WRC – Ogier already takes an option in Sardinia

Jari-Matti Latvala was not able to take advantage of his best position for long at the start of the Rally from Sardinia. The Finn suffered a left rear puncture which caused him to lose two minutes. However, Volkswagen is still in the lead in the Italian event since Sébastien Ogier immediately displayed a particularly sustained pace. With two scratches achieved during the first three special stages, the Championship leader already has a lead of more than 20 seconds over his direct rivals. “It’s a great start. I wasn't too aggressive, I preferred to play it safe, but the times are still good. We still need to refine the settings, but the car is already good. »

Mikko Hirvonen is in second position, but the Citroën driver is above all trying to resist the pressure put on by Mads Ostberg who is only 4"4 behind the Finn. Evgeny Novikov was in third position at the end of the first stage, but the Russian rolled over on the following stage. The gaps remain tight in the peloton since Dani Sordo is only seven seconds behind on the provisional podium. Thierry Neuville completes the top five eight seconds behind the Spaniard after overtaking Andreas Mikkelsen who is now 15 seconds behind the Ford RS WRC of Qatar WRT. Jari-Matti Latvala is only in seventh position, two minutes behind the leader of the race. Martin Prokop, Michal Kosciuszko (now in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC) and Elfyn Evans complete the top ten.

Robert Kubica dominates WRC2 with a 50-second lead over the Fabia S2000 of Sepp Wiegand who is in a duel with Yuriy Protasov (Ford Fiesta RRC).