Latvala leads in Sardinia, Ogier down

Jari-Matti Latvala leads the Rally of Sardinia at the end of the first passage of the first stage. Without signing a scratch, the Finn adopted a steady pace, taking advantage of his good position on the road to place himself in control of the event. The pilot Toyota returned to service with a lead of almost 3 seconds over his teammate Ott Tänak who did not seem perturbed by his unfavorable position on the road.

Dani Sordo (Hyundai) completes the provisional podium after a solid run. The Spaniard progressed throughout the stages to get ahead of the Fords of Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen who led the proceedings over the first kilometers.

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) is in 6th place. The Belgian suffered from his strategy where he relied on medium tires. He is ahead of his teammate Andreas Mikkelsen and Kris Meeke (Toyota).

Citroën had a difficult start to the rally. Sébastien Ogier retired on the last course (SS5) by breaking his suspension on a stone, while Esapekka Lappi went crazy by also making a mistake in the previous special. The Finn is 9th ahead of his compatriot Juho Hänninen (Toyota) who is making his first rally in the Yaris WRC.

In WRC 2 Pro, the fight focuses on the Skodas of Jan Kopecky and Kalle Rovanperä, the Czech having taken the advantage by 7 seconds over the Finn on the last course. Gus Greensmith (Ford) retired on SS4 after going off the road.

@GreensmithGus OFF in SS4 (crew OK) @Rally_d_Italia # WRC2

LiveStream: https://t.co/twccZ0hRvh #WRCLive #jumpinginthedust @autodoc_berlin pic.twitter.com/PlQX7obvQO

- World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) 14th June 2019

The second passage of the day's stage will be contested from 14:42 p.m. The Sardinia Rally is to follow with our live text.