Dani Sordo-del Barrio win Rally Sardinia

Sardinia, 11 October 2020: Hyundai driver Dani Sordo along with co-driver C del Barrio has taken back-to-back victories on Rally Italia Sardinia, winning this year’s event by 5.1 seconds, to repeat his victory on the same event last year. Sordo went in front on Friday and controlled his advantage all the way to the finish, winning five out of the 16 gravel stages in total.

Although he had his lead reduced this morning, the Spaniard’s victory was assured after a nearly flawless run. Behind him, the runner-up spot was contested in an intense battle right down to the final six-kilometre Power Stage.

Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier – the winner of six stages in Sardinia out of sixteen – regained strength from Saturday onwards, once he was running a bit lower down the order, hence being less affected by sweeping away loose gravel.

The Frenchman fought a very close battle against Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville, with the duo separated by only a tenth of a second after the first of three stages today. In the end, Neuville sealed the runner-up spot on the final stage: by just one second.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans was most affected by the soft and sandy gravel of Sardinia though, running first on the road throughout Friday with his Toyota. He too could improve his pace from Saturday onwards to seal fourth, although nearly a minute behind the battle for the podium. Nevertheless, this was enough for the Welshman to retain the top spot in the championship standings.

M-Sport Ford driver Teemu Suninen finished fifth – a disappointing result for the Finn after hos strong performance on Friday as he set the first fastest stage time and run in a strong second place for a long time. Unfortunately, mechanical problems on Saturday meant that he dropped down the order, eventually finishing in fifth place.

The Finn was still the top Fiesta driver, after his team mates Esapekka Lappi and Gus Greensmith encountered problems of their own. Lappi was out on the first day, while Greensmith’s car switched itself off on the Power Stage before re-starting.

Reigning World Champion Ott Tänak was sixth, having fought back from suspension problems on the opening day to win the Power Stage. Another Hyundai i20 WRC, driven by French privateer Pierre-Yves Loubet, was seventh – his first finish in a World Rally Car.

The FIA WRC2 category was won by Toksport WRT’s Pontus Tidemand, who made steady progresses with his Škoda Fabia Evo to win the class after moving into the category lead on Friday afternoon. Hyundai Motorsport N’s Ole Christian Veiby finished 28.8s behind him,while Tidemand’s team-mate Eywind Brynildsen completed the class podium for manufacturer-backed competitors. 

Finland’s Jari Huttunen claimed a second FIA WRC3 victory this year in the Rally2-specification i20, also finishing eighth overall. Kajetan Kajetanowicz is the class’ second and Marco Bulacia third.

Tom Kristensson won the FIA Junior World Rally Championship classification in his Ford Fiesta R2T, by a considerable margin in front of Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zaldivar and Latvia’s Martin Sesks.

2020 Rally Italia Sardegna – Final unofficial results: