Molly Taylor at Neste Rally Finland

After the tarmac of Belgium and Italy, the gravel of Finland for the strong Australian driver of United Business. Next weekend Molly Taylor and Seb Marshall, with the DS3 R3T in the United Business livery followed by BP Racing, will tackle the fast special stages of the great race of Jyvaskyla, where in 2011 at their debut they finished in ninth place among the crews taking part in the WRC Academy.

Taking on the Finnish roller-coaster!

- The WRC heads to Finland after a six-week summer break
- Loeb is the first non-Finn to win the event twice
- Hirvonen determined to get back “on even terms” with Loeb

After a six-week break, the WRC resumes with the iconic Rally Finland. Having already won twice in the land of a thousand lakes, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena start the eighth round of the season with a comfortable lead in the Drivers’ standings.

Report: Harry Flatters Historic Rally

Gareth James and Steffan Evans made a sensational debut in the Kololi Beach Club MSA British Historic Rally Championship with a resounding victory on the Harry Flatters Historic Rally (29 July).

The West Wales crew took the lead on the opening stage in their Ford Escort Mk2 and triumphed after 80 miles over the Epynt ranges. “I’ve not done anything for a couple of years and it has been great,” said James.

The next historic success for Audi

- One-two victory of Audi R8 LMS ultra at Spa 24 Hours
- Three 24-hour triumphs for Audi within just 71 days
- Successes at the Nürburgring, Le Mans and Spa

Harry Flatters Rally

The first trip on to asphalt in this years BHRC and a full championship return for the Harry Flatters Rally. It saw an epic battle which led to victory for Gareth James & Steffan Evans (Escort MkII) beating Nick Elliott & Dave Price (Escort MkII) on a rare asphalt outing. The gap was just under 25 seconds but crucially Elliott failed to win category 3 for the first time this year whilst category 2 saw main title contenders Julian Reynolds & Patrick Walsh (Escort MkI) fight back from gearbox issues early on to win the category and finish 3rd overall just under a minute back.

Q&A with NGK Spark Plugs BRC Challenge leader James Watts

The 2012 NGK Spark Plugs BRC Challenge has thrown up one of the closest competitions in clubman rallying this year, and sitting top of the tree after four rounds are James Watts.

The twenty-four year old arable farmer from Hertfordshire has been behind the wheel of his venerable 1600cc VW Polo since 2008, but with Steve Hartley alongside him this season, James has found some great form. We managed to interrupt his busy schedule to ask what has been the secret to this year’s success and is the sport financially prohibiting. We got gained some interesting thoughts and advise for anyone thinking of taking up the Challenge.

Olympic Mens Road Race

My first taste of Olympic action and my first time catching a stage race in a few years. The atmosphere was electric on Box Hill and well we all know the result. Team GB had a well publicised plan to work for Mark Cavendish and get him to a sprint finish to launch the Manx Missile. But the other riders all knew this plan and ultimately the breakaways won and decided the medal places. It was Gold for Kazakstan with veteran rider Alexandre Vinokourov making a bold move to beat Columbia’s Rigoberto Uran Uran. The remaining pack fought out the battle for Bronze which was taken by Norway’s Alexander Kristoff.

Three title races in one – the Ecosse Challenge

The Gleaner Oil & Gas Speyside Stages will be the round 4 of the 2011 Brick and Steel Ecosse Challenge. We are at the halfway point of the series, and competition is close once again in the 205’s and 1.6 Honda Civics, while in the bigger capacity Civic type R class it’s a story of determined domination.

In the 205 Ecosse Challenge for the venerable Peugeot cars, it’s a North East crew new to the championship who are making consistency pay. Before the season started Adrian Stewart with Richard Simmons alongside was much more comfortable at the wheel of his classic Mini, but anyone with an eye for form would have marked him as one to watch on his ‘modern’ debut, and as his experience grows his pace increases.

Title race hots up on Speyside

Defending Scottish champion David Bogie believes next weekend’s Gleaner Oil & Gas Speyside Stages Rally could see the closest finish of the season so far – with just a second or two separating the leading pair.

Bogie and co-driver Kevin Rae are looking for an unprecedented fifth straight victory on the Elgin-based event – the sixth round of the MSA Scottish Rally Championship.

The triple champions, who come off the back of a fourth 2012 victory on the RSAC Scottish Rally in June, head a strong field of around 100 crews.

The boys are back in… Jyväskylä!

‘Ciao a tutti’ and ‘Olá a todos, We’re Max Pelucchi and Marco Moreiras and we’ll be your hosts during Neste Oil Rally Finland next weekend, taking you behind the scenes with WRC Team MINI Portugal as we tackle a new exciting round of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship.

‘For the first time WRC Team MINI Portugal’s columns will feature two ‘voices’, so that we can keep you up-to-date with what’s happening on both cars (and because we were fighting about who got to invite you to share the life of a No. 1 mechanic on event)! Today, each of us will tell you a little bit about himself, his career, his role in the team and what advice we’ll give to the crews for Rally Finland – let’s hope they’ll listen. ☺