Dani Sordo Wins In Sardinia

Dani Sordo wins Rally Sardinia in his Hyundai Rally racing car


Hyundai Motorsport has reclaimed the lead of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) manufacturers’ standings following a stunning 1-2 result for the team in Rally Italia Sardegna, the sixth round of the revised eight-event season.

Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio celebrated a sensational repeat of their result from 2019, securing their second-ever victory for Hyundai Motorsport after an impressive performance in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul made it a 1-2 for Hyundai Motorsport as they ended the 16-stage rally in second place overall, securing the position with a hard push on the Power Stage. It marks their third top-three result of the season and moves Neuville up to third in the drivers’ standings.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja, having lost time and positions due to a suspension issue on Friday morning, finished in sixth place overall, but took some consolation from setting the fastest time in the Power Stage.

Toyota's Sebastien Ogier Had no problems during the third day of action and finished 2nd having closed the gap to Dani Sordo from27.4 second yesterday to 5.1 second at the finish.

No longer having to run first on the road as championship leader as he did on Friday, Elfyn Evans could also compete for the leading times and moved up from fifth to fourth overall but nearly a minute behind Ogier to keep a 14 point lead in the World Rally Championship standings.

M-Sport Ford's Teemu Suninen got off to the perfect start, Suninen claimed an early lead on Friday morning and was a full second a kilometre quicker than anyone else through the opening speed test.

Despite losing some aerodynamic aids and opting for a less advantageous tyre choice through the second pass, he maintained good pace and ended the day in a strong second place.

Embarking on the weekend stages, the Flying Finn had his sights firmly set on a second podium of the year – adding to the third place he secured at Rally Mexico back in March. But luck wasn’t to be on his side and an issue with the handbrake on Saturday morning prevented a maximum attack – relegating him from second to fifth in the process.

Consolidating his fifth position through today’s closing stages, Suninen should take comfort from the flashes of brilliance shown this weekend and will be looking to prove his potential once again when the championship turns to asphalt for the final two rounds of the season.

Delivering their best performance behind the wheel of the top-specification Fiesta, Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson outperformed the championship contenders through a number of stages on Friday, but their charge was quite literally halted on Saturday.

Following an unlucky impact with a rock on the line, the pairing developed an electrical issue – losing charge through the stage and coming to a halt in a dip after the stop line. Putting their mechanical skills to the test, the youngsters were able to replace the alternator belt, but with no charge and no way of restarting their Fiesta their day came to a frustrating end.


1

D. Sordo

C. del Barrio

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

2:41:37.5

2

T. Neuville

N. Gilsoul

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

+5.1

3

S. Ogier

J. Ingrassia

Toyota Yaris WRC

+6.1

4

E. Evans

S. Martin

Toyota Yaris WRC

+1:02.3

5

T. Suninen

J. Lehtinen

Ford Fiesta WRC

+1:33.9

6

O. Tänak

M. Järveoja

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

+2:27.5

7

P. L. Loubet

V. Landais

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

+4:43.8

8

J. Huttunen

M. Lukka

Hyundai i20 R5

+8:41.7

9

K. Kajetanowicz

M. Szczepaniak

Škoda Fabia R5

+10:02.9

10

P. Tidemand

P. Barth

Škoda Fabia R5

+10:20.9

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