FIA World Rally Championship

Molly Taylor has wrapped up her FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) campaign with her best result after finishing Rally Finland inside the top 20.

It’s been a challenging return to the international championship for the 2016 RSEA Safety Motorsport Australian Rally Championship (ARC) winner having not finished her previous two events.

Behind the wheel of the M Sport prepared Fiesta ST Rally3, Taylor and co-driver Seb Marshall started well and picked up two times inside the top 30 during Friday’s six stages – ending the day in P29.

Her best set of results came during the event’s biggest day on Saturday where the 40 plus crews completed nine stages, six of which Taylor finished inside the top 30. Her best result came on the penultimate stage with P22, which is where she finished the day.

On the final day, the Australian finished all four stages inside the top 30, including three consecutive P27 placings to move up to 20th on the overall standings – her best WRC result internationally and her second-best career WRC finish ever - only her P13 in 2016’s Rally Australia was better.



Taylor will continue to stay overseas, competing in the next Extreme E event where she leads the inaugural series thanks to wins in rounds one and two.

The Extreme E Series heads to Sardinia in Italy for the Island X Prix on 23-24 October.

French Formula 4

Hugh Barter had another mixed weekend in the French Formula 4 Championship, ending the meeting third on the standings.

Taking place at the famous Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, Barter needed a big set of results to close the gap on leader Esteban Masson and the second placed Macéo Capietto after a difficult previous round.

Barter showed promise in practice but tough qualifying sessions saw the 16-year-old fall down the order and settle for eighth on the grid for both races one and three.

However, as he has shown on multiple occasions throughout the season, the Victorian kept his head down and made many passes as he moved through the field in race one to finish fourth –a bittersweet result as his two championship rivals both finished first and second.

Barter started the second outing from seventh and was confident of climbing places, however a chaotic race saw several drivers lose their place on the grid multiple times – the Australian included as he dropped down to P10.

Once again showing his fighting spirit, Barter made up four positions to finish sixth – a decent result considering Masson finished last.

In the final race of the weekend, Barter had plenty of work to do and did it nicely as he climbed up five positions to end the round with a podium finish ahead of Capietto.


Unfortunately Masson bounced back in that race to take the win, extending his lead back out to 54 points over Barter with just one round remaining, while Capietto sits 50 points ahead.

The final round of the 2021 French Formula 4 Championship will be at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours on 23-24 October.