run in reverse during the shakedown – had the makings of throwing up some surprises, despite only being short (5.5km).

6/1/2008 -- This year's Acropolis Rally, round seven of the 2008 World Rally Championship (WRC), turned out to be a gruelling marathon contested at the pace of a sprint. The final day not only saw Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and their C4 secure the spoils but they have also recovered first place in the Drivers' standings. Dani Sordo/Marc Martí steered the second Citroën Total car to 5th overall, harvesting five points for Citroën which takes the French firm to within two points of the lead in the Manufacturers' table.

Driving privately-entered Citroën C4s run by PH Sport with the support of technicians from Citroën Sport Technologies, Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk (4th) and Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior (10th) also contributed to the Twin Chevrons' successful weekend in Greece.

Countdown to the July 11th start in Moscow has begun

ALÈS, FRANCE, May 21, 2008 – The cool, still air in an abandoned coal mine in the south of France echoes to the sound of a Porsche V8 at full song. Every few minutes the source of the noise, a 2008 Porsche Cayenne Transsyberia test mule, blasts into view briefly, only to turn around and go roaring off again into the woods. Its sides are streaked with inky, black mud, kicked up by its huge tires while testing equipment mounted on the car gathers data that will later be analyzed by engineers from Porsche's Motorsports department in Weissach.

5/18/2008 -- The finish ceremony of the Rally d'Italia Sardegna this afternoon alongside Porto Cervo's Marina Vechia saw Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Citroën C4 WRC claim top prize in the sixth round of the 2008 World Championship. The second Citroën Total car finished fifth in the hands of Dani Sordo and Marc Martí. Today's result takes the reigning champions' total to a record 40 world class wins and sees them move to within three points of the provisional championship lead, while the gap at the sharp end of the Manufacturers' standings remains unchanged.

- Team Dakar USA to enter two HUMMER H3 race trucks in Central Europe Rally
- Team HUMMER to enter four stock class HUMMER race trucks in Terrible’s 250

DETROIT, 2008-04-17 - HUMMER off-road racing teams are making final preparations to demonstrate their off-road prowess on opposite sides of the globe this weekend. The competition begins with Team HUMMER’s entry in Best in the Desert Racing Series Terrible’s 250 at Primm, April 19, and concludes with Robby Gordon Motorsport’s Team Dakar USA’s HUMMER H3 race trucks competing in the inaugural Dakar Series Central Europe Rally, April 20-26.

10.04.2008 -- In accordance with its agreement with Pirelli, the Italian tyre manufacturer designated by the FIA as the official tyre supplier to the FIA World Rally Championship, the World Motor Sport Council has ratified the proposal presented by the World Rally Championship Commission for the investment of funding in international rallying.

The intent is to invest in the growth of the sport worldwide and, in particular, help younger competitors reach World Championship level.

Turin, April 9, 2008 -- Exactly 50 years on, a group of Fiat 500s will once again return to historic Liege in Belgium – leading a 10-day celebration of one of the greatest endurance rallies ever.

The Fiat 500s, dating from the 1950s, are part of a stunning entry list confirmed by organisers of this July’s Liege-Brescia-Liege rally which, in 1958 was unique. Then, the challenge comprised 3300km of gruelling roads, including treacherous mountain passes through the Alps, Dolomites and Yugoslavia, driven flat out – and all in cars of less than 500cc.

Triple victory

Stuttgart, 4/4/2008 -- Three Porsche Cayenne S Transsyberia on the first three positions, eight Porsches in the top ten: these are the results of the 2007 Transsyberia Rally, one of the world’s toughest offroad marathons.

After a two-week epic drive from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar, Rod Millen, triple US rally champion, and his co-driver Richard Kelsey reached the finish in the capital of Mongolia as winners on 17 August with a Porsche Cayenne S Transsyberia. After 7,100 kilometres, just over 17 minutes separated Millen from the second-placed Italy 1 team with Antonio Tognana and Carlo Cassina. The Quatar team with Adel Abdulla and Norbert Lutteri reached the finish to claim third, 23 minutes behind the winner.

4/4/2008, Stuttgart -- After his debut in 2007, the former European rally champion Armin Schwarz (44) will again contest the Transsyberia Rally for Porsche in 2008. Schwarz will be navigated by double Dakar winner Andy Schulz (53). Manning the second Porsche AG vehicle is Carles Celma. The 37-year-old also contested the long distance rally from Moscow to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar last year. His co-driver is Germany’s Wolf-Hendrik Unger (59), who contested marathon rallies for Porsche in the eighties.

26.03.2008 -- The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on 26 March 2008. The following decisions were taken:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The WMSC appointed the Management Committee for the Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, the body which will distribute the $60 million from the McLaren-Mercedes fine, for the benefit of motor sport worldwide. The Committee will control the Fund under the administration of the FIA Foundation.

3/25/2008 -- Citroën Sport is pleased to announce the arrival of Red Bull as a new partner of its programme with the Citroën C4 WRC and its crews Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti in the FIA World Rally Championship.

It is the combination of the Citroën brand's international reputation, Team Citroën Total's outstanding performance record and the exceptional personality of the drivers (three Manufacturers' titles, plus four consecutive world titles for Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena) that perfectly matches the vision of Red Bull – creator and global leader of the energy drinks market – which is looking at developing closer ties with the French market.

Mar 12, 2008, KARIYA (Japan) -- DENSO Corporation today announced its motor sport sponsorship plan for the 2008 season. DENSO will continue to sponsor teams participating in the world's top motor sports including FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (F1), FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP (WRC), and FIM ROAD RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (WGP). DENSO will also support TOYOTA TEAM SARD in the SUPER GT.

2/10/2008 -- The second round of the 2008 World Rally Championship ended today in Sweden where Dani Sordo and Marc Martí succeeded in steering their Citroën C4 WRC to sixth place at the end of the three-day event. Their performance earns four additional Manufacturers' points for Citroën.

Abnormally mild temperatures for this time of year in the Värmland saw all the snow melt, while the remaining thin layer of ice that covered the tracks of the event's traditional home region didn't stand up long to the repeated assault of the studded tyres. The surfaces soon became little more than a soft, muddy, icy soup which was extremely slippery. The Swedish Rally is frequently listed amongst the drivers' favourite rounds, but they found this year's visit quite pallid.

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn., Jan. 30, 2008 - On a blustery weekend in northern Connecticut, the New England Region hosted the first RallyCross National Challenge event of the year at a snowy Stafford Motor Speedway.

Stock All-Wheel Drive was an all-Subaru show, save for Scott Beliveau’s Toyota Tacoma, which finished fifth. Thanks to six error-free runs, Matthew Gleiner was the class winner in his STi by nearly 10 seconds over the Imprezas of Roger Borlase and Phillip Mueller.

Stock Front-Wheel Drive was a much closer affair between the dueling Nissan Sentras of Henry Boudreau and Andy Longe. Despite coning four of his six runs, Boudreau was able to edge Longe by 2.580 seconds. They were followed by the Volkswagen Jetta of Robin Wilkins.

25.01.2008 -- The teams in the FIA World Rally Championship have incorporated the FIA Institute’s new side impact safety system in time for the start of the 2008 season, beginning with Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo.

The Advanced Side Impact System, developed by the FIA Institute’s Closed Car Research Group, is designed to help save rally drivers and co-drivers from serious injury in the event of a high speed side-on crash with a solid object.

FIA President Max Mosley said:

1/23/2008 -- To enable the public to share its success, and especially after the fourth consecutive world crown won by Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in 2007, Citroën is delighted to announce that its new website - citroen-wrc.com - is due to go on-line today.

This website is essentially divided into three sections ('Behind the scenes with the team', 'At the heart of the action', 'Team Members') and has been designed to enable visitors to not only discover what goes on in the wings but also meet with the Citroën Sport fan community and follow their favourite crews on all 15 rounds of the 2008 World Rally Championship.

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard Integrity Professionals CEO, CTO and founder, Ronn Bailey, expressed his "devastation" and "significant disappointment" in light of today's announcement that, for the first time in 30 years, the Dakar race has been canceled. The decision to call off the race was due to direct security threats made by Al Qaeda to attack the race from Portugal to Senegal.

BRENTWOOD, Essex, 7 December, 2007 – The McRae Enduro rally car, powered by a Ford-assembled engine, has won the prestigious ‘Idea of the Year’ at the 2007 Autocar Awards, and been dedicated to the late Colin McRae by the team behind it.

The rally car, which will be competing in races including the 6,000 km cross-Saharan Dakar Rally, is powered by a 2.7–litre V6 turbo, 220 horsepower diesel engine built at the Ford Dagenham Diesel Centre in Essex.

The award was announced by Chas Hallett, Autocar’s editor to an audience of 480 global motor industry leaders and celebrities.

07.12.2007 -- The 2007 FIA World Rally Champions were officially crowned at the prestigious FIA Gala in Monaco this evening.

The Championship was fought out over 16 events on five continents on surfaces as diverse as snow, asphalt and rough gravel. It reached its climax in Great Britain last weekend, where arch rivals Marcus Grönholm and Sébastien Loeb went head to head for the world title.

Frenchman Loeb and Monegasque co-driver Daniel Elena drove a strategic rally in appalling weather conditions to claim their fourth consecutive world titles.

Sébastien Loeb said: