The drivers to beat
After the exciting duel seen between Sébastien Ogier and Ott Tänak in the last Rally of Portugal, the challenge between the two drivers returned promptly on the occasion of the first day of the Rally Italia Sardegna, and here too with the same outcome as the final ranking seen at the end of the Portuguese power stage: the Frenchman from Toyota leads the ranking after four special tests, followed closely by the Estonian driver. A very narrow gap, less than 5 secondsas opposed to the gulf between Tänak and the other Hyundai’s Dani Sordo, third but more than half a minute behind the eight-time world champion. Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans, however, are more in difficulty.
The first four stages
A Sardinian Friday which, after the shakedown, opened immediately under the banner of Ogier in the first try of Osilo-Tergu, with the Toyota driver finishing as leader with a 7-second advantage over Tänak. A colorless stage for world championship leader Thierry Neuville, only 10th and behind his direct pursuer Elfyn Evans, 8th. The Welshman from Toyota, however, began the Italian rally under the banner of bad luck, thanks to one drilling in the final and with the constant risk of exiting the game in the event of another puncture in the afternoon, as he no longer has spare tires available. An episode which, fortunately for him, did not occur. Second stage which, however, ended under the banner of Tänak, winner of the Sedini-Castelsardo stage but with insufficient time to be able to jump to the top of the general classification, despite Ogier’s 5th place. Instead, Neuville redeems himself, taking advantage of Evans’ misstep in the second half, again 8th, to advance in the standings. However, Tänak’s goal of taking the lead in the Sardinian rally is already fading away third stage for the great return of Ogier, who wins ahead of the Estonian and a convincing Dani Sordo, on the virtual podium unlike Fourmaux, who was very good in the previous stage but betrayed in SS3 due to a puncture on the dirt roads of the island. Fourth and final stop of the day which ended again with Ogier setting the fastest time, again ahead of Tänak. This allows the Hyundai driver to remain 4.5 seconds behind the Frenchman, with Sordo in third place at 33 seconds. Neuville closes the top-5, 36 seconds behind the eight-time world champion against Evans’ 57, immediately behind the Belgian in the general classification.
Rally Italia Sardinia, ranking after SS4 – Top 10
POS. | PILOT | CAR | TIME/GAP |
1 | Sébastien Ogier | Toyota | 53:43.1 |
2 | Oct Tänak | Hyundai | +4.5 |
3 | Dani Sordo | Hyundai | +33.2 |
4 | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +34.5 |
5 | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +36.6 |
6 | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +57.3 |
7 | Gregory Munster | Ford | +1:09.2 |
8 | Sami Pajari | Toyota (WRC2) | +1:34.6 |
9 | Pierre-Louis Loubet | Skoda (Rally2) | +1:52.9 |
10 | Jan Solans | Toyota (Rally2) | +2:03.2 |
The Rally Italia Sardegna returns tomorrow with the first of eight total tests scheduled at 7.40am. The stages can be followed in live streaming on Rally.tv, or there will be appointments on Sky Sport F1, Sky Sport Max and RAI Sport HD for SS10 and SS12, respectively live at 3.00pm and 6.00pm
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