Rally Italia Sardegna – Day One
Hyundai Motorsport has set out its victory intentions early at Rally Italia Sardegna, the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season, with Ott Tänak and Dani Sordo finishing Friday in second and third respectively.
Rally Italia Sardegna’s unique sprint format kicked off with Shakedown on Friday morning followed by just four stages in the afternoon. The compact itinerary of Osilo-Tergu (SS1/3, 25.65km) and Sedini-Castelsardo (SS2/4, 13.26km), with no service in between, ensured that crews were pushing from the very first kilometre to establish the best road order position for the remainder of the event.
Tänak and Martin Järveoja made their rally-winning target clear with an impressive run in their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid to emerge in a close battle for the lead. The Estonians claimed a stage win on SS2 to narrow the gap to just over a second, followed by two second-fastest times on the final stages despite the loss of their hybrid boost. With a tricky and gruelling day ahead, the crew aims to continue demonstrating its strong pace on Saturday and close the 4.5-second deficit to the top of the classification.
Spanish Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crew Sordo and Cándido Carrera complete Friday in podium contention after a difficult afternoon of tyre management. The crew climbed from fifth to third overall, taking the third-fastest time on SS3. The #6 duo aim to use their later running order to consolidate their position and build a gap to the chasing pack behind.
It was a tough day for championship leaders Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, who struggled for traction as the first car on the abrasive stages of Sardinia. Although they faced the worst of the conditions of all the crews, the Belgians secured a stage win on the final test by a remarkable margin of 3.7 seconds. Neuville/Wydaeghe are fifth overall heading into Saturday, with a podium still within their reach.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
Tänak said: “We can be happy after our day, and we have a good road position for tomorrow. It would have been nice to have been one better but we can be content with what we have. It was a bit challenging in that last stage on both runs – the loss of the hybrid boost wasn’t as important on the first, as there was not much grip on the loose gravel, but the second was very grippy and it would have helped a lot. Thankfully, the strong Hyundai engine pulled us through and ensured we didn’t lose too much time. Tomorrow is going to be very demanding, particularly the first four stages; they are very slow, narrow and twisty – there’s no flow at all, but you have to push.”
Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
Sordo said: “I’m happy to finish the day in third, especially as it wasn’t certain in those last two stages that we would have a good road position for tomorrow. We had to manage the tyres because we were really on the limit at the end, but it has been a nice day. I expected to be closer to the battle at the front, but Ogier and Ott were on a different level. Although I lost time on the first and last stage, it was important to finish today where we did, as tomorrow is going to be tough.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
Neuville said: “Today was worse than I expected if I am honest. We hoped that we could take some softs to try and minimise the disadvantage of our road position, but ultimately it was very warm and we had to go with full hard tyres on the abrasive stages. In hindsight, we should have taken one more with us to allow us to properly attack in every single corner, but I’m still happy with my day. I would love to have been third overnight rather than fifth, but we are constantly adapting and there is still an opportunity for a podium. Tomorrow we need to make sure we don’t lose too much time and score the maximum points as we push for the top three.”
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “It has been a good opening day here in Sardinia. It was our first experience of this new sprint format and it unfolded as we both expected and hoped it would. Ott had very strong pace, which has put him in a good position for a push tomorrow. He will be supported by Dani, who managed to keep Katsuta and Evans behind him today. Thierry had dealt with his road position very well, and we end the first day in pretty much the best situation possible. However, we have to stay focused on the job at hand, as tomorrow is going to be a long and unpredictable day.”
Saturday at a Glance
Classification after Day One
Tänak and Martin Järveoja made their rally-winning target clear with an impressive run in their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid to emerge in a close battle for the lead. The Estonians claimed a stage win on SS2 to narrow the gap to just over a second, followed by two second-fastest times on the final stages despite the loss of their hybrid boost. With a tricky and gruelling day ahead, the crew aims to continue demonstrating its strong pace on Saturday and close the 4.5-second deficit to the top of the classification.
Spanish Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crew Sordo and Cándido Carrera complete Friday in podium contention after a difficult afternoon of tyre management. The crew climbed from fifth to third overall, taking the third-fastest time on SS3. The #6 duo aim to use their later running order to consolidate their position and build a gap to the chasing pack behind.
It was a tough day for championship leaders Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, who struggled for traction as the first car on the abrasive stages of Sardinia. Although they faced the worst of the conditions of all the crews, the Belgians secured a stage win on the final test by a remarkable margin of 3.7 seconds. Neuville/Wydaeghe are fifth overall heading into Saturday, with a podium still within their reach.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Estonians charge into second overall with fine performance on Friday
- Stage win on SS2 Sedini-Castelsardo and three top-twos underscore pace
Tänak said: “We can be happy after our day, and we have a good road position for tomorrow. It would have been nice to have been one better but we can be content with what we have. It was a bit challenging in that last stage on both runs – the loss of the hybrid boost wasn’t as important on the first, as there was not much grip on the loose gravel, but the second was very grippy and it would have helped a lot. Thankfully, the strong Hyundai engine pulled us through and ensured we didn’t lose too much time. Tomorrow is going to be very demanding, particularly the first four stages; they are very slow, narrow and twisty – there’s no flow at all, but you have to push.”
Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Spaniards sit in third overall heading into a mammoth Saturday
- Crew looking to build on pace with Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Sordo said: “I’m happy to finish the day in third, especially as it wasn’t certain in those last two stages that we would have a good road position for tomorrow. We had to manage the tyres because we were really on the limit at the end, but it has been a nice day. I expected to be closer to the battle at the front, but Ogier and Ott were on a different level. Although I lost time on the first and last stage, it was important to finish today where we did, as tomorrow is going to be tough.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)
- Belgian crew demonstrated solid pace despite early road order
- Secured stage win on SS4 Sedini-Castelsardo
Neuville said: “Today was worse than I expected if I am honest. We hoped that we could take some softs to try and minimise the disadvantage of our road position, but ultimately it was very warm and we had to go with full hard tyres on the abrasive stages. In hindsight, we should have taken one more with us to allow us to properly attack in every single corner, but I’m still happy with my day. I would love to have been third overnight rather than fifth, but we are constantly adapting and there is still an opportunity for a podium. Tomorrow we need to make sure we don’t lose too much time and score the maximum points as we push for the top three.”
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “It has been a good opening day here in Sardinia. It was our first experience of this new sprint format and it unfolded as we both expected and hoped it would. Ott had very strong pace, which has put him in a good position for a push tomorrow. He will be supported by Dani, who managed to keep Katsuta and Evans behind him today. Thierry had dealt with his road position very well, and we end the first day in pretty much the best situation possible. However, we have to stay focused on the job at hand, as tomorrow is going to be a long and unpredictable day.”
Saturday at a Glance
- The longest day of Rally Italia Sardgena will feature eight stages, with only a remote tyre fitting zone splitting the competitive action
- Crews will take on Tempio Pausania (SS5/7, 12.03km) and Tula-Erula (SS6/8, 22.61km) in the morning followed by Monte Lerno (SS9/11, 25.33km) and Coiluna-Loelle (SS10/12, 14.53km) in the afternoon.
Classification after Day One
| 1 | S. Ogier | V. Landais | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | 53:43.1 |
| 2 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +4.5 |
| 3 | D. Sordo | C. Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +33.2 |
| 4 | T. Katsuta | A. Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +34.5 |
| 5 | T. Neuville | M. Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +36.6 |
| 6 | E. Evans | S. Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +57.3 |
| 7 | G. Munster | L. Louka | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | +1:09.2 |
| 8 | S. Pajari | E. Mälkönen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +1:34.6 |
| 9 | P. Loubet | L. Pascaud | Škoda Fabia RS | +1:52.9 |
| 10 | J. Solans | R. Sanjuan | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +2:03.2 |
