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Duel Rovanpera – Evans at the top of the Sweden Rally

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Duel Rovanpera – Evans at the top of the Sweden Rally

As Cala Rovanpera and Elfin Evans made victory a personal affair in the Nordic North, the 20-year-old spent the night with two great performances in the final specials of Day 2 of Rally Sweden, leading 8.3 inches of Wales.

The second leg of this year’s second round of the WRC in Sweden again included heavy snowfall and high roadside snow on its six special routes – which would have been eight had it not been canceled two days ago due to the relocation of a respectable reindeer population to the area. .

At dawn, Thierry Neville, Rovanpera, Evans and Esapeka Lapi were all in 8.8s, but after today’s first special (ED8) it was down to 3.2s. Only this time Neville lost the lead due to struggling with traction from the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and Rovanpera took the lead despite it being Evans who won the special.

Thierry Neville during Rally Sweden


With victory in the next special, the young Finn increased his difference with Wales to 4.0 and then 4.8 seconds ahead of the Meridian Service. Evans started his counterattack by risking big in the afternoon round of three equal specials – and winning the first reduced the difference with Rovanpera to 1.2”.

In the final two night EDs, however, the Finn displayed all his apparent talent and with two riding considerations – notably on the penultimate day – he took 4.5” and 2.6” from Evans respectively and spent the night with a lead of 8.3 seconds. Indeed, Evans got lucky on the last corner of the last special when he hit the snow wall and got stuck in the snow – but in the meantime he had managed to cross the finish line.

For yesterday’s champion Thierry Neville, the second leg was full of bad luck and problems. In the morning he struggled to find traction and in the second ED of the day he made a time-wasting mistake – missing an intersection and doing a four-a-ke. He then encountered a mechanical problem as Hyundai’s hybrid system slowed him down and he couldn’t keep up.

It was something that cost the Belgian about 11 seconds and dropped him to 4th overall, behind Toyota 1-2-3 with Rovanpera, Evans and Esapeka Lapi. “the Toyota “It’s very fast today and I couldn’t find the speed to be honest but we’re still here and we’re trying.”said Neville in the service park.

And he proved it in the afternoon when he picked up his pace and – despite having another potentially time-wasting moment of contact with the snow wall – recaptured 3rd place from Lapi, who leads the Yaris Rally1 in races not given by Sebastian Ozier – these are most of the season. However, trailing 21.7” from the lead, Neville has no major special wins.

Evans at Rally Sweden


On the contrary, Lapi fell off the podium in the afternoon, 4.2” behind by Neville and 25.9” now by Rovanpera. Oliver Solmberg sits lonely in 5th without threatening or being threatened as he admitted he started very cautiously in the morning, had a problem with the gearbox – although he solved it in the easy route – and not himself had absolute confidence in pushing the Hyundai i20 N.

That dropped the young Swede to 7th, behind Takamoto Katsuta on the factory Yaris Rally1 and M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith. Kubria’s teammate Adrien Furmo dropped to 15th with some issues on the Puma Rally1.

Craig Brin returned in the same car today after yesterday’s abandonment – and even won the third special of the day. However, he left again in the afternoon, this time with a problem in the electrical system of the new Puma. Along with the Irishman, Ott Tanak returned with the Hyundai i20 WRC, who lost victory in the first ED by a tenth.

SWEDISH RALLY 2022 – DAY 2

1. Rovanpera (Toyota) 1:45:26.7

2. Evans (Toyota) +8.3

3. Neville (Hyundai) +21.7

4. Lapi (Toyota) +25.9

5.Toyota +1: 44.8

6. Greensmith (Ford M-Sport) +2: 48.1

7. Solmberg (Hyundai) +5: 19.9

8. Mikkelsen (Skoda/WRC2) +5:33.5

photo credit

1 – Toyota Gazoo Race Media

2 – Toyota Gazoo racing media

3 – Red Bull Content Pool

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Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team

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Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team

After several significant personnel changes in the team, Max Verstappen has finally learned who he will be working with in the Red Bull pits for the new season.

At the end of last year, it became known that three key members of the four-time world champion’s headquarters had left. According to De Telegraaf, Jeff Ayton replaced Verstappen’s vehicle control engineer Michael Manning, who left the team after the 2025 season. He has previously worked with other Red Bull drivers and worked temporarily with Verstappen in Manning’s absence last year.

Verstappen’s former engine mechanic David Mart has moved to Audi and his replacement at Red Bull has not yet been determined. Performance engineer Tom Hart is also leaving the team; He will join Williams but will continue to work with the Milton Keynes-based team for a while.

Changes also occurred among mechanics. After Matt Culler moved to the position of Audi’s chief mechanic, Verstappen was replaced as his first mechanic by his twin brother John Culler. He is well known to Max, who has previously held a similar position on the other side of the Red Bull pits, working alongside Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

Despite rumors about the winter break, Gianpiero Lambiase will remain Verstappen’s race engineer for another season.

Source: Sport UA

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Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed

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Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed

Photos of the allegedly leaked Ferrari F1 team jerseys for the 2026 season have appeared on the internet.

The published photos show a red T-shirt with white inserts.

Ferrari will officially announce its color on January 23. At the same time, some sources reported that the design of the 2026 car should be “pleasantly surprising”.

Given that Ferrari and other teams have used darker shades of their primary colors (red in the Scuderia’s case) in recent years, the introduction of red and white team uniforms could signal a move towards a lighter color scheme.

The same idea is put forward in a video published on the Scuderia’s official account.

Source: Sport UA

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F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”

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F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”

Former Formula 1 champion Damon Hill has warned fans that the winner of the 2026 season could be a real surprise.

The current large-scale changes to the regulations are among the biggest in the history of the sport. They are expected to change the balance of power in the starting grid for a long time.

Hill is confident that the pundits have no idea who will start the new season with the best cars because the cars will be completely different, even in terms of handling.

Particular attention of the expert is drawn to Aston Martin, which was able to make a leap from the middle of the table after signing Adrian Newey from Red Bull.

Hill noted the following about Lando Norris’ chances of defending his title:

“All bets are off for this year. We don’t know who will be in uniform. You can’t automatically assume that pilots who performed well under previous regulations can now do it again.”

The cars are completely different. “50% of engine power is now provided by the electric battery, and this affects the way cars are controlled, their aerodynamics and their design.”

Hill added that the season could be a complete surprise:

“Yes, you can [ожидать смену эпохи в Ф1 в этом году]. We may see a complete surprise. It’s like Jenson Button beating Brown; Everyone was surprised because they understood the rules better.

“And the master of understanding the rules is Adrian Newey, who went to Aston Martin. He left Red Bull and Max Verstappen, Christian Horner also left that team. But he went to Aston Martin.”

“So we’re waiting for him to wave his magic wand over Aston Martin. And it could happen.”

Source: Sport UA

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