- We are witnessing perhaps the most beautiful duel of the season. Ott Tänak et Sébastien Ogier go blow for blow on this Rally from Sardinia: the two protagonists of this event did not let go of each other, exchanging first place on almost all the special stages. At midday, it was the Estonian who had the advantage: author of three scratch times, the driver Hyundai is 3″5 ahead of the Frenchman, who punctured twice this Saturday morning. The eight-time world champion, who only left with one spare wheel, did not drive economically!
- While he seemed to be heading “easily” towards a podium in Sardinia, Thierry Neuville lost everything in SS8! The Belgian, leader of the championship, escaped on his own at a tight right turn by carrying too much speed on entry. Result: the Hyundai ended its race upside down below, its front wheels in the air. A big blow to the championship, since Thierry Neuville will not score any points this Saturday evening while his direct rivals – Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans – will grab a few additional points.
- Thierry Neuville's accident is a boon for his pursuers: Takamoto Katsuta, although very discreet this Saturday morning, recovered 3rd place ahead of Dani Sordo and Elfyn Evans. Relegated to more than a minute behind the leading duo, the three drivers will compete for the last place on the podium... unless the situation turns around on this Rally of Sardinia
- A rally where the main absentees are the team's Ford Puma M-Sport. After his abandonment the day before, Adrien fourmaux was able to restart this Saturday, but must carry out the heavy task of sweeping all the specials this Saturday. Grégoire Munster, for his part, prefers to play the cautious card, even if it means being slower than some Rally2s. The Belgian-Luxembourger is in 7th place.
- In WRC2, Sami Pajari comfortably leads this Rally of Sardinia... while Pierre-Louis Loubet, who was second at the start of SS8, also had a mishap in the last special of the morning. The Corsican suffered a puncture and had to change his wheel, losing more than a minute in the maneuver. Jan Solans is now 2nd in the category, 49 seconds behind the leader.
Sardinia Rally
ES8 – Ranking
General ranking after ES8
ALSO READ > The program for the 2024 Sardinia Rally
Continue reading on these topics:
Read also
Comment on this article! 0