Sardinia: Paddon threatened by Neuville, Hänninen in difficulty

Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) retains the head of Rally of Sardinia at the end of the first stage without having achieved the slightest scratch. The New Zealander, who has shown consistency, is 8”2 ahead of his teammate Thierry Neuville who became his main opponent at the end of SS9.

Juho Hänninen (Toyota) put the leader of the Sardinia Rally under pressure before hitting an embankment on the last course of the day. The Finn was able to reach the finish line by dropping half a minute, but a water leak could force the crew to abandon on the link.

Ott Tänak (Ford) moved up to 3rd position, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) by 3 tenths. Mads Ostberg (Ford) lost two positions in the second pass and found himself 5th, 5s behind the Finn, ahead of Juho Hänninen who only has a 3s lead over Sébastien Ogier (Ford). The former Volkswagen driver was the only Michelin-shod driver with Mads Ostberg to opt for a mixture of hard and soft tires, the others preferring the more resistant compounds.

Despite a good series of three scratches, Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) remains 8th after being slowed down by his gearbox problems in the first pass. The Finn is ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen who remains at a cautious pace but who has the merit of being the only Citroën driver to have finished the stage.

Éric Camilli (Ford Fiesta R5) completes the top ten, but it is Jan Kopecky (Skoda) who leads the WRC 2, the Frenchman not being registered in the category. The Czech is more than a minute ahead of Ole Christian Veiby (Skoda). Following the retirement of Pierre-Yves Loubet (Ford), it is Takamoto Katsuta (Ford) who completes the provisional WRC 2 podium with more than 2 minutes ahead of Yohan Rossel (DS 3 R5).

The second stage of the Sardinia Rally will begin this Saturday June 10 at 7:45 a.m.