Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja claimed their maiden WRC victory on Rally Italia Sardegna today, becoming the fifth different crew to take wins over seven events with the new generation of World Rally Cars.

The Estonians powered through the closing stages to head Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila by 12.3 seconds with Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul coming home in third, nearly a minute further adrift.

In the Drivers’ Championship, Sébastien Ogier continues to top the standings despite finishing down in fifth. Neuville closes the gap to second and Tänak inches into third, one point ahead of Latvala. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, M-Sport continues to lead ahead of Hyundai and Toyota.

Tänak started the day with a 24.3 second advantage but instantly dropped five seconds in the day’s opener when he overshot a junction because a hole in the car meant dust was pouring into the cockpit. The problem continued but, luckily for the Estonian, Latvala stalled in the second stage and lost all the advantage he’d gained in the opener. Tanak went into the closing stages still with 25.5 seconds in hand to Latvala and was able to drop precious seconds in the Power Stage to claim his first World Rally victory in 73 starts.

“What can I say, it feels good!” said Tanak. “A difficult weekend but the first half of this season has been great. The new car and a strong team-mate is making me push hard. I hope it’s the first of many wins. It’s coming together. It looks like we have a strong team all around and in the car too.”

Following the frustration of the stall, Latvala then made another mistake in the Power Stage when the car just wouldn’t turn in on a hairpin, the Finn’s disappointment clear to see after aiming high for the additional points. Thierry Neuville achieved his pre-event objective of finishing on the podium and ahead of Championship leader Sébastien Ogier. Small issues, including a brake problem, probably cost the Belgian victory in Italy, but he nevertheless leaves the island satisfied.

Esapekka Lappi was the revelation of the rally and the young Finn claimed a total of six fastest times in only his second event in the Toyota Yaris WRC. He finished fourth overall ahead of Sébastien Ogier, who managed to overhaul Juho Hänninen who had more power steering problems today. He dropped to sixth in the final stage.

Mads Østberg broke the rear suspension in the Power Stage but despite losing over two minutes managed to maintain seventh. Andreas Mikkelsen finished eighth in his debut outing with Citroën Racing, upping the pace today after two days trying different settings.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Jan Kopecky and Pavel Dresler took their first win of the season and won the category by over two minutes to Ole Christian Veiby. The FIA Junior WRC and WRC 3 Championships were won by Nil Solans and Miguel Ibanez, the Spaniards claiming their second victory of the season.

The WRC contenders now head to Rally Poland (29 June-2 July) for the start of the second half of the season.

Rally Italia Sardegna – Final Unofficial Classification

Rally Italia Sardegna leader Hayden Paddon remains in control of the leaderboard after Saturday morning’s loop of three stages as some of his nearest rivals hit problems in the final stage. The Hyundai driver has marginally increased his lead, now over Estonian Ott Tänak, and has crucially stayed out of trouble on stages he loves and that suit the i20 Coupe WRC.

With the gaps opening up more, Tanak now sits 13.8 seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, the Finn climbing from fourth last night.

This morning’s stages have proved tricky and tough, the opener in particular as hanging dust made for poor visibility. Paddon powered on however, seeing it as an opportunity rather than a disadvantage. Fastest time underlined his commitment and the Kiwi was able to extend his advantage to 13.1 seconds over Neuville in this single stage.

Maintaining a comfortable pace over the following two stages, he was one of the few drivers to avoid problems and arrives at the mid-leg service 9.4 seconds ahead. Tänak, third last night, was losing the brakes in the final stage but was still fastest and has otherwise fared well. Latvala has been pushing hard but then furiously lost out in the last test when he was held up by Mads Østberg who had stopped to change a puncture. 

Thierry Neuville has been hit hard this morning. The Belgian was pushing in second, with a fastest time in the middle stage, but then had no brakes for the whole of the last test, losing him over a minute and two positions. Juho Hänninen has moved into fifth for Toyota, benefitting from Ostberg’s puncture, the Norwegian dropping from an overnight fifth to eighth. Esapekka Lappi has exercised a bit of caution this morning, not entirely confident on the slippery stages, and while he too got held up in the dust of Mikkelsen – who also stopped to change a puncture – the Finn remains upbeat in only his second outing for Toyota. He is now sixth with a reasonably comfortable advantage over Sébastien Ogier. The Frenchman struggled for traction and then he too had to change a wheel in the final stage. Mikkelsen continues to try different settings on the C3 WRC and is ninth with Eric Camilli rounding off the top 10. 

Dani Sordo, Eflyn Evans and Craig Breen all returned under Rally 2 regulations this morning, but Sordo once again hit problems with an intermittently working gearshift. 

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship category, Jan Kopecky continues to head the field and has nearly a minute in hand to Ole Christian Veiby. Nil Solans also remains in control of the Junior WRC category but now leads Nicolas Ciamin in second and Terry Folb in third.

After the mid-leg service in Alghero, the crews return to the same three stages for the afternoon’s competition.   

Ott Tanak is just four stages away from a maiden FIA World Rally Championship victory, the Estonian taking the lead of Rally Italia Sardegna after Hayden Paddon clouted a bank and was forced into a devastating retirement.

Jari-Matti Latvala and Thierry Neuville have therefore also moved up the leaderboard into second and third respectively after another tough afternoon of competition.

A rejuvenated Paddon looked to be totally in control of the leaderboard this morning and started the afternoon loop with a 9.4 second lead over Tänak. But in the first of the repeated stages the Kiwi hit a bank and amid dramatic images showing the rear wheel hanging off and flames in the wheel arch he completed the stage but was simply unable to go further. “Amateur mistake,” said a distraught Paddon. “An absolutely stupid mistake. I turned in too early and clipped a bank. It’s a broken drive shaft I think. I’ve let everyone down, it’s ridiculous.”

Tanak, who had been hot on his heels, set fastest time in the stage and then also assumed a shock lead. He has had a clean run all afternoon: “This afternoon was surprisingly good,” he said. “It has been good to drive up to now with a safe margin, now we can push more. Tomorrow I don’t see any reason why Latvala should be any quicker.”

The Finn is 24.3 seconds behind in the lead Toyota and has been managing tyres and hot brakes most of the afternoon. He has nearly 40 seconds in hand to third-place Neuville, the Belgian ruing the brake problem that dropped him over a minute this morning. Behind the leading trio, Esapekka Lappi continues to have an impressive outing in the Yaris WRC, another fastest stage time underlying his potential.

He managed to overhaul Juho Hänninen this afternoon after his team-mate lost the power steering in the final stage of the day. Despite some problems, the Japanese manufacturer has three cars in the top five on one of the roughest events of the season. Sébastien Ogier overnights in sixth and continues to have a tough time, yesterday’s road position and overnight result making it almost impossible for the Championship leader to improve.

Having dropped time changing a puncture this morning, Mads Ostberg started well this afternoon but then lost yet more seconds with damaged front suspension in the final stage. Andreas Mikkelsen continues to test different settings, with mixed outcomes, but the Norwegian then completed the day in rear wheel drive having broken the front differential.

He is eighth ahead of the leading FIA WRC 2 Championship contender, Jan Kopecky. The Czech driver won each of the afternoon stages and takes a 90 second advantage over Ole Christian Veiby into Sunday. In the FIA Junior WRC Championship, Nil Solans takes a 26.7 second advantage over Nicolas Ciamin. 

The final day on Sunday takes in just four stages and 42.04 competitive kilometres.

Rally Italia Sardegna – Provisional results after Section 5

After the afternoon loop of repeated stages, Hayden Paddon has maintained his advantage at the head of the Rally Italia Sardegna leaderboard. Despite carrying a damper problem, the Hyundai driver has extended his lead and now sits 8.2 seconds ahead of team-mate Thierry Neuville, the Belgian moving into second following a last stage drama for Juho Hanninen.

Ott Tanak has climbed to third with Jari-Matti Latvala and Mads Ostberg chasing behind. The closeness of competition sees the top five separated by just 14.7 seconds after a long, hot, rough and dusty day of competition.

“The priority today was getting a good road position for tomorrow. And that’s mission accomplished,” said Paddon. “I love tomorrow’s stages, they suit me and they suit the car. It would be rude if we didn’t give it a try.”

Behind Paddon, Neuville has been slowed with a couple of punctures and is just 1.3 seconds ahead of Tänak, who has struggled with the car set-up this afternoon. Jari-Matti Latvala, in fourth, has had a better and more consistent afternoon and has put himself firmly in contention for tomorrow.

The Finn is just three-tenths of a second off the provisional podium overnight and is now the lead Toyota driver after Hänninen went off the road in the final stage. After a great day where he ran consistently in second overall, Hänninen damaged the front end of the Yaris WRC and was losing water as he struggled to get back to the sanctuary of service. His mistake saw him drop from second to sixth.

Mads Ostberg is another to have run well, but this afternoon a tyre gamble failed to pay off and the Norwegian had to concede it was a mistake. He dropped back from third and is now sandwiching the Toyotas of Latvala and Hänninen. Championship leader Sebastien Ogier has lost far more time running first on the road than anticipated and is a disappointing 41 seconds adrift of the lead, and therefore with another relatively poor starting position tomorrow.

Esapekka Lappi has enjoyed a great run today and set a total of three fastest times in the third Yaris WRC. He is eighth and ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen who continues to ease himself into the C3 WRC. This afternoon he stalled five times over two stages, but is trying lots of different settings as he gets more and more mileage under his belt. Eric Camilli, driving an R5 Fiesta, rounds off the top 10.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Jan Kopecky now has nearly a minute in hand to fellow Škoda driver Ole Christian Veiby and, after a tight battle earlier in the day, the Junior WRC Championship contenders have also spread out. Nil Solans continues to lead with Terry Folb second, 36.7 second adrift.

Rally Italia Sardegna – Provisional results after Section 3