Dani Sordo has been forced to retire from Rally Italy Sardinia due to an exhaust failure and subsequent risk of fire.
Sordo had been lying fifth overall on the sixth round of the World Rally Championship heading into the final day – surviving a crash on Friday to pick his way up the leaderboard.
But on the second stage of Sunday morning, Sordo’s pace was reduced dramatically as his Hyundai developed some sort of power problem.
Sordo made it out of the stage and safely into regroup where he began his investigation into the problem, but Hyundai has elected to retire his i20 N Rally1.
In a short social media statement, Hyundai said: “Unfortunately Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera have to retire from Rally Italy Sardinia after SS17 due to an exhaust failure and fire risk.”
⚠️ Dani Sordo is OUT, and we grabbed a word with him 👇
Follow LIVE 🔴 on DirtFish Live Center 👉https://t.co/yCgzvuH9Mo pic.twitter.com/5Avim505Xx
— DirtFish (@DirtFishRally) June 4, 2023
DirtFish caught up with Sordo, who explained: “It’s not clear but I think it’s something related to the exahust pipes.
“I think they are broken and the power obviously went out from there, and it’s a little bit dangerous as some flames or something are going out it can catch fire.
“The team says it’s better to stop so we stop.
“I don’t know how we got the issue, but for sure it’s something relating to the exhaust.”
Sordo’s retirement doesn’t affect Hyundai’s haul of manufacturer points, as its other two drivers Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi are running first and second.
