Sardinia, SS1: Thierry Neuville first leader, Greensmith's misfortunes

Fifth round of the World Rally Championship season, the Rally of Sardinia began on Thursday with the first special, contested on a 3,23 kilometer loop in Olbia Cabbu Abbas. The Shakedown had been dominated in the morning by Thierry Neuville.

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In this mini special, the Briton Gus Greensmith experienced a funny mishap, since his team forgot to install the intercom in his Ford Puma. A problem which risks having repercussions on his day on Friday, since the cars will continue the race directly and the day will be done without intermediate assistance. The Briton was not very happy with this situation at the end of his time: “The crew forgot to put a coin in the car, so I can’t connect the f***ing intercom.” I hope we find a replacement, otherwise there's no point continuing tomorrow. » Atmosphere at M-Sport ce jeudi soir…

Du côté du chronomètre, les Toyota se montraient à leur aise en dominant la concurrence lors de cette super spéciale mi-asphalte mi-terre. Katsuta, Evans, Lappi tenaient un temps le triplé pour le constructeur japonais avant de voir Thierry Neuville confirmer sa performance du matin en signant le meilleur temps provisoire en 2:26.8. Seul Kalle Rovanperä était en mesure de battre le Belge, mais le leader du championnat se contentait d’une quatrième place à l’arrivée.

Thierry Neuville et Hyundai remportaient donc cette première spéciale du Rallye de Sardaigne. Côté français, Adrien fourmaux took eighth place, Pierre-Louis Loubert finished eleventh.

Meet at 7:01 a.m. this Friday morning for the second special, 14,19 km long.

ALSO READ > The program for the 2022 Sardinia Rally