日: 2022年9月11日

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe have claimed their first victory of the FIA World Rally Championship’s Rally1 era – and their first on EKO Aropolis Rally Greece – by heading home an historic 1-2-3 for Hyundai Motorsport.

The Belgians seized top spot early on Saturday after nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb retired his pacesetting M-Sport Ford Puma with alternator failure. From that moment onwards they never looked back, heading home team-mates Ott Tänak and Dani Sordo in a podium lockout for the South Korean manufacturer.

Neuville carried an advantage of 27.9s over Tänak into Sunday’s three-stage finale. Tänak cut that margin by 2.9s on the first pass through Elefthori, but any hopes of the Estonian putting more pressure on his colleague ended when team orders were deployed.

With fourth-placed Elfyn Evans – driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 – was sidelined by turbo problems on the road section before the first stage of the day, leaving the frontrunning trio more than three minutes clear of the field.

Under instructions to bring the cars to the finish, all three Hyundai drivers went into safety mode. Their positions remained unchanged and Neuville took the victory by 15s.

“It has been a tough season so far and to get the victory after a very difficult weekend in Belgium is a relief,” Neuville said. “The most important thing is that we have a 1-2-3 for the team. After all these years we finally got it and it’s a historical moment for the brand and the team. Everybody has worked hard for this and it’s a nice reward.”

Tänak’s score moved him to within 53 points of championship leader Kalle Rovanperä, who finished more than 17 minutes off top spot, with three events remaining.

The 21-year-old Finn hit a tree on Saturday and haemorrhaged as he nursed his Yaris to service. He did, however, salvage four points from the Wolf Power Stage and could seal the crown at the next round should he outscore Tänak by eight points.

Pierre-Louis Loubet fought back to equal his career-best result by finishing fourth overall aboard an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. Loubet briefly led and took two stage wins on Friday but tumbled down the standings with a damaged front-left tyre the following day. He eventually ended up 1m52.5s down on Sordo.

Loubet’s team-mate Craig Breen had similar issues on Friday but, aided by problems for those ahead, climbed to sixth overall. At the finish in Lamia, the Irishman trailed Loubet by 26.8s with Toyota youngster Takamoto Katsuta 2m12.1s behind.

FIA WRC2 and WRC2 Junior winner Emil Lindholm was an impressive seventh overall aboard a Toksport Škoda Fabia, one position ahead of team-mate Nikolay Gryazin. Cypriot Alexandros Tsouloftas was set to finish just outside the overall top 10 and fifth in WRC2 aboard a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 but came through to ninth overall and third in WRC2 after Yohan Rossel rolled his PH Sport Citroën C3 Rally2 into retirement on the final stage and after he outpaced Eyvind Brynildsen by 2.9s.

Armin Kremer won the FIA WRC2 Masters’ Cup with ease, while Diego Dominguez came out on top in FIA WRC3 driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3. Estonian Robert Virves claimed FIA WRC3 Junior honour and is the provisional champion ahead of Jon Armstrong.

Repco Rally New Zealand hosts round 11 of 13 on its return to the WRC schedule after 10 years away. The event is based in Auckland from September 29-October 2.

World Rally Championship

Acropolis RallyWRCSEASON 2022SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2022Acropolis Rally01Sunday, September 11, 2022 – 4:51pmSunday, September 11, 2022 – 4:51pm

Victor Martins claimed the 2022 Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship at Monza after finishing fourth in the Feature Race. Zane Maloney took victory after a tense battle with Oliver Bearman and Martins, the trio fighting for the win right up to a late Red Flag and post-race penalties. Jak Crawford moved up to third to make it two PREMA Racing cars on the podium.

Maloney’s third-consecutive Feature Race win moved him up to second in the Championship while Bearman’s eighth podium of the campaign left him third in the final standings.

AS IT HAPPENED

Maloney had a good launch off the line and got alongside Alexander Smolyar into Turn 1 to take the lead on the inside. Victor Martins managed to clear Roman Stanek into the first corner after making use of the tow from those ahead. Arthur Leclerc ran out of room and had to run across the chicane at Turn 2 and it left him vulnerable to teammate Bearman. Into Turn 4 and the Briton got the job done for fifth around the outside.

A Safety Car was deployed on the opening lap after contact between Rafael Villagómez and David Vidales at the second Lesmo, with both ending up in the gravel and out of the race. After a brief spell with the race neutralised, the green flags were back out entering Lap 4 and race leader Maloney went halfway down the back straight into Parabolica.

It allowed Smolyar to stick right with him heading down the main straight and the MP Motorsport driver attempted a pass. He locked-up into Turn 1 and missed the corner, taking the lead in the process. Behind, Martins managed to jump Maloney coming out of the first chicane and the ART Grand Prix driver made the most of the opportunity, passing Smolyar for the lead into the Della Roggia chicane.

The PREMA Racing drivers weren’t taking things easy against one another. Leclerc managed to re-pass Bearman on the first lap back to racing using the exact move the Briton pulled on him at the start. On Lap 6, Bearman tried to slipstream his way back through. The pair missed the first corner, and the Monégasque held his teammate off to keep fifth.

With Martins in clear air, he began to build a gap to the rest as Maloney couldn’t get through on Smolyar. Out of the final corner and onto Lap 8, Maloney got the tow just right and made the move down the inside into Turn 1. He wasn’t done yet either. Coming into the second chicane, he immediately shaped up Martins and went to the outside for an attempted pass. Both missed the corner, continuing in the same order. The Bajan driver was back through before the end of the lap to retake the lead.

Leclerc looked to have lined up a great move on Stanek and Smolyar but contact in the braking zone forced the Monégasque to the escape road, bringing the Trident driver along with him. Both dropped down to seventh and eighth respectively. Bearman saw his chance and cleared Smolyar for third to set his sights on Maloney and Martins ahead.

Isack Hadjar wasn’t having a good Feature Race and found himself well out of contention. He was relegated to 14th by Reece Ushijima on Lap 11 into Turn 1.

Having fought his way back into the top three, Bearman looked to be quicker than those ahead and on Lap 12, was able to use the DRS tow into the first corner to take second from the Championship leader.

Onto Lap 14 and Bearman was right in the slipstream of Maloney but not quite close enough to get through for the lead. One lap later and he was just 0.3s behind across the line, close enough to try the outside move on Maloney into the first corner. A lock-up for the Trident meant the two made contact into Turn 1 with Bearman running over the chicane. He was forced to hand the lead back which allowed Martins back into the lead battle in the process.

The Safety Car was back out on Lap 16 after Kush Maini and Brad Benavides crashed out of the second Lesmo. The debris and barrier repairs required meant the Red Flag was thrown with five laps of the 2022 season to go.

As things stood at the Red Flag, Martins held the lead of the Championship with 142 points in the live standings with Maloney second on 134 and Bearman third on 132. As the drivers sat in the pit lane, it was confirmed that the race would not restart while Martins was simultaneously handed a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.

The classification was taken from countback which meant with Martins’ time penalty applied, and a further penalty for track limits violation for William Alatalo taken into account, the Frenchman finished P4. The 12 points for fourth ensured he had 139 points total, enough to seal the Drivers’ Championship.

Zane Maloney’s win moved him up to second in the Standings on 134 points while Bearman’s P2 finish left him third in the Championship on 132. Crawford was promoted up to third to cap off PREMA’s Teams’ title-winning effort.

KEY QUOTE – Zane Maloney, Trident

“We got the Feature Race win today, well done to Victor on the Championship, he was very consistent, and he deserves the Championship. It was a great race and thank you to the team for the whole year. We see what we’ll do next year, and I’ll try my best!”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

With the Feature Race results, Victor Martins takes the 2022 Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship on 139 points. Zane Maloney and Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 3 in the standings on 134 and 132 points respectively.

PREMA Racing secured the Teams’ Championship ahead of Trident. ART Grand Prix kept its place in the top three.

WHAT’S NEXT?

That’s it for the 2022 Formula 3 racing season, but post-season testing will take place at Circuito de Jerez from September 21-23.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Formula 2F2F3SEASON 2022SportCircuit1SportFIA Formula 3 ChampionshipCircuitF3SEASON 2022Formula 2F200Sunday, September 11, 2022 – 12:13pmSunday, September 11, 2022 – 12:13pm

Toyota Gazoo Racing most certainly harnessed a home advantage as it led from start to finish for the overall victory at Fuji International Speedway, while AF Corse dominated the LMGTE Pro class, with close battles seen in LMP2 and LM GTE Am classes.

The #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa led home the sister Toyota machine of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. 

#51 AF Corse Ferrari completes a dominant LMGTE Pro class win as Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado led for the majority of the race. Stablemates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina complete formation 1-2 finish for the Prancing Horse. 

No.31 WRT wins in LMP2, while in LMGTE Am category TF Sport closes in on the title. 

HYPERCAR

• No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar extends its lead in the final two hours as Ryo Hirakawa took the chequered flag with a large lead over No.7 Toyota driven by Mike Conway in the final hours to take a popular 1-2 finish at home race 
• Alpine ELF Team takes third place as Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Matthieu Vaxiviere continue consistent points scoring form 
• 6 Hours of Fuji result ensures that the #8 Toyota crew and the Alpine trio head to 8 Hours of Bahrain finale next month level on points  
• #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies crew of Jean-Éric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Paul di Resta takes fourth place, while No.94 9X8 takes a delayed fifth position

LMGTE Pro

• #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by James Calado and Alessandro Pier takes second victory of the season to extend points lead after what was a comfortable win 
• Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco in the second of the AF Corse-run Ferraris take second place to ensure the brand’s first 1-2 of the season 
• Porsche takes third and fourth with #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 heading home #91 car after a tough race for the German manufacturer as it struggled with straightline speed and tyres
• The sole Corvette Racing entry crosses the line fifth after a difficult race beset by running out of fuel and several track limit violations

LMP2

• #31 WRT takes the second win of the season as Robin Frijns, Dries Vanthoor and Sean Gelael head home the #38 points-leading Jota entry which gambled on going for a late penultimate fuel stop 

• Runners-up Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens and Roberto Gonzalez extend their lead in points table to become clear title favourites 
• Prema Orlen Team looked set to take third position with Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Lorenzo Colombo but a late splash and dash relegates them to sixth 
• As a result, the final rung of the podium goes to the #28 JOTA trio of Ed Jones, Oliver Rasmussen, and Jonathan Aberdein 
• The trio holds off the Realteam by WRT entry driven by Norman Nato by just 0.563s! 
• AF Corse takes the Pro/Am category honours as Francois Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera claim third win of the season

LMGTE Am

• #33 TF Sport Aston Martin crew takes their second win of the season to bounce back from their Monza accident  and to extend title lead with clinically executed performance 
• Ben Keating, Marco Sorensen and Henrique Chaves take a conclusive victory to head home Iron Dames Ferrari  
• Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy take their best WEC result after accomplished run to second place 
• D’Station completes the podium after a heroic race from the back of the grid.
• Tomonobu Fujii, Charlie Fagg and Satoshi Hoshino claim their first ever LMGTE Am podium and score their first points of the 2022 season

• 2022 FIA WEC results

World Endurance Championship

WEC6 Hours of FujiEnduranceWECSEASON 2022SportCircuit1SportWorld Endurance ChampionshipCircuitWECSEASON 2022WEC6 Hours of FujiEndurance01Sunday, September 11, 2022 – 11:53amSunday, September 11, 2022 – 11:53am