Alghero (Italy), October 11 2020. Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio won the 2020 edition of Rally Italia Sardegna on Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC. For the Spanish crew of the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team is the second victory in a row in the Italian round of the World Rally Championship promoted by Automobile Club d’Italia with the support of Regione Sardegna. Second on podium with a 5.1 seconds gap but completing a brilliant Hyundai 1-2 were their teammates Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul who snatched the position from Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) in the thrilling Power Stage that ended the rally. The French crew of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT finished in third position beaten by just one second.
Sordo took the lead after winning SS4 on Friday and then he was able to keep the first position until Sunday with a perfect strategy and very fast times on the stages (five scratches overall). Ogier tried to put a lot of pressure on the Spanish driver and won six stages overall battling for a long time with Neuville (two scratches for him) before being overtaken by the Belgian driver in the very last kilometers of the event.
WRC leader Elfyn Evans, co-driven by Scott Martin, finished fourth on Toyota Yaris WRC being the fastest on SS3, while Teemu Suninen and Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) completed the top-5 after leading in the early stages thanks to their scratch on SS1. The Finn crew of M-Sport Ford WRT came before Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC), sixth overall and winners of the final Power Stage trying a difficult recovery after a suspension issue in the opening day.
Pierre Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais follows on the fourth Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC in the first seven positions, while Jari Huttunen and Makko Lukka on the NG i20 are eight and winners in WRC3 ahead of the two Skoda Fabia Evo of Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak and Pontus Tidemand / Patrik Barth, the lattest winners in WRC2. Swedish youngster Tom Kristensson, co-driven by Joakim Sioberg, dominated the event in the FIA Junior WRC. Umberto Scandola / Guido D’Amore (Hyundai NG i20), 16th overall, are the first Italian crew in the standings.
Based in Alghero, North-West of Sardinia, the sixth round of the World Rally Championship was held respecting all the Covid-19 regulations and it was the first Italian round in the 2020 calendar; the second, the ACI Monza Rally Italia, will be held on December 3-6.
Top-10 Rally Italia Sardegna 2020. 1. Sordo – Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC) 2h41’37”5; 2. Neuville – Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC) + 5”1; 3 Ogier – Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) +6”1; 4 Evans – Martin (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1’02”3; 5. Suninen – Lehtinen (Fiesta WRC Ford) +1’33”9; 6. Tanak – Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupè WRC) +2’27”5; 7. Loubet – Landais (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC) +4’43”8; 8. Huttunen – Lukka (Hyundai NG i20) +8’41”7; 9. Kajetanowicz – Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia Evo) +10’02”9; 10. Tidemand – Barth (Skoda Fabia Evo) +10’20”9.