Paddon leads Sardinia Rally

Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) is at the top of the Rally of Sardinia at the end of the first passage of the first stage. The New Zealander regained control of the Italian event at the end of SS5 when Kris Meeke (Citroën) rolled. The Briton was able to reach the finish, but his mistake cost him more than 7 minutes.

Juho Hänninen (Toyota) est le plus proche d’Hayden Paddon en évoluant à moins de 5s du pilote Hyundai. Le Finlandais a conservé sa 2e place pour seulement un dixième d’avance sur Mads Ostberg (Ford) qui profite également d’une position avantageuse sur la route.

Ott Tänak (Ford) is around ten seconds from the provisional podium with a 5s lead over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). The Belgian is threatened by Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) who is 2 seconds behind his i20 WRC.

Sébastien Ogier (Ford) is only 7th. The Championship leader, who was one of the only ones to rely solely on soft tires, lost time by opening the road. The four-time WRC champion precedes his former teammate Andreas Mikkelsen (Citroën) who remained cautious for his debut in a new WRC.

Dani Sordo (Hyundai) fell to 9th place in SS5 while running in 5th position after encountering engine problems. The Spaniard is only 4 seconds ahead of Esapekka Lappi (Toyota), the Finn having scored his first scratch on the last course of the morning even though he has been racing since the first special of the day without second gear on his gearbox.

Elfyn Evans (Ford) and Craig Breen (Citroën) dismounted. The Dmack driver went off the road in SS4 while the Irishman suffered an oil leak from the gearbox in SS3.

In WRC 2, Jan Kopecky (Skoda) leads the category with a 24s lead over Ole Christian Veiby (Skoda).

The second passage of the first stage of the Sardinia Rally will start from 15:25 p.m.