Sebastien Loeb gave Bahrain Raid Xtreme another podium boost in the Rallye du Maroc today as the final round of the World Rally-Raid Championship once again delivered an epic desert battle.
Partnered by Fabian Lurquin in his BRX Prodrive Hunter, Loeb set the third fastest stage time for the third leg running, and climbed two places to second overall on another dramatic day when just 14 seconds separated the top three.
Swede Mattias Ekström in an Audi won the 336km third stage, which started and finished at the bivouac in Zagora, but he did it with only six seconds to spare from the Toyota of Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah, who edged out Loeb by just eight seconds on the day.
At the end of another huge tussle between the world’s elite drivers, Loeb was 6 mins 16 secs away from rally leader Al Attiyah, and within reach of the third outright podium place in the championship.
The pace of the nine-time World Rally Champion in the BRX Prodrive Hunter saw him move ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who dropped to third overall, and also climb above Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard’s Audi had mechanical issues.
Orly Terranova and Bernardo Graue were unable to complete yesterday’s stage in their BRX Prodrive Hunter after damaging the suspension in hitting a big rock at speed. But the Argentine duo bounced back from that setback to set the seventh fastest time today.
Loeb had produced a remarkable performance in the Hunter to finish third fastest on the previous leg, despite losing power for a large part of the stage through an exhaust problem.
He will now be aiming to close the gap on Al Attiyah over the two remaining stages, knowing that, with just under 500km of competitive action ahead, the rally is far from over.
Today’s stage was another fast, long and demanding test, with only a handful of dunes to negotiate, but a variety of terrain to cover, including new sections added to the rally route for the first time.
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Nissan Formula E Team secured race victory in the final event of the 2023/24 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with Oliver Rowland putting in a masterful drive in the season-ending Round 16 at the London E-Prix.
The new Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH has hit the track for the first time, as Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing begins a comprehensive testing programme ahead of the British ultra-luxury sportscar brand’s bid to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright next year and for the first time since 1959.
The new Hypercar, developed by Aston Martin Performance Technologies and works team The Heart of Racing, completed a shakedown and initial evaluation testing in the UK this week, The car was driven by Aston Martin High Performance development driver Darren Turner (GBR), The Heart of Racing’s Mario Farnbacher (DEU) and Harry Tincknell (GBR), who won the LMGTE class of the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin.
Aston Martin with The Heart of Racing will now commence a full development schedule to prepare the car ahead of FIA homologation in the autumn and its competitive debut in early 2025. The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is the first racing car to be built to Hypercar regulations to contest both the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the US-based IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] simultaneously.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is unique in the top Hypercar class of global endurance motorsport in that it is the only one among its contemporaries to derive its roots from an existing production-based extreme performance car – Aston Martin Valkyrie, the ultimate hypercar. Works team The Heart of Racing will enter two Valkyrie AMR-LMH contenders in WEC and a single car in IMSA in 2025.
Adam Carter, Aston Martin Head of Endurance Motorsport, said: “The Valkyrie AMR-LMH sets its own standard as a thoroughbred endurance competition car. It is a pure, leading edge racing machine, and while it is very early in the testing cycle, from what we have witnessed so far, we are satisfied that it is achieving the targets and criteria we have set out for it to accomplish.”
The last day of the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed was nothing short of spectacular. Over the five-day event, hundreds of vehicles, ranging from turn-of-the-century machines to modern hypercars, took on the iconic 1.16-mile hill climb. This year, the top 10 fastest cars showcased a thrilling mix of vintage Formula One racers and cutting-edge sports cars. Some were veterans of the hill climb, while others made their debut in style. Let's dive into the details of the 10 fastest cars at this year's event.
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