The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Italia Sardegna, was brutal in every respect.
Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais topped the timesheets after Thursday’s shakedown, and he emerged from Friday’s battle with a slender lead of 2.1 seconds over Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria.
Ogier won Friday’s opening stage but starting with an unfavourable third on the road starting position, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe and Ott Tänak and Martin Jarveoja led the way in a Hyundai one-two after stage two.
Fourmaux went on the attack on the final stage of the morning loop, winning the stage and bouncing from fourth into the overall lead in the process, having maximized his better road position. In the overall standings, Neuville was second from Ogier, Tänak and Sami Pajari.
“Everything is going well,” Fourmaux said. “I really tried to use the lines in front of me and stayed clean and tidy to avoid getting caught in the loose. It paid off, so I’m pleased with that. I expected a lot of sweeping.”
Of the Fords, there was no sign – in a barely believable scenario, all three M-Sport Pumas retired in the stage two. Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean both suffered suspension damage while Martins Sesks rolled at high speed.
When battle resumed after the service break, it was Neuville’s turn to lead after stage four, albeit by 0.2 seconds over Fourmaux with Tänak making it a yet-to-be-seen in 2025 Hyundai one-two-three.
In the next stage, a re-run of Ford’s ‘stagus horribilis’, Neuville retired after whacking a bank which damaged the left rear corner of his car. The carnage continued when Takamoto Katsuta and Jourdain Serderidis both rolled at the same corner. Both were able to continue, with somewhat battered machinery and no windscreens, and wearing goggles.
At the end of the fifth stage, Fourmaux and Tänak led the way with Ogier 4.6 seconds off the lead.
The final stage of the loop saw Ogier win comfortably from Kalle Rovanperä and Fourmaux, snatching the overnight lead by 2.1 seconds with Tänak keeping a watching brief 5.2 seconds further back.
Pajari did a sterling job to hold fourth, with Rovanperä and the championship leader Elfyn Evans languishing down the order in fifth and sixth respectively, courtesy of running first and second on the road.
Katsuta brought his less than pristine GR Yaris home in seventh, with the WRC2 leaders Nikolay Gryazin, Emil Lindholm and Yohan Rossel rounding out the top ten.
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