It’s a long time, 20 years. When the WRC abandoned its traditional Italian home of Sanremo for the island of Sardinia in 2004, it wasn’t certain that would be the case.
Two decades after the first running of the Mediterranean event, Rally Italia Sardegna has become part of the World Rally Championship furniture.
But how did we end up here? For many (myself included), Rally Italy is Rallye Sanremo. Travel back in time to the mid-noughties though, and the WRC had a problem.
David Richards was calling the shots at the time, and he believed there were simply too many asphalt rallies in the championship. Keeping the Italian round in the far north-west, close to the French border was no longer sustainable.
Solberg won the inaugural Rally Italia Sardegna during his 2004 title fight with Sébastien Loeb
While the lack of spectacle was a big part of the problem in Richards’ eyes, there was also an argument that the roads were too similar to those used for Monte Carlo. The number of spectators was also becoming unmanageable.
The solution (partly influenced by investment from the local tourist authority) was to move the rally to the island of Sardinia. Essentially, Rally Costa Smeralda which had been a long-time part of the European Rally Championship schedule would be reworked and rebranded to become part of the WRC.
Sardinia has since become a permanent fixture on the WRC calendar, with the single exception of 2010, where it was instead part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Sardinia was even one of the few rallies to run in 2020 and 2021, despite the challenges of the pandemic.
Petter Solberg won the inaugural event back in 2004, beating the Citroëns of Sébastien Loeb and Carlo Sainz. Loeb would get his revenge the following two seasons: going on to take a total of four wins on the island, the nine-time world champion is tied on the all-time winner list with compatriot Sébastien Ogier.
Loeb got his revenge in 2005 as Citroën hit back
There have been plenty of talking points in more recent years too. As the 2018 edition reached its climax, there was almost an embarrassing exit for Sébastien Ogier. Co-driver Julien Ingrassia left his timecard at the stop line of the penultimate stage, and, without it, he and Ogier would be forced to retire from the lead. A lead they held over Thierry Neuville by just 0.8 seconds.
Ott Tänak, who had endured a disastrous weekend having been forced out with cooling system damage following a heavy landing on the opening day, elected to pick-up the errant card and return it to his rival.
It was a worthwhile sacrifice too, as the ensuing battle between Ogier and Thierry Neuville would turn out to be a thriller. The Hyundai driver overhauled Ogier’s M-Sport Fiesta; taking 1.5 seconds over just 6.4 miles to win the rally by 0.7 seconds.
Perhaps the most iconic location on the island (in rallying terms at least) is “Mickey’s Jump”, which is named after the man who designed the artificial obstacle, Michele Carta.
Few will forget Thierry Neuville's incredible final-stage triumph over Sébastien Ogier in 2018
Characterized by its extremely steep incline and descent, the jump was created to add some additional drama to the Monte Lerno stage and has nearly claimed many a famous name over the years, including a particularly nose-heavy landing for Chris Atkinson back in 2006.
2024 sees the rally running a dramatically shorter route than in 2023 and, while there may have been doubts in the early days, there is no doubt that Sardinia has earned the right to call itself Italy’s WRC round.
20 years is indeed a long time, but any return to the asphalt seems unlikely now. Rally Italy is Sardinia.
