Tanak triumphs! And becomes fifth different winner in seven events

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