WRC Sardinia 2023 celebrates 50th Wolf Power Stage

2019 marked the beginning of the partnership between leading independent lubricant brand Wolf and the FIA World Rally Championship, and with it the development of technical and Championship-clinching initiatives.

The upcoming 2023 WRC round in Sardinia will celebrate the 50th Wolf Power Stage and its role in delivering some of the most memorable moments in rallying. The Wolf Power Stage is the final stage of every FIA World Rally Championship round and offers bonus championship points for the five fastest times. Over the past five years it has provided some of the most epic moments in rallying, as drivers battle for five valuable extra championship points awarded to whoever makes it through the Wolf arch first and wins this special stage. Throughout the Wolf partnership with WRC, fans and teams were treated to some exhilarating rally action and nail-bitingly close Wolf Power Stage moments, such as:

• Evans V Ogier (Croatia 2022): Heading into the Wolf Power Stage in Croatia 2021, World Champion Sébastien Ogier blitzed through the technical Tarmac stage and gained a three second lead over everyone on the asphalt stage, primed to take the stage win and the crucial five extra points from the Wolf Power Stage. This left all eyes on his team-mate Elfyn Evans, rally leader at the time, 3.9 seconds ahead of Ogier. By the midpoint of the Wolf Power Stage, Evans was slower by almost exactly that time, leaving the Toyota team-mates in a dead heat. Clawing time back, Evans was primed to take the stage and Croatia Rally victory, but a mistake on the final corner left Evans 0.6 seconds behind Ogier’s time and saw him lose the rally overall to the Frenchman. One corner of the Wolf Power Stage was the difference between victory and loss.
  

• Loeb v Ogier (Monte 2022): Leading into the final day of Monte Carlo 2022, the duel between rally legends Sébastien Loeb & Sébastien Ogier saw Loeb 24.6 seconds behind, after what had started as a dominant weekend for the Frenchman. Moving into the penultimate stage, Ogier haemorrhaged time due to a puncture, leaving Loeb in a 9 second lead moving into the Wolf Power Stage. Disaster struck once more for Ogier, receiving a ten second penalty for a jump start - leaving Loeb to take his first rally victory since 2018 and bringing his record to eight Monte Carlo wins throughout his legendary career.

• Kalle taking the title in New Zealand (2022): On the final day of Rally New Zealand in 2022, Kalle Rovanperä was primed to make history as the world’s youngest WRC champion, entering the Wolf Power Stage 29 seconds clear of Sébastien Ogier & 46.4 seconds ahead of Championship rival Ott Tänak. With two rounds remaining after New Zealand, Tänak needed to win the Wolf Power Stage and hope that Rovanperä would not score more than one Wolf Power Stage points to keep his slim title hopes alive. Taking to the stage ahead of Ogier and Rovanperä, Tänak did his part, setting the fastest provisional time. Rovanperä however was not about to wait any longer to secure his world title. The young Finn blitzed his rivals to go claim maximum Wolf Power Stage points, leading to an ecstatic celebration on the roof of his car.

The Wolf partnership with the WRC is committed to producing the very best in vehicle performance. WRC represents the pinnacle of motorsport performance, agility, diversity, and precision in some of the most challenging environments known to human and machine. It represents true passion and ever-evolving drive to perfection and innovation. Wolf’s Racing Line has been tested extensively in the field and is designed to generate maximum horsepower and ultimate protection in the most demanding conditions. The extensive testing and development of these formulas is vital in taking the latest lubricant technologies from rally to road.

“Through our motorsport partnerships, we are able to explore and develop innovative lubricants that unlock new technologies. Our close collaboration with our partners, and in particular the FIA World Rally Championship and its junior division, is the ideal platform to develop and produce the next generation of fluids from rally to road. The Junior WRC cars allow us to test products and gain valuable development feedback through the immense pressure put on cars and drivers. The findings can then be transferred to road car applications due to the similarities in set up of both rally and road car. The FIA Junior World Rally Championship provides a platform for young drivers and young mechanics to gain valuable experience and acts as a springboard into the sport, aligning perfectly with Wolf’s values – to be progressive and play a vital role in furthering the mechanics and drivers of tomorrow. It’s the ultimate platform to develop lubricants of tomorrow,” Yves Decat, Head of Global Marketing at Wolf Oil Corporate, commented.

The longstanding Wolf partnership with WRC goes beyond creating memorable on-stage action, but extends to the production of lubricants developed specifically to suit the fiercely challenging and varying environment of world rally. Wolf engineers spent the last five years working alongside the M-Sport Poland engineers responsible for the Ford Fiesta Rally3 FIA Junior WRC cars to create, test, and optimise bespoke lubricant products to develop race winning formulas for the next generation of world rally champions, with all FIA Junior WRC drivers now using Wolf’s engine and gear oils. The product was further developed and applied to the general market and is now available to the public under Wolf Lubricant’s “Racing Line” brand banner. Wolf’s “Racing Line” is now available via the official Wolf distribution network worldwide and will keep engines in optimum condition, no matter their surroundings.