Rally Italia Sardegna – Day Two
Following a nip-and-tuck battle for first place, Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tänak occupies second place after a gruelling Saturday at Rally Italia Sardegna with team-mate Dani Sordo in third.
Photo:Hyundaimotorsport
It was a bittersweet day for the team, which saw Thierry Neuville successfully move into podium contention before his unfortunate retirement on the final stage of the morning.
The juxtaposition of the idyllic Sardinia scenery and its treacherous roads was even more pronounced in Saturday’s marathon running, which featured 149km of competitive distance. Up first was the twice-contested Tempio Pausania (SS5/7, 12.03km) and Tula Erula (SS6/8, 22.61km) before a short tyre-fitting zone. Crews then headed straight to the next challenges – two runs of Monte Lerno (SS9/11, 25.33km) and Coiluna-Loelle (SS10/12, 14.53km).
It was a perfect start to the day for Hyundai Shell Mobis Rally Team, with a 1-2 in SS5 powering Tänak into the lead by a tenth of a second, while Neuville jumped into the provisional podium places. The advantage swung back to Sébastien Ogier on the next stage before a second Hyundai Motorsport 1-2 – this time led by Neuville – saw Tänak reclaim the position. With one stage left of the morning loop, it seemed there would be plenty for the team to celebrate.
However, there was a twist in the tale of Tula Erula: while Tänak extended his lead to 3.5 seconds, a mistake from Neuville 15.5km into the stage saw him slide off the road into a ditch. Unable to get his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid back on track, the Belgian was forced to retire. As a result of his misfortune, his team-mate Dani Sordo advanced into fourth place. The #11 crew will return on Sunday aiming to secure the maximum points from Super Sunday.
Following Neuville’s exit, Tänak approached the remaining stages cautiously. Although this saw him lose ground to Ogier, a hat-trick of second-fastest times on the incredibly rocky roads saw him consolidate second place in Saturday’s standings – worth a potential 15 points. With the gap to the front now 17.1 seconds, there is still plenty of potential for more surprises before the rally’s conclusion.
Sordo found a fine rhythm in the second loop and moved back into the podium places on the first pass of Monte Lerno. He continued to push over the remaining stages to extend his margin to Elfyn Evans to 30.5 seconds.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)Close battle with Ogier for rally lead throughout Saturday morning
Two stage wins on SS5 and SS8 bring Tänak’s tally to three
Tänak said: “Generally, I was expecting a very tough first half of the day, which it was, and it was a big job to keep the pace on these roads – it took a lot of energy. I was hoping for a better afternoon on stages that I really enjoy, but I couldn’t make it work. I couldn’t find a good rhythm in the car and when you don’t have full confidence, it’s hard to keep pushing to the maximum. I also had to be safe and not take any risks. Every day has been very different and tomorrow we have two unique stages - the Power Stage on the beach cannot be compared to anything else. It is very cool if you have nothing to lose, but we can’t lose what we have achieved already.”
Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)A day of two halves for Sordo who slipped to fifth after early morning struggles
Spaniard found speed and moved back into third after troubles for other crews
Sordo said: “I was performing better this afternoon when I had better grip on the surface of the roads, but it was a tough day and I did struggle. The problems of Katsuta and Thierry gave us a little bit of a boost, but in the end I started to push and managed to build a gap of thirty seconds. Tomorrow is another really demanding day, with narrow and difficult stages, so we need to keep pushing forwards. Our goal is to keep Evans behind and finish on the podium at a minimum, and try to keep up with the guys in front.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)Strong morning saw Belgian crew steal third on opening stage
Claimed stage win on SS7 before premature exit on SS8
Neuville said: “We were in the middle of a very tricky twisty section when I momentarily lost my concentration on a corner and didn’t realise we would have a slow one right after. I was too late on the brakes and I knew immediately it was going to be tricky to get out of the situation. There were no spectators around to help push us back on, which meant that despite having no damage on the car, we were unable to continue. Tomorrow we have a clear target: to push as hard as we can to take the full 12 points from the day. It’s the best we can do in this situation.”
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “Definitely a day of mixed feelings. We have had some great moments in very good position, including Ott in the lead, but also some disappointments when Thierry made a mistake and went off, meaning he could not complete the day. It is unfortunate as he was looking to build his advantage, but he will be back on Sunday with renewed focus. Ott kept the fight alive against Ogier but eventually elected to take a cautious approach, especially as he still occasionally lacks confidence in certain conditions with the car. Today was one of those days, but tomorrow he will be back on a massive attack. Dani did a great job keeping Evans behind, which is a crucial contribution to the team’s objective and our final result in a very contested championship season.”
Sunday at a GlanceFour stages will round out Rally Italia Sardegna: Cala Flumini (SS13/15, 12.55km) and Sassari-Argentiera (SS14/16, 7.10km)
The well-known stages will offer crews the opportunity to score additional Super Sunday and Power Stage points across 39.30km of competitive distance
Classification after Day Two
1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 2:39:43.2
2 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +17.1
3 D. Sordo C. Carrera Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:12.8
4 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:43.3
5 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +5:28.8
6 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +5:38.5
7 Y. Rossel B. Boulloud Citroën C3 +6:33.2
8 J. Solans R. Sanjuan Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +6:45.2
9 K. Kajetanowicz M. Szczepaniak Škoda Fabia RS +8:12.1
10 M. Prokop M. Ernst Škoda Fabia RS +8:22.1
It was a bittersweet day for the team, which saw Thierry Neuville successfully move into podium contention before his unfortunate retirement on the final stage of the morning.
The juxtaposition of the idyllic Sardinia scenery and its treacherous roads was even more pronounced in Saturday’s marathon running, which featured 149km of competitive distance. Up first was the twice-contested Tempio Pausania (SS5/7, 12.03km) and Tula Erula (SS6/8, 22.61km) before a short tyre-fitting zone. Crews then headed straight to the next challenges – two runs of Monte Lerno (SS9/11, 25.33km) and Coiluna-Loelle (SS10/12, 14.53km).
It was a perfect start to the day for Hyundai Shell Mobis Rally Team, with a 1-2 in SS5 powering Tänak into the lead by a tenth of a second, while Neuville jumped into the provisional podium places. The advantage swung back to Sébastien Ogier on the next stage before a second Hyundai Motorsport 1-2 – this time led by Neuville – saw Tänak reclaim the position. With one stage left of the morning loop, it seemed there would be plenty for the team to celebrate.
However, there was a twist in the tale of Tula Erula: while Tänak extended his lead to 3.5 seconds, a mistake from Neuville 15.5km into the stage saw him slide off the road into a ditch. Unable to get his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid back on track, the Belgian was forced to retire. As a result of his misfortune, his team-mate Dani Sordo advanced into fourth place. The #11 crew will return on Sunday aiming to secure the maximum points from Super Sunday.
Following Neuville’s exit, Tänak approached the remaining stages cautiously. Although this saw him lose ground to Ogier, a hat-trick of second-fastest times on the incredibly rocky roads saw him consolidate second place in Saturday’s standings – worth a potential 15 points. With the gap to the front now 17.1 seconds, there is still plenty of potential for more surprises before the rally’s conclusion.
Sordo found a fine rhythm in the second loop and moved back into the podium places on the first pass of Monte Lerno. He continued to push over the remaining stages to extend his margin to Elfyn Evans to 30.5 seconds.
Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)Close battle with Ogier for rally lead throughout Saturday morning
Two stage wins on SS5 and SS8 bring Tänak’s tally to three
Tänak said: “Generally, I was expecting a very tough first half of the day, which it was, and it was a big job to keep the pace on these roads – it took a lot of energy. I was hoping for a better afternoon on stages that I really enjoy, but I couldn’t make it work. I couldn’t find a good rhythm in the car and when you don’t have full confidence, it’s hard to keep pushing to the maximum. I also had to be safe and not take any risks. Every day has been very different and tomorrow we have two unique stages - the Power Stage on the beach cannot be compared to anything else. It is very cool if you have nothing to lose, but we can’t lose what we have achieved already.”
Crew Notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)A day of two halves for Sordo who slipped to fifth after early morning struggles
Spaniard found speed and moved back into third after troubles for other crews
Sordo said: “I was performing better this afternoon when I had better grip on the surface of the roads, but it was a tough day and I did struggle. The problems of Katsuta and Thierry gave us a little bit of a boost, but in the end I started to push and managed to build a gap of thirty seconds. Tomorrow is another really demanding day, with narrow and difficult stages, so we need to keep pushing forwards. Our goal is to keep Evans behind and finish on the podium at a minimum, and try to keep up with the guys in front.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid)Strong morning saw Belgian crew steal third on opening stage
Claimed stage win on SS7 before premature exit on SS8
Neuville said: “We were in the middle of a very tricky twisty section when I momentarily lost my concentration on a corner and didn’t realise we would have a slow one right after. I was too late on the brakes and I knew immediately it was going to be tricky to get out of the situation. There were no spectators around to help push us back on, which meant that despite having no damage on the car, we were unable to continue. Tomorrow we have a clear target: to push as hard as we can to take the full 12 points from the day. It’s the best we can do in this situation.”
Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “Definitely a day of mixed feelings. We have had some great moments in very good position, including Ott in the lead, but also some disappointments when Thierry made a mistake and went off, meaning he could not complete the day. It is unfortunate as he was looking to build his advantage, but he will be back on Sunday with renewed focus. Ott kept the fight alive against Ogier but eventually elected to take a cautious approach, especially as he still occasionally lacks confidence in certain conditions with the car. Today was one of those days, but tomorrow he will be back on a massive attack. Dani did a great job keeping Evans behind, which is a crucial contribution to the team’s objective and our final result in a very contested championship season.”
Sunday at a GlanceFour stages will round out Rally Italia Sardegna: Cala Flumini (SS13/15, 12.55km) and Sassari-Argentiera (SS14/16, 7.10km)
The well-known stages will offer crews the opportunity to score additional Super Sunday and Power Stage points across 39.30km of competitive distance
Classification after Day Two
1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 2:39:43.2
2 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +17.1
3 D. Sordo C. Carrera Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:12.8
4 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:43.3
5 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +5:28.8
6 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +5:38.5
7 Y. Rossel B. Boulloud Citroën C3 +6:33.2
8 J. Solans R. Sanjuan Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +6:45.2
9 K. Kajetanowicz M. Szczepaniak Škoda Fabia RS +8:12.1
10 M. Prokop M. Ernst Škoda Fabia RS +8:22.1
