Powerstage points will not be awarded to crews in WRC2 from Rally Italy Sardinia, because not all the crews got the chance to complete the stage.
The WRC2 field is always split on the final stage of World Rally Championship events due to live television requirements, meaning the highest classified Rally2 cars start the stage before the Rally1 machines.
In Sardinia, that meant seven WRC2 drivers – Erik Cais, Yohan Rossel, Miko Marczyk, Teemu Suninen, Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Andreas Mikkelsen and Adrien Fourmaux – headed in long before the rest of the field.
Heavy rain made the Sardegna stage extremely difficult – so much so that it caught out rally leader Fourmaux who ran wide, broke his suspension and handed victory to Mikkelsen.
All Rally1 cars got through the soaking stage safely but only Grégoire Munster, Lauri Joona and Martin Prokop got through the 4.84-mile stage before it was stopped for safety reasons.
Because that meant several crews, including WRC2 title contender Oliver Solberg, didn’t get to complete the stage competitive, the FIA sporting delegate elected not to award any points.
A statement read: “As SS19 Sardenga 2 was stopped and not all WRC2 crews could complete it, and in accordance with Article 50.4 of the 2023 WRC Sporting Regulations, the FIA has decided not to award powerstage points in the FIA WRC2 Championship for drivers/co-drivers.”
Munster had gone quickest on the stage by 0.3 seconds over Rossel, with Kajetanowicz in position for one bonus point.
