Sébastien Ogier has opened up a narrow 1.8-second lead after the first two stages of Rally Italy Sardinia, which were heavily influenced by road sweeping.
The Toyota driver was sensational on the opening 15.9-mile Osilo – Tergu test, setting a time of 17 minutes 18.6 seconds – some 7.7s quicker than nearest challenger Ott Tänak. However, Ogier surrendered much of that lead on the second stage, with Tänak reducing the margin by 5.9s over the 8.2-miles of Sedini – Castelsardo.
Ogier had struggled to restart his GR Yaris Rally1 after the first stage due to a sensor issue but when he reached the end of the opening loop, everything was under control: “Yeah, I think everything OK, just a bit more careful on this one,” said the eight-time world champion.
“It’s a long loop, so just balancing everything, but the tire is good so it’s not a big issue.”
M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux is in third place, setting the third-fastest time on both stages. He sits 10.5s off the lead.
Takamoto Katsuta started behind Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier but hasn't been able to maximise his road position advantage to the same degree
Takamoto Katsuta was the best-placed Toyota in terms of road order heading into the day but couldn’t fully leverage it; he was fifth fastest on the opening stage but improved on the second test to take fourth place from Dani Sordo.
Hyundai’s part-timer had a lucky escape on the opening stage, oversteering in a fast right-hand corner and bouncing off a rock face. There was no damage and he holds fifth overall, 16.5s off the lead.
Championship leader Thierry Neuville had the expected difficult start to his rally and true to his prediction dropped a massive 28.1s to Ogier on the opening stage. But the Hyundai driver put in a stellar performance on the second stage to go second-fastest, 1.2s slower than team-mate Ott Tänak, and jumped up to sixth place in the process.
The man who is looking to hunt him down in the title race, Elfyn Evans, had a disastrous first stage. At the midway point, he was 3.8s up on Neuville but, by the end of the stage, his advantage had dropped to just 1.4s. A rear-left puncture was the cause, and it was a moment that would have consequences for the Toyota driver.
Asked what the cause was, Evans was unsure: “No idea where it came from. I don’t know if you can compare this feeling to anything”
Starting first on the road has been fatal to Thierry Neuville's chances of competing for the podium places so far
Along with Neuville, Ogier and Dani Sordo, Evans had elected to take a solitary spare tire and, with this fitted after the opening stage, he was forced to be more cautious in the second stage.
He dropped 12.3s to Neuville and is running ninth overall, already 34.3s off the lead after just two stages.
Grégoire Munster holds 10th place and, after a moment in the second stage, has decided that discretion is his ally: “I went into the narrow section one kilometer into the stage and I already had a moment and almost went into a wall and lost confidence
“It’s good to start behind with the road position but the rocks are already getting pulled out.”
In WRC2, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Sami Pajari are battling for the lead and also hold seventh and eighth place overall. Loubet, piloting a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, leads the support category by 1.2s after the opening loop.
Pajari was a sensational sixth fastest overall after the opening stage, besting the Rally1 cars of Munster, Evans and Neuville. Loubet himself was eighth fastest overall on the opening test, but put the hammer down on the Castelsardo, setting a time 8.7s quicker than Pajari.
Marco Bulacia sits in third place, 8.7s behind Pajari, with championship leader Yohan Rossel a further 1.7s back in fourth place.
