Dani Sordo’s grip on fifth place on Rally Italy Sardinia is under threat as his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 developed a power problem three stages from home.
After a crash on the opening day which he managed to continue from, Sordo has worked his way back up into the top five throughout the weekend, profiting from the chaos that unfolded on Saturday.
But the Spaniard ran into trouble on the first pass of Sunday’s Sardegna test – which will double up as the powerstage later on – as he leaked over 40 seconds with a sick-sounding Hyundai.
At stage-end, Sordo was at a loss to explain what had gone wrong.
“I don’t know. We have some problem with the power of the car,” he said.
Sordo remains a comfortable fifth on the leaderboard, but with no service and two stages still to go it could be a nervy end to the rally for the 40-year-old.
Things are better for his two Hyundai team-mates though.
Thierry Neuville continues to lead the event over Esapekka Lappi by a handsome 43.0s, with Kalle Rovanperä two minutes off the lead in third.
Elfyn Evans is another three minutes further back in fourth.
Just like on Sunday’s opening stage, none of the drivers were willing to risk any sort of push except Ott Tänak who, after retiring on Saturday, is using the final leg as an extended test session.
Tänak won the stage by 2.3s over Takamoto Katsuta – two crews who could have a tire advantage for the powerstage given they missed a significant portion of Saturday’s action.
Rain, however, is anticipated for the powerstage.
