Tänak untouchable in Italy

The first four stages of the Rally of Italy can be summed up as the total domination ofOtt Tänak. Très en forme pour ses premières sorties du week-end, le pilote Hyundai n’a laissé que les miettes à ses adversaires, et encore.

Fourth in the starting order of the day, the world champion simply took the four scratches in the first loop of the event. Not really rushed on this Sardinian morning, Ott Tänak returned to the service park in Olbia with almost 17 seconds on his runner-up and teammate, Dani Sordo.

Once again in the role of the opener, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) a été moins en souffrance qu’au Portugal il y a quinze jours. S’il n’a logiquement pas pu tenir tête à Ott Tänak lors des quatre spéciales, le Gapençais s’est consolé avec une honorable 3e place au général au moment de la pause déjeuner.

Sébastien Ogier also owes this 3rd place to the bad luck of his teammate Kalle Rovanperä. Second in the rally at the start of SS4, the Finn encountered technical problems which forced him to stop in the middle of the special. Unfortunately for him, the hopes of victory are no longer relevant.

Behind, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Elfyn Evans (Toyota) were in difficulty this Friday morning. Not really comfortable on gravel, the first city is in 4th place, already 35 seconds behind the leader while the second is only 1th, more than 6 seconds behind.

In WRC2, Adrien fourmaux (M-Sport) n’a pas pu aller au bout de la boucle. Parti à la faute dans l’ES2, le Tricolore a cassé sa suspension et n’a plus repris la route. He is not expected before Saturday just like his teammate Teemu Suninen, entered in the premier category.

Overall, Mads Østberg (TRT) is in the lead ahead of Jari Huttunen and Marco Bulacia. Championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen is only 5th and already 3'28 behind. In a rollover shortly after the start of SS4, the Norwegian lost a lot of time.