Hyundai has confirmed Dani Sordo will take part in next month’s Rally Italy Sardinia, round six of this year’s World Rally Championship.
Sordo will join full-time drivers Thierry Neuville and Esapekka Lappi on the Italian island, taking on an event he has won twice before in 2019 and ’20.
The Spaniard, who celebrated his 40th birthday earlier this week, was already scheduled to take on next week’s Rally Portugal before the tragic passing of team-mate Craig Breen in a pre-Croatia Rally testing accident.
But there is currently no news on whether Sordo will now contest a full season, or if Hyundai will source a replacement driver to share the seat with him.
Sordo’s presence in Sardinia was likely always planned, given his past success on the event.
But it’s equally unlikely that under normal circumstances he would be interested in completing a full program of rallies, particularly considering his dislike for events like Estonia and Finland.
Breen’s other 2023 program, the Portuguese championship, has been filled by Kris Meeke who won Rali Terras d’Aboboreira last weekend, and will compete on Rally Portugal in the WRC2 class.
Toyota meanwhile has confirmed that Sébastien Ogier will indeed return to WRC action in Sardinia.
The championship leader is skipping the trip to Portugal, but after a drive to fifth place in Croatia he heavily hinted that his next event would be Sardinia.
