Back to a classic route for Sardinia this year

In the last edition, the Italians tried a different approach to their 12 other colleagues on the calendar. Responding to a fashion that stated that the sleeves of the WRC were shortened to make the championship healthier, the Italian round had been condensed. The shakedown had taken place on Friday morning and the total mileage of the special stages had not exceeded 267 km with 16 sections. The results of this experiment must not have been so positive since from this year Sardinia will return to a very classic layout.

According to the alternation rule, the event (5-8 June) will this time be based in Olbia, therefore on the east coast of the island, where the service park will be set up in Isola Bianca, a stone's throw from the city centre. Still very concentrated in the north, this 22^e edition will include 16 SS and 324 km against the clock. It will open on Thursday afternoon with the 2,19 km shakedown marked out…in Olbia. The rest of the fun consists of familiar sections (Coiluna-Loelle, Lerno-Sul Filigosu, Tula…) and new sectors (Calangianus-Berchidda or Sa Conchedda).

The Italians had the excellent idea of ​​beefing up their last stage. Since it had to bring points, they might as well make it selective with 79,18 km to cover. The introduction of two new sectors: San Giacomo-Plebi (25,74 km) which returns after 10 years of absence, but only partially takes up the old route and Porto San Paolo (13,85 km). This will host the Power Stage with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean.

Again meeting classic WRC standards, the rally of Sardinia is apparently in talks with the WRC promoter to extend its lease on the calendar until 2028. With Indonesia scheduled to arrive (2027?), this would be good news for this European event, which would therefore not be immediately threatened. While we wait for the future to become clearer, the course of this year's race promises to be exciting to follow.