Gravel Notes - Rallying News

Gravel Notes - Rallying News

Listen to Gravel Notes with Tom Howard (@TommyHoward) for discussion of the WRC, European Rally Championship, Dakar Rally and much more.

Episodes

April 24, 2024 56 mins
The World Rally Championship returned to Croatia this past weekend for Round 4 of the 2024 season and with it, an epic battle between Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville took place, but with errors from both men in the closing stages, Sebastien Ogier came through to take the overall victory. 

On this week's Gravel Notes, Tom Howard and Luke Barry break down all the drama, hold a referendum on the controversial points sys...
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Welcome back to another edition of Gravel Notes and in this episode, hosts Tom Howard and Luke Barry discuss the breaking news that the Ireland Rally attempt for 2025 has sadly been cancelled and whether there's any chance it can be brought back in the future.

The pair also preview the 2024 Croatia Rally and there's an extra challenging edition of "Barry's Brain" as Tom tries to stump Luke over his Croatia Rally knowl...
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April 2, 2024 52 mins
Welcome back to the winner's circle Kallie Rovanpera! It was a dominant victory at the 2024 Safari Rally of Kenya as both he and co-driver Jonne Halttunen led a Toyota 1-2 finish with Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston also on the podium.

In this edition of Gravel Notes, Tom Howard and Luke Barry break down the heavy attrition rate amongst the regulars, another tough rally for Hyundai as their struggles continue, mor...
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On a special edition of the Gravel Notes podcast, Tom Howard and Luke Barry are joined by the latest driver to step on the WRC's podium M-Sport's own Adrien Fourmaux as they discuss the young French man's career, his first podium in Sweden, how he came back to the WRC1 after a tough 2022 season, as well as his thoughts going into the Safari Rally.
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The world motorsport governing body has shared its key objectives for the future of the WRC which was presented at the World Motor Sport Council. Out are Hybrid engines and its place a more cost-effective future. But what does a cost effective future mean?

To answer that Tom Howard is joined by Luke Barry as they analyse this radical overhaul for the WRC. 
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February 20, 2024 60 mins
Rally Sweden proved to a rally of attrition as contenders rose and fell, and when all was said and done it was Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi taking an unexpected victory. The popular victory marked Lappi’s first win in six years, six months and 19 days.

Tom Howard is joined by Luke Barry as they take a look back at the stories that came out of Rally Sweden.  

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February 12, 2024 44 mins
Of the back of the Monte Carlo Rally, we are now heading to perhaps one of the fastest Rally on the calendar Rally Sweden. World Champion Kalle Rovanperä makes his return, raising the stakes as he looks to help Toyota get back on track. 

Once again Tom Howard is joined by Luke Barry as they preview this weekend's event in Sweden.

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February 1, 2024 52 mins
Gravel Notes is back and a new era for the WRC is already upon us. With Kalle Rovanperä taking on a part time schedule it is up to the likes of Elfyn Evans to carry the mantle of Toyota in 2024. He has his work cut out for him as the power duo of Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville are looking to capitalize on any weakness. 

 Tom Howard is joined by Luke Barry as they take us through the opening round of the legendary Rall...
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February 16, 2023 30 mins
As Tom Howard returns from an incredible weekend of action in Sweden, he talks to Martyn Lee about the battle for the win and what it says about the championship fight this year.
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Welcome back to the Gravel Notes podcast in 2023. We're back for our first WRC preview show and also a wider look ahead to the season ahead.

This podcast incorporates a shorter section we also made for the Autosport podcast channel, but we know you're a fan of rally, so then we continued the conversation and heard from three of our title contenders this year - Kalle Rovanperä, Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville.
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November 10, 2022 25 mins
The World Rally Championship heads to Japan this weekend for the final round of 2022 with nothing but pride to race for, with both championships already decided.  The 10-year wait for WRC to return to Japan in 2020 was ultimately delayed as the event became a casualty of the pandemic, and the sense of anticipation is even higher now amongst the passionate local fans cheering on Toyota.

This weekend the Gravel N...
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Tom Howard is back to review the penultimate round of WRC in 2022, but can't talk about anything else first but Ott Tänak's decision to leave Hyundai at the end of the year. But does it mean he'll leave the sport itself? 

Tom also talks about how Toyota exerted their strength to win another team title and why all teams need to be looking for the next generation of rally stars. Martyn Lee is your host.
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October 4, 2022 18 mins
WRC returned for the Repco Rally New Zealand after a ten-year hiatus to see a new world champion crowned. Kalle Rovanperä could have settled for a cautious points finish to secure his first title, but instead delivered his trademark 'maximum attack' on the wet and muddy gravel roads around Auckland.

Rovanperä also takes the title of being the youngest world champion in the history of WRC taking that benchmark from the...
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September 12, 2022 27 mins
Martyn Lee is joined by TOM HOWARD to analyse a fairy tale weekend for Hyundai, as other teams fell by the wayside, they picked up a 1-2-3 result for the first time in history.

What makes this story more remarkable is from how far back Hyundai came in 2022, with a Rally1 challenger developed and built far too late.  From the lows of Monte Carlo and Kenya, the team were forced to build reliability whilst watching rival...
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August 22, 2022 50 mins
Tom Howard and Michael Haffenden are back from WRC Ypres Rally Belgium where Ott Tänak secured his second rally win on the bounce, as a high rate of attrition saw multiple crashes. 
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Last weekend witnessed a truly incredible Rally Finland with WRC's best battling it out for the win. Today on Gravel Notes with Tom Howard he talks to all three podium teams - Tanak, Rovanpera and Lappi. We also hear how Hyundai ended Toyota's winning streak in Finland, and how the land of 1000 lakes was able to keep Lappi's car topped up with water after a massive shunt.

Stick around to the end of the podcast because...
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Kalle Rovanpera clinched a fifth win from seven World Rally Championship rounds with a masterclass display to defeat Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans at Rally Estonia. The WRC championship leader produced yet another stunning performance, despite starting first on the road in changeable weather conditions, to beat Evans by 1m00.9s on Estonia’s fast gravel roads. 

Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to discuss all the actio...
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July 13, 2022 25 mins
Round 7 of the World Rally Championship in Estonia kicks off tomorrow just after 6:30pm UK, and Martyn Lee is joined by Tom Howard to preview the action.

Safari Rally Kenya was a car-breaker with harsh conditions hurting many teams and drivers, whilst 2022's sensation Kalle Rovanpera dominated from first on the road. Can home hero Ott Tanak fight back at an event he has won multiple times, and will Toyota's upgrade pa...
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June 27, 2022 26 mins
Kalle Rovanpera enhanced his World Rally Championship title credentials with victory at a gruelling Safari Rally Kenya, as Toyota locked out the top four positions.  Tom Howard is back on the podcast to review a weekend of attrition and superb performances. Martyn Lee is your host.  
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June 22, 2022 15 mins
Tom Howard is live from Africa as he previews all the action for this weekend's Safari Rally Kenya
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