A year later, Tänak returns to success in Sardinia

That time, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) l’attendait depuis février 2021 ! C’est dire le temps qui s’est écoulé depuis sa dernière victoire en WRC. Autoritaire après le retrait de son principal rival Esapekka Lappi (Toyota), l’Estonien a triomphé sur le Rally from Sardinia offering Hyundai its first success in the hybrid era.

On the Italian island, the 2019 world champion took advantage of the setbacks of his former team, Toyota. Kalle Rovanperä quickly dropped out of the race for victory after sweeping the road all Friday losing almost 50 seconds on the leading group, Ott Tänak then saw Elfyn Evans withdraw for the rest of the day due to a problem with water pressure on his Yaris.

As if that were not enough, the Japanese would soon lose their 3^e strong man, Esapekka Lappi. While battling with Ott Tänak, the Finn made a mistake during SS10, the first on Saturday, opening the way wide for his rival. With the Toyota driver down and forced to retire for the rest of the day, the Estonian took the opportunity to take off.

⚠️ Leader @EsapekkaLappi has crashed out of @Rally_d_Italia on SS10 😞😞#WRCLive | #WRC | #RallyItaliaSardegna | #JumpingInTheDust

- World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) June 4, 2022

Tänak on conquered ground

Scratch time after scratch time, the Hyundai representative did not go into detail and won 6 of the 8 special stages (7 if we count SS17 where he was credited with the same time as Kalle Rovanperä after the red flag caused by Adrien fourmaux) in play, pushing aside his closest pursuers for good, Craig Breen (M-Sport) et Dani Sordo (Hyundai). Au moment de regagner le Parc d’Assistance samedi soir, Ott Tänak comptait 46 secondes d’avance sur Breen et plus d’une minute sur Sordo. De quoi prévoir une sortie dominicale relativement calme.

As expected, the former Toyota driver's Sunday was quiet. In total control throughout the first 4 special stages of the day, Ott Tänak finished smoothly with 6th place in the Power Stage which did not give him any additional points even if he leaves with the 25 points of his 15th victory in career. In the tough in recent months, the native of Kärla got back into the saddle perfectly by winning the Sardinia Rally, his 2^e success on site after 2015, the 1^e since the Arctic Rally in February 2021, all with more than a minute in advance.

Best career result for Loubet

This Rally of Sardinia was also that of relaunch for Pierre-Louis Loubet. Back in the world championship with an M-Sport Ford Puma and more and more confident, the Corsican obtained the best result of his career for his 2^e rally with the British structure. In the game from the first specials on Friday, the Tricolore guided by Vincent Landais was invited for a time into the Top 3 before losing to the experience of Dani Sordo.

At the finish, Pierre-Louis Loubet finished at the foot of the podium, making him 2^e best M-Sport driver of the weekend behind Craig Breen. Among the French, he was also the most energetic since his teammate Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport) once again did not complete the event after going off the track during SS17, the last of the SATURDAY. The damage to his Puma being significant, the Northerner did not start on Sunday.

The moment it all went wrong for @AdrienFourmaux 😞 ⤵️#RallyItaliaSardegna | #WRC | #WRCLive | #JumpingInTheDust

- World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) June 4, 2022

Disadvantaged by his position as opener on Friday, Kalle Rovanperä took advantage of the setbacks of his teammates Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans but also of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Adrien Fourmaux to grab a few places in the general classification. Despite the 3 minutes that separated him from Ott Tänak, the Finn got away with a 5^e position consolidating its leadership position in the championship.

General classification of the Sardinia Rally

In the championship, Kalle Rovnaperä still leads the way with 120 points, 55 more than his closest pursuer, Thierry Neuville. Winner in Sardinia, Ott Tänak moved up to 3rd position ahead of Craig Breen and Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota). Among Manufacturers, Toyota remains in control with 200 units followed by Hyundai (161) and M-Sport (120).

Gryazin wins for the first time since 1

In WRC2, victory went to Nikolay Gryazin, his first since Finland in 2019. Overall in the category, the Russian beat Spaniard Jan Solans by 28 seconds and Jari Huttunen by 33″1. Although at the start of this last day, Frenchman Yohan Rossel could no longer aim for 1st place after his retirement on Friday. The Habs still made it to the end of the Rally of Sardinia for a final 11th place in WRC2. Despite this setback, he remains championship leader since Andreas Mikkelsen retired.

The complete general classification of the 2022 Sardinia Rally