Rally Italia Sardegna: 45 verified drivers make the cut to start on Thursday
Alghero, 06 June 2018: A total of 45 drivers were admitted to the start after pre-event scrutineering here ahead of the Rally Italia Sardegna. The five failures were the Kris Meeke, as already announced by Citroen, the Italian gravel Trophy winner Andrea Dalmazzini (Ford Fiesta R5), the Russian Shaymiev, the Romanian Casuneanu and Sebastiano Ciato. All the other crews reached Sardinia and the rally will therefore enjoy the presence of 11 WRC Plus, 4 WRC 2016, 12 WRC 2 and 4 WRC 3 cars besides the non-priority drivers, including India’s Gaurav Gill who, along with co-driver Glenn Macneall of Australia (MRF Tyres), will be in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5.
Meanwhile, drivers have started recce this morning which will continue until tomorrow afternoon. Max Rendina also reached Alghero. The 44 year-old driver from Rome and co-driver Emanuele Inglesi will be on the 0 car.
LIVE COVERAGE OF THE RALLY
Regarding TV coverage, edition 2018 of the Rally Italia Sardegna will be covered live in Italy as usual by FOX Sports (SKY 204) with commentary by Lucio Rizzica and Gabriele Cogni, and by Rai Sport Sat (Freview 57) with commentary by Lorenzo Leonarduzzi and
Andrea Nicoli. Both networks will cover the Super Special Stage Ittiri Arena from 19 on Thursday June 7, the two Coiluna-Loelle stages on Saturday at local 8.30 am and 4 pm, and the two Sassari-Argentiera tests (the second of which will be the power stage) on Sunday at 9.30 am and 12 Noon.
CITROEN AXE KRIS MEEKE
French manufacturer Citroen recently announced that Ulsterman Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle will not start Rally Italia Sardegna or any of the remaining WRC rounds due to ‘an excessively high number of crashes’.
Team principal Pierre Budar said the decision to axe Meeke was based on safety considerations. “This wasn’t an easy decision to make because it effects a driver and a co-driver, but it is largely founded on safety issues which come under my preoccupations as team principal. We have consequently chosen to make this decision as a preventive measure,” he said.
A statement from Citroën Racing said: “Due to an excessively high number of crashes, some of which were particularly heavy and could have had serious consequences with regard to the crew’s safety, and given that the risks involved were unjustified by the sporting stakes at play, Citroën Racing WRT has decided to terminate the participation of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in the 2018 WRC.”
HIGH TEMPERATURES AND TOUGH CONDITIONS
Rally Italia Sardegna is one of the toughest events on the WRC calendar and this week’s rally will be no exception as high in-car temperatures and narrow, rugged gravel roads push the crews to the limit. One of the events which formed part of the inaugural WRC calendar in 1973, the rally moved to the island in 2004 and the picturesque seaside town of Alghero will once again be the host.
After leaving the waterfront service park, teams will tackle 20 Stages totalling 314.36 kms of competitive action with 36.51 kms of the route new for this year. The action starts on Thursday night with the ‘Ittiri Arena Show’ – a 2 kms Super Special Stage that is held at the former Ittiri motocross track.
Crews will then head north-east on Friday to tackle two loops of four stages made up of Tula (22.12 Kms), the Castelsardo (14.37 Kms) test, Tergu-Osilo (14.14 Kms) and the Monte Baranta (11.46 Kms) stage, which was last year’s shakedown.
Saturday is the longest day of the rally, with 146.14 Kms of stages broken into two loops of three tests – Coiluna-Loelle (14.95 Kms), Monti Di Ala’ (28.52 Kms) and Monte Lerno (28.89 Kms). The 1.42 Kms Citta Di Ittiri-Coros stage splits the day and gets the action back underway after a mid-day service halt in Alghero.
Crews will head north of Alghero along the coast on Sunday to tackle the Cala Flumini (14.06 Kms) and Sassari-Argentiera (6.96 Kms) tests. Both stages, which were used in 2017, are run twice on Sunday, with the latter being the venue for the Live TV Power Stage which gets underway at 12.18 pm local time.
TOP HIGHLIGHTS
One of the WRC’s best-known locations – Micky’s Jump – will draw large crowds on Saturday as the crews drive the Monte Lerno stage twice. Cars will fly high and long as the road literally drops away beneath them.
The podium ceremony in Alghero is on the of the event’s most spectacular features, as teams dive into the harbour en masse to cool off after receiving their trophies.
