Tanak wins the Rally Italia Sardegna by 0.2 seconds over Ogier | FP

A record gap

Everything seemed ready to witness the success of Sèbastien Ogier in the Rally Italia Sardegna 2024, which would have earned the Frenchman from Toyota his third consecutive victory. Instead, right at the best moment, the unexpected occurred: after a long comeback of Oct Tänak started at the 13th of the 16 total tests scheduled today, the Estonian driver managed to overtake the eight-time world champion right in the Power Stage. The Frenchman, betrayed by one puncture in the last kmlost all six seconds of advantage he had over his rival, finishing in 2nd place with a delay of only 0.2 seconds. A gap that constitutes a record in the history of the WRC, being the smallest ever between the winner and the runner-up.

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The Super Sunday of the Rally Italia Sardegna actually opened under the sign of Thierry Neuville, who after the mistake made on Saturday made up for himself with the best time in the first two stages. In both cases, Tänak was the only one able to keep up with the Belgian’s pace, with Ogier having more difficulty but still leading by six seconds over the Estonian. A gap that remained almost unchanged at the end of the penultimate test, thanks to the Frenchman’s 2nd place right behind the Hyundai standard bearer. Grand finale, therefore, in the Power Stage of Sassari-Argentiera 2, with the most sensational outcome. Precisely in the last act of the Sardinian rally, Ogier lost all the advantage he had over Tänak due to a puncture, with the latter overtaking his direct rival at the last minute by just 0.2 seconds. A record in terms of gap between two riders which allows the Estonian not only to win his first success of the season, but also to move up to second place in the standings on equal points with Elfyn Evans, while Neuville maintains his lead with an 18-point lead .