Sardinia Rally 2019
10h
The crews are now preparing to compete in the 14,14km Tergu-Osilo special. Ogier should be leaving any moment.
10h
Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) scored his second consecutive scratch at the Sardinia Rally by winning the 3km Castelsardo SS14,72. The Finn set a time of 11'05''4, almost 2 seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). Dani Sordo (Hyundai) followed more than 4 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak (Toyota), Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) and Esapekka Lappi (Citroën).
Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) failed by around ten seconds with worn tires. The Norwegian was ahead of his teammate Thierry Neuville and Sébastien Ogier (Citroën). Kris Meeke (Toyota) and Juho Hänninen (Toyota) were the slowest.
Teemu Suninen now has a lead of around ten seconds over Jari-Matti Latvala who took the advantage over Elfyn Evans by a second. Dani Sordo climbed to 4th place just ahead of Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi. Andreas Mikkelsen is now 7th ahead of Thierry Neuville who has lost two places. Kris Meeke was in the most difficulty, losing 6 positions, finding himself 9th ahead of Sébastien Ogier and Juho Hänninen.
10h
Hänninen remains the slowest, finishing 21s behind Suninen.
09h
Good time from Sordo who signs the 3rd provisional time, 4″4 behind Suninen. The Spaniard is just over 3s behind Evans in the general classification. “I don't like this ES. The course is very hard. I remained careful in the turns because I was afraid of the stones. I tried to manage. We benefit from a good position compared to others. »
09h
Lappi takes the 5th time, 7″5 from the provisional scratch. The Citroën driver is ahead of Mikkelsen by just over a second in the general classification. “It still sweeps well. Something isn't working, but it's not the settings. I just have trouble turning, it takes a lot of strength. »
09h
Mikkelsen set the 5th time, around ten seconds from the benchmark despite a completely destroyed front tire. The Hyundai driver is 22s from the lead of the race and less than 6s from Tänak. “We made the wrong choice of tires,” said the Norwegian, who took 4 mediums and 2 hards.
09h
Latvala is closest to Suninen with 1″7 behind. The Finn was even at the level of the M-Sport driver in the last split. “I almost stalled towards the end and lost around 4s. I think the hard tires are the right choice for this passage. » The Toyota driver becomes the leader's closest opponent with around ten seconds behind.
09h
Big time from Suninen who improves Tänak’s time by 6″3! The Finn takes the lead with a lead of 12 seconds over his teammate Evans. What a performance from the Fords at the start of the rally!
09h
Evans' time is known. The Welshman is 7 tenths behind Tänak who is more than 4 seconds behind the second Ford.
09h
Meeke fails more than 9s from the provisional reference and is the slowest at the finish with more than 2s behind Ogier. “I stayed careful because it’s so easy to hit a rock. »
09h
Meeke struggles in the special. He is slowest in the 3rd sector.
09h
Evans is also struggling. “My brakes are hurting. » His time is not yet known.
09h
Suninen is still on a very fast pace with more than 6s ahead of Ogier at the first intermediate.
09h
Neuville finished 5s behind Tänak. The Belgian remains in difficulty on his Hyundai which is 6s behind the Estonian in the general classification. “The car is moving in all directions. »
09h
Tänak improves Ogier’s time by 6″5. The Frenchman is more than 11 seconds behind the Toyota driver in the general classification. “We'll see what the tires do at the end of the first pass. »
09h
Ogier sets a first time in 11'18″2. “It’s as expected…”
09h
Ogier would have lost time by stalling in a hairpin.
09h
Ogier is now more than 5 seconds behind Tänak in the 2nd intermediate. Neuville is one second ahead of the Citroën in the first sector.
09h
Tänak leads Ogier by more than 3 seconds in the first partial.
09h
Ostberg confirmed he made a mistake in SS2. “We couldn't see anything with the dust and we had a big shock. We had to stop to repair it. »
