World Rally News

Jari-Matti Latvala's place in the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team is to be 'reviewed' after he suffered his third crash in four World Rally Championship events in Portugal.

Jari-Matti Latvala's start to the 2009 World Rally Championship has continued to go from bad to worse after he crashed out of the Rally Portugal lead.

Francois Duval has revealed that he hopes to return to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge during the 2009 season. The Belgian made his last outing in the series in Portugal last season but was forced to retire from the event due to a wheel bearing failure on his Abarth Grande Punto.

Eurosport Events, the promoter of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, has announced that Proton has become the seventh manufacturer to sign up for the 2009 season with its Satrio Neo S2000.

Henning Solberg has been forced to retire from the opening day of Rally Cyprus after an accident on his way to the first stage of the event.

MML Sports Ltd, the company formed from the core team behind Mitsubishi's WRC campaign, has taken the wraps off its Group N version of the new Lancer Evo X.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi pair Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala have completed a marathon six-day long test session in Sardinia ahead of the latest round of the World Rally Championship in Cyprus.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb set the pace on Thursday morning in the shakedown for the Rally Norway, the second round in the 2009 World Rally Championship.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch has issued its report into the helicopter crash that claimed the life of 1995 World Rally Champion Colin McRae, revealing that the cause of the accident could not be 'positively determined'.

Pirelli's re-designed Sottozero 'ice' tyre will make its debut on Rally Norway this week, the second round in the 2009 World Rally Championship.

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH CHRIS MELLORS: CLICK HERE

The former Ralliart Europe operation, which was responsible for five WRC titles for Mitsubishi, has been resurrected following the creation of MML Sports Ltd, it has been announced.

Aaron Burkart scored his debut J-WRC win in his Suzuki Swift S1600 on Rally Ireland last weekend, the opening round in the 2009 Junior World Rally Championship.

Urmo Aava got off to a fabulous start on the rain-lashed Rally Ireland this morning and heads the pack following the opening loop.

SS1 - Glenboy 1 (22.25km): Latvala fastest through SS1 as winter tyre gamble pays off big time in the treacherous conditions; Aava second also on winter tyres; McShea third; Hirvonen fourth; Sordo fifth; Henning Solberg sixth; Loeb seventh said conditions were 'impossible'; Burkart heads t

Team Gordon Off-road has announced that it will run a third Hummer in the 2010 Dakar Rally for ex-F1 man, Eliseo Salazar.

Sebastian Ogier has won the Rallye Monte Carlo, the opening round in the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Ogier inherited the lead at the end of day two, when Juho Hanninen picked up a puncture and slipped down the order.

The blame for the withdrawal of both Subaru and Suzuki from the World Rally Championship at the end of last year can be laid squarely at the feet of organisers the FIA, argues David Richards.

Prodrive is the latest motorsport company to announce redundancies, it has been revealed - as the company reels from Subaru's withdrawal from the World Rally Championship and as many as 600 job losses at Aston Martin.

Kris Meeke will hope for an impressive season in 2009 after a inking a deal with Peugeot to contest the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Meeke will debut in the 207 S2000 in the Monte Carlo Rally and the aim for the season is clear - to fight for the championship crown.

Petter Solberg has admitted that he has '100 things up in the air' as he desperately chases a drive that will allow him to return to the World Rally Championship in time for his home event next month - but he will only come back, he insists, when all of the circumstances are right.

Luc Alphand's rollercoaster of a Dakar Rally took one final plunge downhill on stage six, as his recovery towards the top five was halted by the loss of co-driver Gilles Picard.

David Richards has admitted that everybody was taken by surprise when Subaru announced it was pulling out of the World Rally Championship last month - but he also revealed he is hopeful the manufacturer may one day return.

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team ultimately missed out on the two titles in 2008 to Sebastien Loeb and Citroen.