Sami Pajari will make his top-class debut during the eighth round of the 2024 WRC season, Rally Latvia.
Stepping Up
Sami Pajari has been a star for the last two seasons in the WRC2 category. Spending last season in a Toksport run Škoda, Pajari took home his first WRC2 win at his home event in Finland. He also managed to take home podiums in Sweden, Estonia and Chile to finish seventh in the championship. This season Pajari moved to a Printsport run Toyota Yaris Rally2. The 22-year-old has finished on the podium at every event he’s scored points at. Finishing second in Sweden and taking home the win in Sardinia earlier this month. For Rally Latvia Pajari will step into a fourth Toyota Yaris Rally1. Pajari will join Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and one of Kalle Rovanperä or Sébastien Ogier for the event.
Not The Only One
Pajari won’t be the only one making his top-class debut in Latvia. As Martins Sesks will also be making his debut that weekend. However, Sesks will be driving a hybrid-less M-Sport Ford Puma. Pajari will be driving a full-spec Toyota Yaris Rally1. Pajari and Sesks have a bit of history with one another. As both drivers battled one another in the Junior WRC Championship years ago. I’m 2020 Sesks finished second in the championship, just three points ahead of Pajari. The next year Pajari won the championship while Sesks finished third.
What To Expect From Pajari
Much like Sesks, don’t expect much from Pajari over the course of the weekend. As he will have to learn a brand new car throughout the weekend. That being said I wouldn’t be surprised if the 22-year-old put up some top-five stage times throughout the weekend. If I had to guess an overall finishing position for Pajari it would be somewhere between 5th and 7th out of the 10 rally1 cars attending the event. Looking at past statistics Pajari hasn’t done bad on fast gravel rallies, which is what Latvia is. Once he learns the car he shouldn’t have a difficult time keeping up with some of the regulars like Takamoto Katsuta. Plus that prediction also keeps in mind others may have issues throughout the weekend.
The third and final day of Rally Italia Sardegna has come to a close. Ott Tänak took home the event win barely beating out Ogier.
SS13, Cala Flumini 1
Thierry Neuville kicked off the final day with a stage win. As the Belgian set a time 4.6 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to top the stage and take an early lead in the Sunday standings. Elfyn Evans was third fastest on the stage, 6.1 seconds slower than Neuville and 1.5 seconds slower than Tänak. Sebastien Ogier finished fourth fastest on the stage, 2.5 seconds slower than Evans. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 5.6 seconds slower than Ogier. No drivers reported any issues on the stage.
SS14, Sassari-Argentiera 1
Thierry Neuville also took home the stage win on the fourteenth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. With a time 0.8 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 2.6 seconds slower than Neuville and 1.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Katsuta. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Sordo.
SS14, Cala Flumini 2
Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the events penultimate stage. As the Estonian set a time 0.4 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to win the stage. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest on the stage, 2.3 seconds slower than Tänak, and 1.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Thierry Neuville was fourth fastest on the stage, 2.9 seconds slower than Evans. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 4.3 seconds slower than Neuville.
SS16, Sassari-Argentiera 2
Thierry Neuville took home the final stage win of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. With a time 2.3 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to top the Powerstage and Sunday standings. Elfyn Evans was third fastest on the stage, 6.4 seconds slower than Neuville and 4.1 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux tied for fourth fastest on the stage, with both finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Evans.
Team Quotes
Hyundai Shell Mobis
Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal
“It is obviously a very emotional finish here today. It looked like the win would once again escape from our grasp after Ott wisely decided to play it safe yesterday. However, today’s result showed that you can also combine a smart approach to a rally with strong skills and the right momentum at the perfect time, resulting in a great win. It is a fantastic moment for him in his return to the team. This is a strong step in the championship, and an excellent team result with Dani on the podium. He did exactly what we expected of him for the team this weekend and it’s great to see them both from on that podium, underscoring our competitiveness.
Finally, Thierry has once again demonstrated his very commanding speed in any road position, including today when the motivation level was very high to make up for the loss and disappointment of yesterday. Obviously, we need to make sure that mistakes are as limited as possible as we expect this championship to continue to be incredibly competitive until the very end. There is even more to celebrate today, with our cars locking out the TCR class podium at the Nürburgring 24 Hours – we send our congratulations to our colleagues there for a phenomenal result.”
Ott Tänak – 1st Overall
“I’m feeling so many emotions right now. I’m very sorry for Seb to lose a win like this, it is cruel. I have been in the exactly the same position having a ‘safe’ victory taken away from me a couple of years ago. It’s been a tough weekend but it is great to finish with such a strong result. Let’s see what the next rallies will bring; we’re moving into the second half of the season and we’re definitely in the game. Now we have some fast rallies which I normally looking forward to, but I was supposed to enjoy yesterday afternoon as well but it was just not going to plan. Hopefully, we can find a good feeling in the car in our next events.”
Dani Sordo – 3rd Overall
“It wasn’t the easiest of days; Elfyn was having a good run and making good progress, so he was pushing us to the very end. In the final stage, I just tried to survive, it was completely destroyed and very hard on the car. We finish on the podium, which makes me very happy. It has been a joy to be back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid for these two events, which I enjoy so much, and I am pleased to be able to bring home a great result for the team. It was important for us to have a good finish and help the team in such a close battle for the manufacturers’ championship.”
Thierry Neuville – 41st Overall [SR]
“We did the job we needed to do today, but we are obviously frustrated with what happened yesterday. We were clearly managing the conditions, the speed was good and we felt comfortable – and fast. I just lost focus for a fraction of a second, and there was no way to continue. I’m not very proud of the weekend as a whole but I take pride in our performance on Friday and today, as well as in the team for a great result today. Now we turn to Poland, where I have won before – we have shown great improvements last year in Estonia and Finland, so I am looking forward to it.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Akio Toyoda – TGR-WRT Chairman
“The surface in Sardinia is very demanding, and it always gives challenges to our team and cars. TGR has won Sardinia only once so far when Seb got the victory in 2021. Seb and Vincent were doing really well on this harsh and demanding event, but they missed out at the very last moment on the Power Stage. The gap of 0.2 seconds is so small and disappointing, but this is sport. Our team all hate to lose. We will turn this frustration into strength and aim for the next victory.
P.S. to Ott
I was on-site in Rally Sardinia 2019 and following your performance. You made up for the disappointment of that Power Stage this time. Congratulations!”
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“We are of course very disappointed to miss out on the victory in this way. This final stage in Sardinia has been very dramatic in the past and unfortunately, it’s not the first time that we have experienced late drama here, because it reminds us of what happened back in 2019 when we were leading with Ott until the last stage. This event has not always been kind to us, but it was looking very good for Seb and we thought we could take another victory together here. The only positive is that it didn’t affect the points so much for us. A moment like this can be difficult to digest, and we hate to lose, but we also never lose our fighting spirit and we will come back to fight again on the next event in Poland.”
Sébastien Ogier – 2nd Overall
“We knew it could be tough today with some stages that are very rough and maybe not the most suited to us. Still, I think we were doing a good enough job to secure the win, but unfortunately, we started to lose tyre pressure three kilometres from the end. The conditions were very extreme in this Power Stage, even worse than we have seen there before, and I don’t think there was much that I could have done differently. It’s something that’s never easy to take, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really change anything in terms of the overall points for the team. I think I can still be happy with the weekend I’ve done, and sometimes motorsport just doesn’t go your way. We will come back and try to keep up this level of performance we’ve had.”
Elfyn Evans – 4th Overall
“It’s been a very difficult weekend for us but today was a bit better. I would say the feeling was definitely improved and I think the times and the points that we got from the day showed that. Still, it’s clear looking at the weekend overall that we still have a lot of work to do to improve in rallies with conditions like this one. The good news is that the characteristics now change to something quite different for the next three rallies. We know the car can be strong on fast rallies like those and it will be important to prepare as best we can and try to find confidence early.”
Takamoto Katsuta – 35th Overall
“Today my target was to get some points. We knew it would be difficult with our starting position, and the first stage was not good because we had a lot of dust from the car in front and could not see so much. We took some points but of course, I wanted more. Things were working well earlier in the rally, everything was under control and then unfortunately we had the technical issue. But it was a demanding rally for the cars and sometimes things like this can happen: I just need to accept it and move forward to the next rally.”
M-Sport Ford
Richard Millener – Team Principal
“We knew it was always going to be hard to continue our good run here in Sardinia, one of the toughest events of the European part of the WRC, but dispute not getting the result we wanted, we can still be happy with the speed Adrien and Alex showed on many of the event stages. I also want to congratulate Gregoire and Louis on their best result to date in the WRC – a really great achievement for them both and secures them eight championship points. We now look towards three fast rallies in a row where we are determined to get back to chasing the podium places.”
Grégoire Munster – 5th Overall
“I’m just happy we had a trouble free event, and at the end, we reached our best result in the WRC, so we’re very happy with this. There’s still plenty of work to do and pace to find but we’re always going in the right direction. Especially seeing us get our fourth fastest time in SS3, we now need to build on that and keep the momentum going into the next few events.”
Adrien Fourmuax – 15th Overall
“I think we can be quite positive with the pace we showed this weekend, on Friday and Saturday especially. It’s a shame what happened with the electronic issue on Friday, but we are working on these things for the future. On Sunday, it was good to get some extra points for the Power Stage, even if we wanted more from the daily standings on Super Sunday. We need to focus a bit on the slower corners, to get the car more agile, but this is very specific to Sardinia. Overall I have been happy with the car and now we need to focus on the upcoming smooth gravel rallies.”
Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Day Two Recap
The second day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 has come to a close. Sebastien Ogier retained the event lead after the day.
SS5, Tempio Pausania 1
Ott Tänak kicked off the day with his second stage win of the weekend. As the Estonian set a time 3.3 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 4.6 seconds slower than Tänak and 1.3 seconds slower than Neuville. WRC2 driver Yohan Rossel was fourth fastest on the stage, 5.3 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.4 seconds slower than Rossel. Ott Tänak took over the event lead on the stage. Tänak took a 0.1-second lead over Ogier into SS6. Ogier suffered a puncture on the stage.
SS6, Tula-Erula 1
Sebastien Ogier took home the stage win on the sixth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. With a time 2.3 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest on the stage, 3.2 seconds slower than Ogier and 0.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 18.1 seconds slower than Neuville. WRC2 driver Yohan Rossel rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds slower than Katsuta. Sebastien Ogier was able to reacquire the event lead on SS6. With Ogier now holding a 2.2-second lead over Tänak. No drivers had any reported issues on the stage.
SS7, Tempio Pausania 2
Thierry Neuville took his first stage win on the day on SS7. Setting a time 0.1 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to win his second stage of the weekend. Sebastien Ogier was third fastest on the stage, 4.5 seconds slower than Neuville and 4.4 seconds slower than Tänak, making Tänak the new rally leader. Elfyn Evans finished fourth fastest on the stage, 4.5 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.3 seconds slower than Evans.
SS8, Tula-Erula 2
Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the final stage of the morning loop. As the Estonian posted a time 1.3 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to expand his event lead to 3.5 seconds over Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 8 seconds slower than Tänak and 6.7 seconds slower than Ogier. Dani Sordo had the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.8 seconds slower than Katsuta. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the eighth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024, finishing 4.8 seconds slower than Sordo. Reigning event winner Thierry Neuville crashed out on the stage. Forcing him to retire from the day.
SS9, Monte Lerno 1
Sebastien Ogier kicked off the afternoon loop with his second stage win of the day. Finishing with a time 6.8 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to take back the event lead. Ogier now leads by 3.3 seconds over Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux set the third fastest time on the stage, 11.5 seconds slower than Ogier and 4.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo was fourth fastest on the stage, 9.4 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 5.5 seconds slower than Sordo. Takamoto Katsuta was forced to retire early into the stage with what’s believed to be a transmission issue.
SS10, Coiluna-Loelle 1
Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the tenth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. As Ogier set a time 6.4 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to extend the event lead to 9.7 seconds. Adrien Fourmaux was once again third fastest on the stage, finishing 7.4 seconds slower than Ogier and 1 second slower than Tänak. Elfyn Evans finished fourth fastest on the stage, 1.2 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.9 seconds slower than Evans. No drivers reported any issues on the stage.
SS11, Monte Lerno 2
Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the eleventh stage of Rally Italian Sardegna 2024. With a time 6.5 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to further extend the event lead to 16.2 seconds. Dani Sordo finished third fastest on the stage, 7.7 seconds slower than Ogier and 1.2 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 6.2 seconds slower than Sordo. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds slower than Fourmaux. No drivers reported any issues on the stage.
SS12, Coiluna-Loelle 2
Elfyn Evans took his first stage win of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 on the final stage of day two. As the Welshmen set a time 0.4 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier. Ott Tänak was third fastest on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Evans and 0.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Dani Sordo finished fourth fastest on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Sordo.
What To Expect From Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Day Three
The third and final day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 will see drivers contest 39.30 km across four stages. Thierry Neuville will be first on the road, followed by Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux. Neuville will likely look to make a huge push on Super Sunday due to his retirement today. If he doesn’t he’s at risk of losing the championship lead for the first time this season.
Driver Quotes
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“To be leading at the end of another Saturday definitely gives us a great feeling. Seb has been driving superbly once again. Even with no spare tyres left, he was able to keep up his speed this morning and then attack in the afternoon. Taka was driving well and keeping Dani Sordo behind, so it was a pity that he had to stop with the transmission-related issue, but the last stage of the morning was very rough and it seems something had broken as a consequence. Elfyn hasn’t had the best feeling in this rally but he’s been driving consistently and, with Thierry making a mistake, he has moved into a better position and if everything goes well tomorrow, this can help him in the championship. It’s a relatively short final day tomorrow but I’m sure everybody will be pushing hard and we can expect more tense competition.”
Sebastien Ogier – 1st Overall
“It’s been an incredible day overall. Very rough and very tough. The morning stages were not so fun to drive with some of the roughest conditions we’ve ever seen. That was really about surviving and I’m glad we were able to do that, especially after we lost one tyre after the first stage of the day. The afternoon was completely different: it was much more enjoyable to drive. The pleasure was back so I really enjoyed it and I managed to create a gap, so tonight it’s very positive. Tomorrow we still expect some rough conditions, but we will still need to have some speed and just carry on with the same approach.”
Elfyn Evans – 4th Overall
“It’s been a long and tough day out there. I think our speed has been better in certain stages than in others. When there’s a bit more room and the surface is sandier, it suits us better. When it’s tight and twisty we’re still struggling a bit. The good thing is that we got the car to the end of the day when others weren’t able to do so and that’s helped us move up the leaderboard. Of course, we still have tomorrow to get through to secure those points, and hopefully, we can push to take a few more.”
Takamoto Katsuta – 40th Overall [SR]
“Everything was going quite well this morning. It was a very rough loop – the last stage especially was very extreme and tough for the cars. We managed to get up to third overall so we were in a good position. But I started to hear a noise in the last stage of the morning and we found that we had an issue with the transmission. With a normal service, we could have fixed it, but with just the tyre-fitting zone we could not do so much. We tried, but it got worse on the first stage of the afternoon and we had to stop. It’s tough, but this is rallying and we just need to look forward.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis
Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal
“Definitely a day of mixed feelings. We have had some great moments in very good position, including Ott in the lead, but also some disappointments when Thierry made a mistake and went off, meaning he could not complete the day. It is unfortunate as he was looking to build his advantage, but he will be back on Sunday with renewed focus. Ott kept the fight alive against Ogier but eventually elected to take a cautious approach, especially as he still occasionally lacks confidence in certain conditions with the car. Today was one of those days, but tomorrow he will be back on a massive attack. Dani did a great job keeping Evans behind, which is a crucial contribution to the team’s objective and our final result in a very contested championship season.”
Ott Tänak – 2nd Overall
“Generally, I was expecting a very tough first half of the day, which it was, and it was a big job to keep the pace on these roads – it took a lot of energy. I was hoping for a better afternoon on stages that I really enjoy, but I couldn’t make it work. I couldn’t find a good rhythm in the car and when you don’t have full confidence, it’s hard to keep pushing to the maximum. I also had to be safe and not take any risks. Every day has been very different and tomorrow we have two unique stages – the Power Stage on the beach cannot be compared to anything else. It is very cool if you have nothing to lose, but we can’t lose what we have achieved already.”
Dani Sordo – 3rd Overall
“I was performing better this afternoon when I had better grip on the surface of the roads, but it was a tough day and I did struggle. The problems of Katsuta and Thierry gave us a little bit of a boost, but in the end, I started to push and managed to build a gap of thirty seconds. Tomorrow is another really demanding day, with narrow and difficult stages, so we need to keep pushing forwards. Our goal is to keep Evans behind and finish on the podium at a minimum, and try to keep up with the guys in front.”
Thierry Neuville – 44th Overall [SR]
“We were in the middle of a very tricky twisty section when I momentarily lost my concentration on a corner and didn’t realise we would have a slow one right after. I was too late on the brakes and I knew immediately it was going to be tricky to get out of the situation. There were no spectators around to help push us back on, which meant that despite having no damage on the car, we were unable to continue. Tomorrow we have a clear target: to push as hard as we can to take the full 12 points from the day. It’s the best we can do in this situation.”
Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Day One Recap
The first day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 has come to an end. Sebastien Ogier leads the event after the days four stages.
SS1, Osilo-Tergu 1
Sebastien Ogier picked up where he left off in Portugal. As the Frenchman took home the stage win on the weekend’s first stage. With a time 7.7 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux and Dani Sordo tied for third fastest on the stage. With both drivers finishing 14.5 seconds slower than Ogier and 6.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Fourmaux and Sordo. Elfyn Evans suffered a slow puncture on the stage. The Welshman managed to finish eighth fastest on the opening stage.
SS2, Sedini-Castelsardo 1
Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the second stage of Rally Italia Sardegna. As the Estonian posted a time 1.2 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, 1.9 seconds slower than Tänak and 0.7 seconds slower than Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.7 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Sebastien Ogier rounded out the top five on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Katsuta. No drivers reported any issues on the stage. Sebastien Ogier remains in the event lead after the stage only 1.8 seconds ahead of Tänak.
SS3, Osilo-Tergu 2
Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the second running of the Osilo-Tergu stage. With a time 2.9 seconds faster than Ott Tänak this time around. Dani Sordo had his first top-three time this weekend on the stage, finishing 8.8 seconds slower than Ogier and 5.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Grégoire Munster was fourth fastest on the stage, 4.9 seconds slower than Sordo. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Munster. Adrien Fourmaux suffered a puncture on the stage. Much like Evans, he was still able to have a decent finishing time on the stage, finishing 9th, 39.4 seconds slower than Ogier. Sebastien Ogier was able to expand his lead to 4.7 seconds ahead of Tänak heading into the fays final stage.
SS4, Sedini-Castelsardo 2
Thierry Neuville capped off the first day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 with his first stage win of the weekend. As the championship leader set a time 3.7 seconds faster than Ott Tänak on the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 3.9 seconds slower than Neuville and 0.2 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta was fourth fastest on the stage, 6.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Katsuta. Fourmaux retired in the stage due to an electrical issue.
What To Expect From Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Day Two
The second day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 will see drivers contest 149 km across eight stages. The day will feature no midday service. Adrien Fourmaux will be first on the road followed by Grégoire Munster and Elfyn Evans. Sebastien Ogier takes a 4.5-second lead over Ott Tänak into the day. Ogier will be looking to expand on that lead to take home his third consecutive win this season and 61st career win.
Driver And Team Quotes
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“Generally I’m very happy tonight with how our rally has started. I could see already in shakedown that Seb’s confidence levels were high and he started the rally very strongly. He showed a great performance and to be leading the rally after the first day is really nice. Taka started with a careful approach but he was improving his pace all the time so it’s been generally a good start for him as well. Unfortunately, Elfyn already got damage to one of his tyres very early on and then had to be more careful in order to get through the loop. But overall I’m pleased with our performance at the start of the rally, as this hasn’t been the easiest event for us in the past, and hopefully, we can continue this progress, but tomorrow will be a long and tough day for everybody.”
Sebastien Ogier – 1st Overall
“We’re in the lead tonight so it’s been a positive start. It’s been tough: we expected a difficult loop with some abrasive sections that would be tough for the tyres, especially this first stage, Osilu-Tergu. It was also my first time driving this stage in that direction. Still, we went with an aggressive choice of five tyres for the afternoon and I did have to take care a little bit in some sections to manage it, but it’s nice to be in the lead. We made a positive step today that now gives us the optimum start position for tomorrow, but the gap to second place is close so it’s going to be an intense fight.”
Elfyn Evans – 6th overall
“It’s been a tough start for us. Picking up a puncture near the end of the first stage was not ideal, and then both times through the second stage of the loop was difficult for us. We struggled with the feeling in there and we were having to be careful with no spare tyre left to use. It was just a pity that happened so early on because that made it hard to manage the wear across the rubber we had left. It’s a long and difficult rally to go still and we’ll keep going and see what comes. We need to keep learning on this type of surface, try to find improvements and keep working towards where we want to be.”
Takamoto Katsuta- 4th Overall
“We are not in a bad position tonight. I’m not fully happy with myself, I was struggling a bit through most of the stages and it was a bit of a pity that I could not finish one place higher to get the better road position for tomorrow. But still, there’s a long way to go. I just need to find what I can improve in my driving to be better tomorrow and to push with a bit more confidence. With no mid-day service, there’s not much we can change on the car during tomorrow so as drivers we will need to adapt, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis
Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal
“It has been a good opening day here in Sardinia. It was our first experience of this new sprint format and it unfolded as we both expected and hoped it would. Ott had very strong pace, which has put him in a good position for a push tomorrow. He will be supported by Dani, who managed to keep Katsuta and Evans behind him today. Thierry had dealt with his road position very well, and we end the first day in pretty much the best situation possible. However, we have to stay focused on the job at hand, as tomorrow is going to be a long and unpredictable day.”
Ott Tänak – 2nd Overall
“We can be happy after our day, and we have a good road position for tomorrow. It would have been nice to have been one better but we can be content with what we have. It was a bit challenging in that last stage on both runs – the loss of the hybrid boost wasn’t as important on the first, as there was not much grip on the loose gravel, but the second was very grippy and it would have helped a lot. Thankfully, the strong Hyundai engine pulled us through and ensured we didn’t lose too much time. Tomorrow is going to be very demanding, particularly the first four stages; they are very slow, narrow and twisty – there’s no flow at all, but you have to push.”
Thierry Neuville – 5th Overall
“Today was worse than I expected if I am honest. We hoped that we could take some softs to try and minimise the disadvantage of our road position, but ultimately it was very warm and we had to go with full hard tyres on the abrasive stages. In hindsight, we should have taken one more with us to allow us to properly attack in every single corner, but I’m still happy with my day. I would love to have been third overnight rather than fifth, but we are constantly adapting and there is still an opportunity for a podium. Tomorrow we need to make sure we don’t lose too much time and score the maximum points as we push for the top three.”
Dani Sordo – 3rd Overall
“I’m happy to finish the day in third, especially as it wasn’t certain in those last two stages that we would have a good road position for tomorrow. We had to manage the tyres because we were really on the limit at the end, but it has been a nice day. I expected to be closer to the battle at the front, but Ogier and Ott were on a different level. Although I lost time on the first and last stage, it was important to finish today where we did, as tomorrow is going to be tough.”
Rally Italia Sardegna Preview: Rally1
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.
Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 has come to an end. Sebastien Ogier took home his second consecutive event win.
Drivers’ Championship Rundown
Thierry Neuville retains 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 drops the 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 Sardinia at the end of the month.
Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 Day One
Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 kicked off with a lone SuperSpecial stage on the first day. Thierry Neuville took the stage win to take a 0.6-second lead over Sebastien Ogier into the first day of action. Ott Tänak and Takamoto Katsuta tied for third, with both finishing two seconds slower than Neuville.
Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 Day Two
Reigning Rally Portugal winner Kalle Rovanperä took the event lead after a non-eventful first full day of action. Rovanperä ended the day with a one-second lead over five-time Rally Portugal winner Sebastien Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta moved into sole possession of third, ending the day 4.7 seconds behind Rovanperä. Just 5.4 seconds separated first and fourth on the day. Dani Sordo who had the most stage wins on the day sat fifth overall, 17.9 seconds behind Rovanperä. Ogier, Sordo and Neuville also reported they had hybrid issues throughout the day. Elfyn Evans had his chances at a win in Portugal slashed after a puncture on SS7.
Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 Day Three
Sebastien Ogier became the third driver to lead the event. Ogier took the event lead after Rovanperä rolled off the road on SS11. Takamoto Katsuta broke his right rear suspension on SS12 ending his event. Ogier ended the penultimate day with an 11.9-second lead over Ott Tänak. Thierry Neuville sat third overall over a minute behind Ogier. Tänak and Ogier traded stage wins all day, with Tänak winning three and Ogier winning four of the days nine stages.
Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 Day Four
The fourth and final day of Rally Portugal was set up to be a battle between Ogier and Tänak. With just four stages for Tänak to take the lead from Ogier, anything was possible. Ogier kicked off the day with a stage win expanding his lead to 18.1 seconds. Tänak won the next two stages closing the gap to just 10.1 seconds. 11.18 km would decide if Ogier took his record 6th Rally Portugal win and 60th career win, or if Tänak would take home his first win of the season. Ultimately Tänak beat out Ogier on the stage, however, Ogier was still able to take home the win. As Tänak only took 2.2 seconds out of Ogier’s lead.
Underwhelming Event For Evans
Elfyn Evans went into Rally Portugal just six points behind Thierry Neuville in the championship standings. However, Evans had his worst showing at an event in a while. A puncture on day two put Evans way out of contention for a win. He did manage to finish sixth on the Saturday standings. After both Rovanperä and Katsuta retired. Sunday wasn’t much better for the Welshman. As engine overheating issues on SS21 forced Evans to complete the stage in electric mode. Retirement was not an option for Evans who needed to finish the event to cash his Saturday points.
The fourth and final day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 has come to an end. Sebastien Ogier held on to take the stage win.
SS19, Cabeceiras de Basto 1
Sebastien Ogier topped the first stage of the final day. Setting a time 3.3 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Ott Tänak was their fastest on the stage, finishing 6.2 seconds slower than Ogier and 2.9 seconds slower than Neuville. Adrien Fourmaux was fourth fastest on the stage, 2.2 seconds slower than Tänak. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Fourmaux.
SS20, Fafe 1
Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the twentieth stage of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024. With a time four seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 4.5 seconds slower than Tänak and 0.5 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.8 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing two seconds slower than Evans.
SS21, Cabeceiras de Basto 2
Ott Tänak also took home the stage win on the event’s penultimate stage. Setting a time 1.4 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take his second stage win of Super Sunday and the Super Sunday lead. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, 1.7 seconds slower than Tänak and 0.3 seconds slower than Neuville. Sebastien Ogier posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 10.8 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS22, Fafe 2 Wolf Powerstage
Thierry Neuville took home the final stage win of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024. With a time 0.1 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Kalle Rovanperä was third fastest on the stage, 2.2 seconds slower than Neuville and two seconds slower than Tänak. Sebastien Ogier set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, 1.1 seconds slower than Ogier
Day Three Recap
The third day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 has come to an end. Sebastien Ogier took the event lead after a chaotic day.
SS10, Felgueiras 1
Kalle Rovanperä kicked off the penultimate day with a stage win. As the two-time Rally Portugal winner set a time 4.2 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville tied for third fastest on the stage, with both drivers finishing 5.7 seconds slower than Rovanperä and 1.5 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 0.5 seconds slower than Ogier and Neuville.
SS11, Montim 1
Sebastien Ogier took home the stage win on the second stage of the day. With a time 0.5 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, 6.5 seconds slower than Ogier and six seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.8 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.2 seconds slower than Sordo.
SS12, Amarante 1
Ott Tänak claimed the stage win on the twelfth stage of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024. Setting a time 3.6 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to top his first stage of the day. Dani Sordo was third fastest on the stage, 15.4 seconds slower than Tänak and 11.8 seconds slower than Ogier. Thierry Neuville finished fourth fastest on the stage, finishing 0.4 seconds slower than Sordo. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 8.3 seconds slower than Neuville.
SS13, Paredes 1
Sebastien Ogier capped off the morning loop with his second stage win of the day. As the Frenchman posted a time 8.5 seconds faster than fellow countryman Adrien Fourmaux to win the stage. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest on the stage, 12 seconds slower than Ogier and 8.5 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, finishing 0.1 seconds slower than Neuville. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.2 seconds slower than Evans.
SS14, Felgueiras 2
Ott Tänak kicked off the afternoon loop of stages with his second stage win of the day. As the Estonian set a time 2.4 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville. Dani Sordo finished third fastest on the stage, three seconds slower than Tänak and 0.6 seconds slower than Neuville. Sebastien Ogier posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Sordo. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 4.7 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS15, Montim 2
Ott Tänak also took the stage win on the fifteenth stage of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024. With a time 2.1 seconds faster than Adrien Fourmuax. Thierry Neuville set the third fastest time on the stage, 2.2 seconds slower than Tänak and 0.1 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Sebastien Ogier set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Neuville. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.2 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS16, Amarante 2
Sebastien Ogier set the fastest time on the sixteenth stage of the event. Setting a time 4.1 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, 11 seconds slower than Ogier and 6.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo was fourth fastest on the stage, 3.8 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five on the stage, with a time 4.3 seconds slower than Sordo.
SS17, Paredes 2
Sebastien Ogier also topped the penultimate stage of the day. With a time 0.4 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to take his second consecutive stage win. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, one second slower than Ogier and 0.6 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 7.7 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS18, Lousada
Adrien Fourmaux capped off the penultimate day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 with his first stage win of the weekend. Setting a time 0.3 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Thierry Neuville was third fastest on the stage 0.6 seconds slower than Fourmaux and 0.3 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.1 seconds slower than Neuville. Sebastien Ogier rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.2 seconds slower than Sordo.
Chaotic Day
Compared to the WRC2 class, Rally1 was actually pretty calm. As few major incidents happened on the day. First Kalle Rovanperä rolled out of the event lead on SS11. Takamoto Katsuta broke his right rear suspension on SS12. Grégoire Munster had engine issues throughout the day, although the exact issue is unknown. Finally, Ott Tänak had a slow puncture in the afternoon which cost him the lead. Rovanperä will return for the final day to help Toyota chase valuable manufacturers’ championship points.
What To Expect From Day Four
The fourth and final day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal will see drivers contest 62.18 km across 4 stages. The longest of these stages is the 19.91 km Cabeceiras de Basto stage. While the shortest is the famed 11.18 Fafe stage, which will serve as the Wolf Powerstage. Kalle Rovanperä will be first on the road tomorrow, followed by Takamoto Katsuta and Grégoire Munster. Being Super Sunday drivers will likely push to gain as many extra points as possible, especially Elfyn Evans who sits sixth overall heading into the final day. Thierry Neuville will also push to try to score more points than Evans. Ogier and Tänak will both push because they are battling for the event win.
Kalle Rovanperä and Oliver Solberg have retired from Vodafone Rally De Portugal on day three. Find out more about the retirements below.
Rolling Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä entered the penultimate day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 with a one-second lead over Sebastien Ogier. On the day’s opening stage, Rovanperä expanded his lead to 6.7 seconds over Ogier. Rovanperä’s expanded lead was short-lived, however. As I’m SS11 the two-time Rally Portugal winner rolled his Toyota Yaris Rally1 onto its side up against a tree. This left Rovanperä with no option but to retire as he couldn’t roll the car back over on his own to continue day three.
Will Rovanperä Return?
Chances are yes Rovanperä will return for Super Sunday tomorrow. However, this isn’t confirmed as at this moment it’s unknown what damage his car has, if any. All we know at this time is he’s out for the day. It’s an unfortunate end for Rovanperä who was looking to win his third consecutive Rally Portugal this weekend. Joining the likes of Hannu Mikkola and Miki Biasion with three wins at the legendary event. That hope will have to wait for another year. Sebastien Ogier now holds a 3.4-second lead over Ott Tänak.
Solberg Also Rolls
If you had told me before the start of day three that both the event leader and the WRC2 leader would roll a couple of hundred meters from each other I probably would’ve laughed. However, that is exactly what happened. As Oliver Solberg rolled his Škoda Fabia a couple of corners after where Rovanperä rolled. Solberg started the third day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal with a 7.3-second lead over Yohan Rossel who he co-leads the WRC2 championship with. After finishing third in the WRC2 category on the day’s opening stage, Solberg expanded his lead over Rossel to 10.2 seconds. Much like Rovanperä that expanded lead was short-lived.
Will Solberg Return?
Unlike Rovanperä, Solberg rolled his car multiple times after launching off a berm on the inside of a corner. Solberg rolled three or four times before landing. From the looks of it, his Škoda had suspension damage as the driver-side front wheel was down. It won’t be a quick fix and the Swede is definitely done for the day. Whether or not he returns for the final day tomorrow is up to his team’s mechanics. Yohan Rossel now holds a 5.9-second lead over Gus Greensmith.
The second day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 has come to a close. Kalle Rovanperä took the event lead after the day’s eight stages.
SS2, Mortágua 1
Takamoto Katsuta kicked off the first full day of action with a stage win. As the Japanese driver set a time 1.2 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 2.1 seconds slower than Katsuta and 0.9 seconds slower than Neuville. Elfyn Evans was fourth fastest on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Kalle Rovanperä and Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five on the stage, with both drivers finishing 1.8 seconds slower than Evans.
SS3, Lousã 1
Dani Sordo took home the stage win on the third stage of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024. As the Spaniard posted a time 3.2 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to claim his first stage win of the weekend. Ott Tänak once again finished third fastest on the stage, 4.2 seconds slower than Sordo and one second slower than Rovanperä. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Tänak. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Katsuta.
SS4, Góis 1
Dani Sordo also claimed the stage win on the fourth stage of the event. With a time 1.8 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to become the first driver to win more than one stage this weekend. Adrien Fourmaux was third fastest on the stage, 2.1 seconds slower than Sordo and 0.3 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Sebastien Ogier set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS5, Arganil 1
Thierry Neuville capped off the morning loop with his first stage win of the day. As the championship leader set a time 2.2 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to win the stage. Takamoto Katsuta was third fastest on the stage, finishing 2.3 seconds slower than Neuville and 0.1 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Sebastien Ogier finished fourth quickest on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Katsuta. Ott Tänak rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.4 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS6, Lousã 2
Sebastien Ogier took his first stage win of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 on the sixth stage of the event. As the Frenchman posted a time 1.1 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä to win the stage. Dani Sordo finished third fastest on the stage, finishing 2.2 seconds slower than Ogier and 1.1 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Ott Tänak set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Sordo. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.6 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS7, Góis 2
Dani Sordo took his third stage win of the weekend on SS7. With a time 1.1 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to top the stage. Kalle Rovanperä finished third fastest on the stage, 2.5 seconds slower than Sordo and 1.4 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.6 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Ott Tänak rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.9 seconds slower than Katsuta.
SS8, Arganil 2
Kalle Rovanperä took home his first stage win of the event on SS8. With a time 0.1 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to take the stage win. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 0.8 seconds slower than Rovanperä and 0.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Sebastien Ogier set the fourth fastest time, 2.5 seconds slower than Katsuta. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 4.1 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS9, Mortágua 2
Sebastien Ogier took home the stage win on the final stage of day one at Vodafone Rally De Portugal. With a time 3.2 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä on the stage. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 4.9 seconds slower than Ogier and 1.7 seconds slower than Rovanperä. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 6.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 8.4 seconds slower than Katsuta.
A Close Battle
Kalle Rovanperä ends the second day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal 2024 with a one-second lead over Sebastien Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta sits third overall at the end of the day, 4.7 seconds behind Rovanperä and 3.7 behind Ogier. Ott Tänak sits just 0.7 seconds behind Katsuta in fourth. Dani Sordo rounds out the top five to tend the day, 17.9 seconds behind Rovanperä and 12.5 behind Tänak.
What To Expect From Day Three
The third day of Vodafone Rally De Portugal is also the longest, as drivers will contest 145.02 km across another eight stages. The third day’s longest stage is the monster 37.24 km Amarante stage which will push drivers to their limits. While the shortest stage is the 8.69 km Montim stage. The day will feature a single 44-minute service between the two loops. Grégoire Munster will be first on the road as he is last in the Rally1 class. Elfyn Evans will once again be second on the road after a puncture cost him valuable time. Adrien Fourmaux will be third on the road.
Day One Recap