World Rally News

Francois Duval's co-driver Patrick Pivato is making 'steady progress' following the injuries his sustained on the opening day of the Rally Japan, Ford boss Malcolm Wilson has said.

SS23 - Sikot 1 (27.76km): Latvala fastest through a very wet and slippery SS23; Andersson second - despite overshooting a junction; Hirvonen third; Petter Solberg fourth; Gardemeister fifth - even though he had an off and went into a ditch; Wilson sixth; Henning Solberg retired; Rautenbach

Petter Solberg has apologised to Subaru's fans after he crashed out in the final 'proper' test on day two of the Rally Japan, the squad's home round in the World Rally Championship.

SS20 - Sapporo 4 (1.49km): Sordo fastest in SS20; Gardemeister second; Latvala third; Loeb and Hirvonen joint fourth; Wilson sixth; Novikov heads the PWRC category; Hirvonen leads overall by 15.5 seconds at the end of day 2. Top ten stage times for SS20:

Francois Duval's co-driver Patrick Pivato will be operated on tonight after he suffered a fractured pelvis and fractured tibia in the accident in SS6 of the Rally Japan on Friday afternoon.

Peugeot Sport will 'launch' the 207 RC Rallye in 2009, the French manufacturer has announced.

The organisers of the Rally Japan have had to cancel SS8, the repeat run through the 5.74 kilometre Pipaoi test. The decision was taken by the clerk of the course as a result of the delays caused after Francois Duval's accident.

Fumio Nutahara and Katsuhiko Taguchi will give the 'new' Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X its debut outing in the FIA World Rally Championship on the Rally Japan this week.

Westlife 's Shaun Filan and Citroen J-WRC star Shaun Gallagher helped officially launch Rally Ireland 2009 this week in Sligo.

Stobart Ford's Gigi Galli has said that he is not worried about getting back behind the wheel of a World Rally Car following his monster crash on the Rallye Deutschland back in the summer.

Petter Solberg has upped the pressure on himself and the Subaru World Rally Team ahead of the squad's home event in Japan next week by predicting that he could win there.

MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi has confirmed that he will use a Ford Focus RS WRC car on December's season ending Wales Rally GB.

Pirelli has confirmed the identities of the six judges that will assess the 19 young hopefuls that will contest the Pan-European Pirelli Star Driver Shoot-Out this weekend in Austria.

by Rob Wilkins Rallying may not get nearly as much coverage as Formula 1, but that doesn't mean the drivers' are better, in fact quite the contrary according to 1989 RAC winner and 1979 BRC champion Pentti Airikkala.

by Rob Wilkins Pentti Airikkala believes that the Subaru World Rally Team has virtually no chance of getting back on terms with Citroen and Ford - and that the Impreza WRC2008 has a fundamental design flaw.

by Rob Wilkins TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH PENTTI AIRIKKALA - RECORDED PRIOR TO THE WRC EVENTS IN SPAIN AND FRANCE: CLICK HERE

STOP PRESS: Crash.net Radio spoke exclusively to ANDREW COE on Tuesday to get some details on today's announcement that Scotland will join the IRC in 2009. TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL: CLICK HERE.

Petter Solberg took a solid fifth place finish on the Rallye de France on Sunday, to maintain a run that has seen him score points on every event since the Acropolis, when the all-new Impreza WRC2008 made its debut in the World Rally Championship.

Toni Gardemeister marked the one year anniversary of the debut of the Suzuki SX4 WRC car in the World Rally Championship by picking up the final manufacturers' point in Corsica at the weekend.

The Citroen Total World Rally Team will continue to enjoy the backing of Red Bull in 2009, it has been confirmed.

The Rallye International du Valais in Switzerland, the next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which runs from October 23-25, has revealed further details of its route. A statement to the media explained:

Citroen's Dani Sordo is hoping to be able to re-start the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse under the SupeRally on Saturday following his accident today [Friday] in stage three.

Prodrive has announced that it will host an auction of rare and unusual rally memorabilia to raise money for the McRae Vision charities.

After the news this week that the World Motor Sport Council has opened the tender process for the commercial rights to the World Rally Championship, the FIA has released an additional statement in a bid to explain what is happening. The statement read: