Issue #653: Oliver slays them all

We start this week with the Rallye Monte Carlo, which saw Oliver Solberg kick the FIA’s 2026 World Rally Championship off in style with victory ahead of Elfyn Evans. David Ledbitter has all the action. In this week’s Start Your Engines, James Phillips discusses why an apparent attempt to black out coverage of the first Formula 1 pre-season test is a bad a idea. Crossing the pond in Florida, the 64th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona saw Porsche take a superb victory in what became a closely fought win over the Cadillac Whelen outfit. Phil Oakley, Jack Oliver Smith and Kevn Dejewski were trackside to cover the action, with Kevin also supplying the brilliant images. Jack also took the time out to speak to two top-class drivers - Antonio Felix da Costa and Nick Cassidy - competing in Daytona, who told him what it’s really like to be part of a 24-hour long endurance race. Back in England, James was at the Autosport Business Exchange in London last week and brings all the goings on from the glitz and glamour of this year’s Autosport Awards. In Carla’s Corner this week, there is perspective from a front row seat of the F1 launch season, with on-track action inching ever closer. And as always, we have all the news, views and stories in this week's edition of the most widely read weekly motorsport magazine in the world!