The sixth round of the World Rally Championship season continues this weekend with Rally Italia Sardegna 2024.
Championship Rundown
Thierry Neuville retained the championship lead after Rally Portugal. Expanding his lead from just 6 points to 24. Ott Tänak moves into third place in the championship, now sitting 31 points behind Neuville and 24 points behind Evans. Adrien Fourmaux dropped to fourth overall from third. With the Frenchman now sitting 8 points behind Tänak. Sebastien Ogier rounds out the top five, sitting just one point behind his fellow countryman Fourmaux. To this point, the championship has been pretty tight. However, a rough event from Evans has given Neuville a pretty nice lead heading into Rally Italia Sardegna 2024.
What To Expect From Rally Italia Sardegna 2024
Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 will see the debut of a new test format for the WRC. As the entire event will take place in just three days, including shakedown. Four stages will take place on the first day which will see drivers contest 77.82 km of stages. The second day will see drivers contest 149.00 km across eight stages. Super Sunday will see drivers contest the final 39.30 km across four stages. The shorter event will give drivers less time to recover from mistakes. Naturally, drivers will be pushed to their limits throughout the event.
Team Rundowns
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Toyota heads into Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 second overall in the manufacturers’ championship. Sitting just four points behind Hyundai in the championship. Toyota hasn’t had the best history in Sardegna, as they haven’t won the event since 2021 when Sebastien Ogier won the event. Toyota will roster a three-car team this weekend, with regulars Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, alongside part-timer Sebastien Ogier.
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
Hyundai tops the manufacturers’ championship heading into the sixth round of the season. With two event wins under the team’s belt to start the year. Hyundai has always done well in Sardegna. Winning the event six times since 2016. Between the three Hyundai drivers this weekend they’ve won the event seven times since 2016. This includes two wins from Dani Sordo and Ott Tänak and three from Thierry Neuville. All of which will be driving for Hyundai this weekend. Neuville will likely be looking to expand on his championship lead and win the event for the second consecutive year. While Tänak will be looking for his first win of the season.
M-Sport Ford WRT
M-Sport sits where everyone expected them to at this point, third in the manufacturers’ championship. However, nobody really expected M-Sport to have a driver fighting for third in the championship. As Adrien Fourmaux sits just eight points out of third in the championship. Fourmaux almost won the event in WRC2 last season. However, an off on the final day cost him the class win. Munster will use this weekend to once again gain experience. No real expectations are set on the team this weekend.