Sardinia Rally 2019
18h
Pierre-Louis Loubet (Skoda) finished the day at the top of WRC 2 with a lead of 22 seconds over Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda).
18h
The second stage of the Sardinia Rally is scheduled to start at 8:08 a.m.
18h
Kalle Rovanperä (Skoda) leads the WRC 2 Pro, 6 tenths ahead of Jan Kopecky (Skoda).
18h
Budar (Citroën) confirmed that Lappi's problem encountered in the stage concerned a sensor on the engine.
18h
Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) gained almost 4 seconds from Ott Tänak (Toyota) in the final time of the first stage of the Sardinia Rally. The Finn failed just over 4 seconds behind Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) who completed the 11km of Monte Baranta in 7'58''4. Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) was the closest, a tenth behind. Dani Sordo (Hyundai) followed less than 2 seconds behind. Kris Meeke (Toyota) followed at 6 seconds just ahead of Elfyn Evans (M-Sport).
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was one of the slowest, around ten seconds behind the benchmark. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) finally retired after going off the road.
Dani Sordo should be in the lead with around 11 seconds ahead of Teemu Suninen who took Ott Tänak by 4 tenths. Andreas Mikkelsen would find himself 4th with a tenth ahead of Elfyn Evans. Kris Meeke would occupy 6th place ahead of Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi. The results remain provisional, with the stewards having to award fixed times after the cancellation of SS7.
18h
Sordo sets the 3rd time 1″7 behind the reference. “My front tire was a little worn. I didn't want to make any mistakes because I didn't want to start ahead of tomorrow. We have to stay focused because it will be long this Saturday. »
18h
Lappi finished one tenth of the provisional scratch. The Citroën driver remains 8th. “We stay in the race. A lot of things always happen in Sardinia,” explained the Finn, who still refuses to say what was wrong with his C3 WRC.
18h
Nice time from Mikkelsen who signs the provisional scratch with 4″5 ahead of Suninen and who takes 4th place from Evans for a tenth. “We wanted to attack and it worked. We rode well. I hope it will still work well tomorrow. The positions on the road will still be important tomorrow and we seem to be well placed. »
18h
Latvala got out of his car and seemed about to give up. What a tough end to the day for the Finn who had done everything to finish the stage.
18h
Exited the Latvala road which ended up in the bushes after deviating from the trajectory. The Finn seems to be trying to leave.
18h
Suninen takes the provisional scratch with a 1″5 lead over Meeke. The M-Sport driver overtook Tänak for a lead of 4 tenths. " A good day. I'm just disappointed with my spin during the day. »
18h
Meeke improves the benchmark against Evans by 6 tenths. The Toyota driver looks to catch Mikkelsen in 5th place. “My pace improved this afternoon even though we were still sweeping. It was still more pleasant in the second passage. »
18h
Evans takes the provisional scratch with a 1″6 lead over Tänak. The Welshman is 9s behind the Estonian. “We are disappointed with the previous special. I knew the tires were dead and I missed my braking. »
18h
Neuville finished 2 seconds behind Tänak. The Hyundai driver should keep his 7th place despite his Hyundai which suffered. “I have to be careful. We made poor tire choices in both runs. It will be complicated to play for victory from now on, but we can try to improve our position. »
18h
Tänak finished with a time of 8'06″6, 11 seconds better than Lappi's scratch in the first run. “We did what we could with the tires that were worn. It's a shame Ogier gave up because the fight was interesting. »
17h
The first stage of the Sardinia Rally ends with the 10,99km Monte Baranta. Lappi was the fastest in the first pass in 8'17"4. Tänak is in the special.
