It’s the finale of this year’s World Rally Championship, in what has been a very unusual season. With many events cancelled and rescheduled such as Rally Italia we come to this event which was announced just a little over a month ago.
Coming into this event, we have Elfyn and Scott leading the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championship from their teammates Seb and Julien. Their lead is 14 points, meaning that they can afford to finish in second place, and even if Seb and Julien win the event and take all five points in the power stage the they will be this season’s champions. If they do it, they will join Colin and Derek and Richard and Robert as British Champions, and be the first Welsh crew as well!
Now as discussed, the French duo can reclaim the world championship if certain things fall into place, and its possible that might happen. It’s just too hard to predict though!
The other two crews still in contention for the championship, Thierry and Nicolas and Ott and Martin in the Hyundai’s can win the title, but only if they win and take the power stage and both the Toyota crews retire from the event and don’t score any points.
Let’s hear from the crews then.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Elfyn Evans
“Since Sardinia we’ve just been focused on preparing for the next event: We have always wanted to see the rallies happen and to do as many as possible. I’m going into it in a positive frame of mind. We know that a strong result is needed and we’re ready to go there and give it our best shot. From what we’ve seen in videos from the organiser, the Saturday stages up in the mountains look really nice. There are some real fast, flowing asphalt stages, and they could be quite challenging at this time of year. We’re probably lacking a bit of mileage under our belts with the car on this surface, but it felt good in Monte Carlo and we know that it’s strong in this area. The difficulty is that the circuit stages are a completely different scenario from the mountains. So, we have to do our best to find a good feeling and adapt the car as we see fit.”
Elfyn leads the championship coming into the final event. Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“Monza will be a new challenge. I’m happy to finally jump in the car again and have a last shot at the championship. For sure, it’s better to finish it this way rather than at home. I’ve never done the event before, but I’ve been looking at some videos and I think the stages at the circuit won’t be as easy as they seem initially. There are some sections on gravel, even on grass or mud, and with a car set up for asphalt that’s never easy. And then the stages on Saturday look like pretty nice mountain roads. They could also be very challenging depending on the weather conditions. We haven’t really driven the car on asphalt since Monte Carlo, so the testing this week has been very important to get as much experience as possible. I feel like I have nothing to lose, so I don’t feel any pressure and I’m just doing my best to be as ready as I can be.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“This year has been a big learning process for me but it has been going really well. I have been learning more and more all the time. Without any full asphalt rallies this year, I think I have the most to learn on this surface. So, Monza will be a difficult one for me, but it’s going to be interesting. It has been a long time since Monte Carlo, so it was a strange feeling to be back on asphalt in my test this week, but the feeling was getting better all the time. Even though it’s late in the year and it was quite cold, the grip level was still really high and really enjoyable to drive with the Yaris. This is going to be a new kind of rally with things that we haven’t experienced, like driving on some gravel sections with asphalt tyres which I have never done before. But we just have to be as quick as possible and attack to the maximum, as there is nothing to lose for me.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Rally Monza is definitely a special event for this year and it’s good to add it to the WRC calendar in such a difficult situation. I have done Monza a couple of times as a rally show, which was certainly different to the format in which we are going to run it this year in WRC. I’ve always had an enjoyable experience there; this season finale is going to be an exciting event, very intense and almost like a sprint with small gaps between the crews. We will give it everything we’ve got.”
Ott Tänak
“Monza is obviously a new event, somewhere that I’ve never been before. I’ve seen some footage and mostly it looks to be very different in terms of concept. We’ll have a full day of circuit-based stages, followed by a day in the forest, so a big challenge. From the team’s perspective, we need to do all we can to defend the manufacturers’ title. There are also some things still open in the drivers’ championship too. As it’s the last event, it will be all or nothing.”
Dani Sordo
“The objective is very clear: to try and fight for the overall victory and to target the manufacturers’ title. It is a very important mission for our team. We are leading by just seven points so it will be a close fight. I have been to Monza Rally Show in the past, but this event will be unique. We have the first day enclosed in the circuit, using new and old parts, including famous sections like Parabolica, as well as gravel and mud sections. The next day will be completely outside. It promises to be a nice rally!”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Monza. I was there in 2018 and have a lot of really great memories – it’s definitely one of the best events I’ve ever done with a world rally car. The format will be a bit different this year with a day in the mountains, but driving these cars on that circuit is going to be so good. All the power and aero makes them so much fun to drive on the track, and I can’t wait to experience it again. I started my career in circuit racing, and hope that will help me challenge for a good result to end the year.”
Esapekka Lappi
“It’s been a crazy year, but good to get another rally in before the end of the season. I’ve not been to Monza Rally Show before, but I started my career in circuit racing and am really looking forward to seeing what these cars can do on this track. We’ve not driven the Fiesta on Tarmac since Rallye Monte-Carlo back in January so we’ll need to get a feel for it straight away. But the Fiesta felt good in Monte, and if we can get a good set-up for the stages then I think it’ll be a really enjoyable end to the season.”
Esapekka will want to end his first season with M-Sport on a high. Photo credit M-Sport
Gus Greensmith
“I’ve not done anything like this event before, but really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel and seeing what a world rally car can do on such an historic racetrack. The Fiesta felt good in Monte so I’m looking forward to Saturday’s mountain stages; pacenotes will be really important, so I’ve spent a lot of time with Elliott trying to make improvements since Sardinia. Also, to best prepare for the circuit we spent a day at Goodwood – adapting to the style needed to really attack at Monza. Hopefully this will be a fun event to end season and we can finish the year on a high.”
This event is set to be the shortest championship event in history of the championship with sixteen stages over four days. Shake down takes place on Thursday at Monza itself with a stage just under 5km’s, and then the first stage later the same day.
On Friday there are five stages, then seven on Saturday and finally three on Sunday. There are some predictions of ice on the road and snow falling on Friday and Saturday which will add to the mix!
Here’s a look at the stages.
Summary
This really is it. We could have our first Welsh World Rally Champion at the end of this event, but you can certainly expect that there will be a big fight to the finish for the championship between the top four, and all of them are very good on tarmac. Ultimately the driver that wins this event will be the one that adapts to the changing conditions out on the stages, particularly with the second runs and the now predicted snow as well!
You may ask who could challenge for the podium positions? Well, Teemu has shown good pace in the past and finished this event in second place when he competed in 2018. Dani Sordo as well could show good pace as well.
The manufacturers’ title could go either way, with just seven points between last seasons champions and Toyota. I suspect that this won’t be decided till the very end of the rally.
Ash Sutton won his second British Touring Car Championship title as he finished sixth and did enough to take the title from Colin Turkington.
Rory Butcher won the final round of the 2020 championship with Tom Ingram and Jake Hill rounding off the podium in a rainy third race on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit.
The Scotsman took the lead and never lost it as he passed Aiden Moffat and Chris Smiley off the grid. Dan Cammish passed Sutton on the first lap to keep his slim title chances alive.
On lap four Stephen Jelley went off at Druids after a collision with Andy Neate, meaning both ended the season in retirement.
Cammish was driving quickly in his Dynamics Honda as he made a double move on Moffat and Ollie Jackson into Clearways. Meanwhile Turkington was passed by Ingram, who no longer could win the title so was free to race without that added pressure.
Lap 12 and Sutton was on the back of Turkington, but having lost points back at Croft for making a silly overtake, Sutton learned his lesson and was content to sit behind Turkington.
Up front Jake Hill and Josh Cook collided at Clearways, both losing positions with Cook coming off worse, falling from second to sixth. Adam Morgan, in his final race in the Mercedes A Class as Ciceley prepare to bring in a new car for 2021, was passed by Ingram. He was then tapped by Cammish as he made a clumsy move down the inside at Druids.
Hill recovered from his tap with Cook to pass Cammish into third place, while Sutton finally passed Turkington into Paddock after seven laps sat on the BMW’s gearbox.
Sutton then repeated this move as he passed Cook into Paddock for sixth place where he would finish, with Moffat passing Turkington too to compound the BMW driver’s misery.
Butcher cruised to the win in the end, with Ingram and Hill rounding off the podium. Cammish, Morgan, Sutton, Cook, Moffat, Turkington and Ollie Jackson rounded off the top ten.
Sutton took the title, adding to his 2017 triumph to become a double title winner in a hard fought campaign which went all the way to the 30th and final race of this truncated season.
It’s the first time the ToCA provided engine has won the title outright, and Sutton’s Laser Tools Racing is an independent outfit, which only makes Sutton’s victory all the more impressive.
Ash Sutton took another huge step towards winning the title with a win in race two at Brands Hatch. Tom Ingram finished second with title rivals Colin Turkington third and Dan Cammish fourth on the road. Turkington received a penalty post-race for overtaking under yellow flags.
Some drivers elected to start on wet tyres, with the track drying in sunny conditions. Sutton took the lead off the start with a selection of drivers sliding off at Paddock. Jake Hill, Ollie Jackson, and Ingram all slid off. Tom Chilton had an incredible start on the wets and moved into the lead on lap two. Andy Neate, another of the wet shod drivers, was third.
A few drivers had spins, including Jack Goff at Graham Hill bend on lap five. Ingram was fighting back from his Paddock Hill moment and was seventh, behind Turkington.
On lap nine the wet tyres were wearing quickly, and so Chilton lost the lead and fell down the order, finishing 18th and a lap down. Neate finished 21st eventually.
On lap 12 Hill suffered damage at Druids, and Tom Oliphant was next to spin at Graham Hill bend.
A lap later Turkington developed an issue on his car, with his front right tyre rubbing on the bodywork, but it didn’t seem to hinder him as he kept putting up fast times.
Sutton was far ahead and cruised to the win with all the action happening behind him as he drove to victory.
Turkington was fighting with Cammish, with both wanting to keep their title hopes alive. Ingram was in second and the title chasing pair were third and fouth.
A moment of drama on lap 23 as Paul Rivett spun on the exit of Paddock Hill, his Audi stationary in the middle of the road. All avoided him but Turkington had to swerve to avoid him and only just missed him.
A hairy moment but he recovered for third on the road, with Ingram’s title hopes now over despite a second place finish. Ash Sutton took the win and has a stronger lead over Turkington with only three drivers now in contention for the title going into the final race of the weekend.
Dan Cammish took the win in the first race of finals day at Brands Hatch. Ash Sutton took the championship lead with second and Tom Ingram rounded off the podium to keep his title hopes alive.
There were two green flag laps to warm the tyres with rain falling throughout the first race at Brands Hatch.
At the start Sutton moved up into second with Cammish up to third. The pair were fighting over second with Ingram in the lead. On lap four Cammish moved ahead of Sutton with the top three close together. Cammish did almost pass Ingram into Clearways but after a slight tap from the Honda driver, he backed off.
Sutton and Cammish were side by side on the pit straight before the Safety Car was brought out by a crash between Glyn Geddie and Sam Osborne at Druids.
After four laps we were back underway, with Cammish hot on the heels of Ingram. The Yorkshireman passing Ingram into Druids on lap 13 to take a lead he never relinquished.
Cammish was able to pull away as Sutton and Ingram fought for second. Sutton was next to pass the Toyota of Ingram on lap 22 as he hunted down Cammish for more points in the title battle.
In the last couple of laps Sutton was taking chunks of time out of Cammish’s lead, but he ran out of laps and Cammish took the win.
Sutton takes over the lead of the championship by two points from Colin Turkington, who could only finish ninth. Cammish is now 13 points behind with two races remaining with Ingram fourth and Rory Butcher’s slim title hopes now over despite a fine fourth place finish.
Ollie Jackson won his second race of the season in the third and final race at Snetterton.
Jackson pulled off an amazing first lap move and took the win from Adam Morgan and Colin Turkington profited from Ingram and Butcher colliding on the final corner on the final lap to take third.
Morgan had an incredible start as he flew into the lead. However he wasn’t in front for long as Ollie Jackson pulled off an incredible move around the outside to take the lead. There was slight drama as Josh Cook and Dan Cammish collided, neither seemed to lose out too much. Cook’s Honda suffered significant damage to the left front but was still running.
Lap two saw Sam Osborne retire in dramatic fashion as he went off onto the grass. His Honda Civic hit a dip and his splitter dug in and ripped the front of the car off.
Jackson’s team mate Rory Butcher was trying to take second from Morgan as it all sparked into action on lap five as Sutton dove down the inside of Chris Smiley, he couldn’t make the move stick and it opened the door to Tom Ingram, who snuck up the inside to take fourth.
There was a group of ten cars all fighting close and swapping positions. Turkington profited most from this battle as he managed to get to the front of the pack and take fifth place. Smiley the loser as he was hit by Cammish and spun off.
The trio up front were all racing close and charging hard. Jackson was soaking up plenty of pressure from Morgan while Butcher hung on his coattails.
Ingram caught up to the leading pack, trying to get onto the podium to keep his slim title hopes alive. He went to pass Butcher and looked to have had it done, but Butcher couldn’t stop as he was put onto the grass, and hit Ingram.
Colin Turkington survived a late safety car to take his second win of the day and move into the lead of the championship. Tom Ingram was second with Ash Sutton third.
Jake Hill was swamped at the start and lost places to Sutton, Butcher and Cammish on the start.
Ollie Jackson had an impressive start, making up ten places by the end of lap one to sit 11th.
While Turkington was pulling away as his tyres warmed up, the battle was between the other four title protagonists. Ingram, Butcher, Sutton and Cammish were all bumper to bumper for the majority of the race.
Turkington was pulling away, as he did in race one. Building up a three second lead. However his lead was extinguished as Jack Goff crashed on the exit of turn one and brought out the safety car with just one lap to go.
It was a one lap shootout once the safety car went in. Butcher mistimed his braking and collided with Ingram. This sent the Toyota wide and Sutton managed to sneak up the inside of Butcher. Ingram maintained second with Sutton taking third.
Turkington held on for the win as the others fought behind him. Ingram second with Sutton third and Butcher fourth. Jake Hill gazumped Cammish for fifth with a pass in the final few corners, with Josh Cook and Adam Morgan in seventh and eighth and Ollie Jackson’s remarkable drive rewarded him with ninth place. The top ten was rounded off by Chris Smiley in the Excelr8 Hyundai.
Colin Turkington drew level at the top of the British Touring Car Championship standings with a win in the first race at Snetterton.
The Northern Irishman cruised to victory in his BMW while Tom Ingram and Jake Hill rounded off the podium after a terrific tussle between the pair.
Turkington’s team mate Tom Oliphant was in the wars at the start. A collision between him, Ash Sutton, and Ollie Jackson saw Oliphant and Jackson take to the grass. Olihpant recovered for 14th with Jackson finishing 21st.
The only threat to Turkington’s lead came when Ingram tried to dive down the inside at the hairpin before the backstraight. It didn’t work and Turkington managed to pull away.
Ingram had to contend with the Honda of Hill, who was hot on the heels of the Toyota driver.
The main title protagonists were all at the front of the grid, with Rory Butcher and Dan Cammish eager to keep their title hopes alive. They fought for fourth and fifth.
While Turkington pulled away Ingram and Hill collided on lap six. Hill dove down the inside of Ingram and tipped him into a half spin. Ingram recovered and Hill gave Ingram the place back, fearing a reprimand from the stewards.
Turkington won the race, with Ingram two and a half seconds behind in second. HIll took third with Butcher, Sutton and Cammish all close behind.
Adam Morgan finished an impressive seventh in his Mercedes A Class, with Josh Cook, Senna Proctor and Michael Crees rounding off the top ten.
There were two new drivers this weekend, with four time Clio Cup champion Paul Rivett finishing 19th. He’s deputising for the injured Bobby Thompson in the Audi. Power Maxed Racing’s latest driver was W Series racer and stunt driver Jessica Hawkins. She finished 22nd with 45kg of new driver ballast on her Astra.
Cast your mind back twelve months, plus a bit more to June 2019. Dani and Carlos took a popular win in the service park. Having not competed since Mexico 2020, the Hyundai crew showed their class to take a very good victory in the delayed Rally Italia Sardegna this season. Here’s the story how it happened.
Thursday as ever saw shakedown take place, and there were a few key moments. In the first run through, Kalle set the fastest time in his Yaris, and then promptly put the car on its roof after the flying finish!
Ultimately, Ott was fastest in shakedown, with Elfyn and Seb second and third. The Welshman set the same time as his former Estonian teammate. There was also a Citroen C3 WRC being driven by former Hyundai, Citroen and Volkswagen pilot Andreas Mikkelsen, running on the new Pirelli tyres in shakedown, the new tyre supplier running in shakedown and then also running in the power stage on Sunday, with 2003 world champion Petter Solberg driving and Andreas sitting alongside him on the pace notes.
Friday
With 95km’s over six stages on the first day, this was the start list for day one – Evans, Ogier, Tänak, Rovanperä, Neuville, Lappi, Suninen, Greensmith, Katsuta, Sordo, Loubet.
At the end of the opening test, SS1 Tempio Pausania 1 – 12.08 km the two M-Sport Fiesta’s were at the top of the field, with Teemu winning the stage by 12 seconds from his teammate! We all know what he said in the interview at stage end! Elfyn and Scott, the first car into the stage, were holding fourth overall, 13.4 seconds from the Finn, and last seasons winner Dani was third. Ott didn’t have a good start, losing 14 seconds in the stage. Oliver Solberg deserves a mention, after setting the seventh fastest time in his Fabia R5, quicker than Thierry, and only 16 seconds from the leader!
Dani moved closer to the front in SS2 Erula – Tula 1 – 21.78 km with a time seven seconds faster than Teemu, and now the gap between them was just five seconds. First to finish the stage was Elfyn who reported that it was a bit slipperier than expected, ending up fifth fastest and holding fourth overall at this point. Sadly, we lost Esapekka Lappi after his car overheated. Seb was now in third overall.
Elfyn took his first stage win of the weekend, winning SS3 Tempio Pausania 2 – 12.08 km from Seb and Dani. A good drive from the Welshman, despite being the first car through! Suninen remained in the lead as he and Dani were very closely matched in the stage and the gap just five seconds between the top two.
Into SS4 Erula – Tula 2 – 21.78 km and Dani won the stage, from Thierry, who was nine seconds slower in the stage, but second fastest and Kalle who was third. Dani was now in the lead, having passed Teemu who was 12 seconds slower than the i20 driver and only fifth fastest. It was going very badly for Ott, who was only ninth fastest in the stage and now almost two minutes from the lead.
After the lunchtime break, we had two stages to complete the day. The break gave the Hyundai team the opportunity to find out what the suspension problem was with Ott’s car.
Into SS5 Sedini – Castelsardo 1 – 14.72 km and it was another stage win for Dani, with a fired-up Ott only nine tenths slower and second fastest. Teemu was third in the stage and remained in second overall. Thierry moved past Elfyn in the stage with the Welshman going only eighth in the stage.
SS6 Tergu – Osilo 1 – 12.81 km ended the day and it was another stage win for Dani, with Thierry second fastest. The Belgians pace lifted them ahead of Seb and into third overall. Ott was third fastest in the stage, making it a Hyundai 1-2-3, and this brought the reigning champion up into eighth overall.
Classification after Day One
1
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
1:12:40.9
2
T. Suninen
J. Lehtinen
Ford Fiesta WRC
+17.4
3
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+35.2
4
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
+36.0
5
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota Yaris WRC
+51.9
6
G. Greensmith
E. Edmondson
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:07.1
7
P. L. Loubet
V. Landais
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:33.5
8
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:53.7
9
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota Yaris WRC
+2:32.3
Let’s hear from the drivers
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (1st)
“I am happy to be back in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC and pleased to return to this rally which has so many special memories from last year. I have been feeling really competitive all day and some of the stages have been really nice. We made a good tyre choice and we are in an encouraging position. It is only the first day, so we have to keep our feet on the ground. We want to continue like this for the rest of the rally; everyone is pushing hard but we’re here to fight.”
Thierry Neuville (3rd)
“Honestly speaking I was expecting better from our day. We didn’t have a great start to the rally on this morning loops. We weren’t comfortable with the settings of the car. We did the maximum to improve our times by trying some different things. I was able to push a bit – actually I pushed quite hard in SS4 and that showed as we set the second fastest time. We made the necessary changes to the car for the afternoon and I felt immediately more comfortable. Unfortunately, and bizarrely, we stalled twice today. It never happened to me before, but the second time the car wouldn’t restart. We lost about 12 seconds in all, which is important time in such a close battle. Tomorrow, with the changes we’ve made, I am confident we will have better pace.”
Ott Tänak (8th)
“It has been a demanding day and we’re obviously disappointed. We were getting some suspension issues from the start of the day, and it proved to be something that we could not repair on the road sections with the tools and bits that we had. It is difficult to say what happened exactly, but we could do nothing about it. In the afternoon stages, everything was working fine from our side, just a big amount of cleaning but generally no drama and no surprises. We will try to keep going as we did this afternoon; our position is not great so let’s see. Hopefully the fight is now a bit more straightforward.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (2nd)
“We had a really good morning and I think we proved what we can do. On that first stage I knew it was going to be challenging for everyone and I tried to take as many seconds as I could – which worked out really well. We lost some aero after that which cost us some time, but it was still a good morning.
“Then in the afternoon the tyre choice didn’t really work out for us. We thought it was going to be a bit warmer, but the sun went down just as the last stage started and I wasn’t able to make the most of the hard tyres.
“Still it was a really good day for us, and tomorrow we just have to focus on our own driving and let the others do their own thing. The stages will be a bit faster tomorrow, but the main thing is to do my best – because that’s the way to get the best results.”
Gus Greensmith (6th)
“This has definitely been one of my better drives and I’m pretty happy with the way things have gone. There were a few little mistakes here and there, and I was a bit disappointed with myself on the first stage this afternoon (SS5) as I think we could have really taken a big chunk out of the people around us. But the time wasn’t too bad, and I can definitely see an improvement which was exactly what we wanted from this weekend.”
Esapekka Lappi (DNF)
“Our initial pace was really promising so it’s really disappointing that things had to end the way they did. It was all over pretty quickly to be honest. About 300 metres before I stopped, we got all the warnings on the screen and the steam from the bonnet and we knew then that it was over. We had a good look and couldn’t see any impacts, but there was no water left in the engine and unfortunately we won’t be back out again tomorrow.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier (4th)
“It was a good start this morning. We were all fearing this first stage a little bit, which was very challenging, very narrow and we were happy to make it through with a good time. Overall, the morning loop was good: We were in third and the two cars in front had a big advantage from their start position. The afternoon was more difficult for us like we had expected. We tried what we could but we lost a bit too much time. Tomorrow should be better with a better road position. I’m looking forward to having some better grip hopefully and to try to make some good times.”
Elfyn Evans (5th)
“The morning was quite good for us. The first stage was particularly slippery and I was surprised on the second pass how much grip we had, and we had a good run. There was a bit more loose gravel on the second stage but overall we came through it quite OK and managed to lose not too much time. The afternoon stages had dried quite a lot since the recce and there was a lot more loose than expected and we really suffered a lot. It’s not been an easy day, which we knew would be the case. But tomorrow our road position will be better and hopefully we can look to fight with those around us.”
Kalle Rovanperä (9th)
“This morning we took the wrong tyre choice, with three mediums and two hards. I don’t have the experience here to know how much the tyre will wear, and it was quite tricky to drive with one hard tyre on the car all the time and in the end, we didn’t need them. I was preparing to have a better feeling in the afternoon, with some small changes to the car, but we got a steering-related issue at the start of SS5, so we had to drive slowly through both stages to bring the car back to service. Tomorrow we will have to now open the road so it’s going to be a difficult day.”
Saturday
With 101km’s over six stages in day two, the running order would be key once again, with the leader from day one being the last car through. The running order looked like this – Katsuta, Rovanperä, Tänak, Loubet, Greensmith, Evans, Ogier, Neuville, Suninen, Sordo.
The first stage of the day, SS7 Monte Lerno 1 – 22.08 km features Mickey’s Jump and this year was just 500 metres into the stage. The top three was Seb, Elfyn and Thierry with just 3.6 seconds between them. The two leaders, Dani and Teemu were fourth and fifth fastest, Seb’s pace lifted him up into third overall, and was now just 8.4 seconds behind Teemu.
Dani was back to his best in SS8 Coiluna – Loelle 1 – 15.00 km, winning the stage from Elfyn and Thierry. Unfortunately, Teemu’s run near the front came to an end as he set the sixth fastest time and ultimately dropped two positions into fourth with Seb moving into second and Thierry into third. Ott was also moving up the order, now into seventh.
The rerun of SS9 Monte Lerno 2 – 22.08 km was won by Seb from Thierry and Dani who continued to lead the rally from the Frenchman by a huge 31 seconds. Elfyn was closing on Teemu as well in their battle for fourth overall, the gap now just two seconds between the former teammates.
SS10 Coiluna – Loelle 2 – 15.00 km, and Thierry was fastest from Dani and Elfyn, once again just three seconds covering the top three. Both the Belgian and the Welshman moved up the order, with Thierry moving into second place and Elfyn passing Teemu. The top four cars were Hyundai, Hyundai, Toyota, Toyota. Ott continued to climb up the leaderboard and was now into sixth overall.
Seb won SS11 Sedini – Castelsardo 2 from Thierry and Ott. Elfyn was sixth fastest, and holding onto fourth overall behind Dani, Thierry and Seb. Going well was Oliver again, setting the seventh fastest time in his Skoda Fabia, and he moved ahead of Jari Huttunen into eighth overall.
The final stage of the day SS12 Tergu – Osilo 2 – 12.81 km was won by Seb as well, and this pace lifted him ahead of Thierry who was third in the stage behind the leader who was still Dani Sordo. Elfyn doubled the gap to Teemu, going 4.6 seconds faster then the Finn and securing fourth at the end of day two.
Classification after Day Two
1
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
2:14:35.5
2
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
+27.4
3
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+28.9
4
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota Yaris WRC
+58.4
5
T. Suninen
J. Lehtinen
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:06.9
6
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:25.3
7
P. L. Loubet
V. Landais
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+3:37.0
Let’s hear from the drivers.
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (1st)
“We end today in the same way we finished on Friday, feeling very positive and pleased with our performance. We have had to be careful to manage our tyres today, making the right selection for each loop and pushing when we could, while also conserving when needed. At the end of the final stage of the day, our tyres were finished so we had to take it a bit more cautiously. In rally, we know from experience that there is no such thing as a comfortable advantage. We have to maintain this pace and rhythm on Sunday morning if we want to get the job done.”
2020 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally Italia Sardegna 8 – 11 October 2020 Dani Sordo Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville (3rd)
“I was happy with our morning, even if I feel that carrying an extra spare was not the best option. Our target was to get P2 and to try and increase our gap. We ended the loop with a stage win and were ready to resume the fight in the afternoon. There were different tyre strategies at play and the times were really close. I tried very hard but Ogier seemed to have a bit more speed. Unfortunately, we lost 1.5-2-seconds on the bridge in the final stage, when I was late on the brakes. When you’re pushing to the max, these things can happen. We go again tomorrow.”
Ott Tänak (6th)
“Today was a clean day with no drama. More or less everything was working well and we did what we could. I guess we achieved all that was planned, so there was nothing more we could have done ourselves. The feeling with the car was all good. Tomorrow, we can expect more of the same typically Sardinian stages – narrow and twisty. Our first priority is to get to the Power Stage and then try to push. Every point is critical at the moment.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier (2nd)
“I feel pretty happy with my day today, winning four stages out of six. Unfortunately, the two other stages were not so good and were a bit costly in terms of time: On the first pass I was not on the limit enough and on the second one I really tried harder but I stalled the engine in a hairpin and lost some seconds. But overall, it’s still a positive day. Tomorrow we’re going to fight for second place and put the pressure on the leader until the end. You never know what can happen on these tricky stages.”
Elfyn Evans (4th)
“Overall, the morning loop wasn’t bad. For the most part I was driving pretty well. I just gave away too much time in SS9, being a bit too careful and too focused on being smooth and not pushing hard enough. Then in the first stage of the afternoon I tried to push a bit more and ended up going slower, so in the final stage I just kept it clean. Now we need to keep hold of fourth tomorrow, that will be key. It’s not going to be possible to catch the guys in front on pace alone on such short stages, but we have to keep going until the end.”
Kalle Rovanperä (DNF)
“On the second stage of the day, we went a bit wide in the final part of the stage: It was a narrow section where we had some things to avoid on the inside. We hit a tree on the outside and then the impact sent us into a second tree, and the damage was too much for us to restart tomorrow. It was clearly not our weekend, starting already from the shakedown. We had a bit of bad luck also yesterday which was not our fault, but today was my mistake. It’s been a tricky weekend.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (5th)
“It’s been a challenging day for us. It started okay this morning – we lost a few seconds to the guys at the front but we were on good pace with Elfyn. Then we had some issues with the handbrake and lost a lot of time in the slower sections.
“But we came back again in the afternoon – taking time out of Elfyn on the first stage [SS11] and then losing a bit to him on the second [SS12]. It’s going to be a tight fight tomorrow, and I will give it my best. It’s only two seconds per stage, and we will keep the pressure on.”
Gus Greensmith (29th)
“It was one of the best days of my career yesterday. I was really pleased with the way I was driving and really pleased with the car – everything was working well. It started okay again this morning – maybe my pacenotes were a little bit slow and the second spare wasn’t the best choice, but we seemed to make it work.
“Unfortunately, we then had a low voltage warning on SS9 and as soon as we left the stop line the whole car died – right in the bottom of a dip! So even though we managed to change the alternator belt, we could never get enough momentum to bump start it. After about 45 minutes of trying we had to call it a day, and tomorrow we’ll just focus on continuing the improvements we have made so far.”
Sunday
With 42km’s over four stages, the question was could either Seb or Thierry do anything about Dani? The start list looked like this – Katsuta, Greensmith, Loubet, Tänak, Suninen, Evans, Neuville, Ogier, Sordo.
Seb flew through SS13 Cala Flumini 1 – 14.06 km and with Dani Sordo only fourth fastest behind Thierry and Elfyn, the gap was now just fifteen seconds between the top two. Thierry was right with Seb, just 1.7 seconds between them in their fight over second overall.
The short blast of SS14 Sassari – Argentiera 1 – 6.89 km was taken by Thierry with Dani and Seb second and third fastest. Now the gap between second and third was just one tenth of a second! Dani’s lead was actually increased a little to just over sixteen seconds now. Elfyn was a comfortable fourth both in the stage and overall, as well.
SS15 Cala Flumini 2 – 14.06 km, the penultimate stage was won by Seb, and the gap opened up a little to 1.7 seconds to Thierry in third. What would we see from the Belgian in the final stage? Dani was just bringing the car home for a very good victory, his lead now 9.2 seconds over Seb.
The final stage then, SS16 Sassari – Argentiera 2 [Power Stage] – 6.89 km. The top five fastest were Ott, Thierry, Seb, Elfyn and Dani. Thierry was 2.7 seconds faster than Seb, and passed him for second overall as well. Seb missed out on second position by just one second in the end.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Italia Sardegna
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
Let’s hear from the drivers
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (1st)
“This is an amazing result and I am really happy to have taken my second victory for Hyundai Motorsport, at the scene of my first one last year. This place is really special, and we have seen a strong performance across the whole team. I am not particularly pleased with my pace today; we had a big lead coming into Sunday morning, but I wasn’t able to set the same times as Thierry and Ogier, so things were a bit too close by the end of the Power Stage. Still, we were able to get the job done and to help the team move into the lead of the manufacturers’ standings. Mission accomplished. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to send – on behalf of myself and Carlos – our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Laura Salvo. We will always remember her.”
2020 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally Italia Sardegna 08-11 October 2020 Dani Sordo, Carlos Del Barrio Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville (2nd)
“I am so happy to finish in second place and to collect four points from the Power Stage. The result moves us to third in the drivers’ standings after a fantastic battle with Sébastien. I really enjoyed it. We did the best we could all weekend after a few issues which lost us some valuable time. Huge congratulations to Dani and Carlos for a beautiful victory, and to the team for this incredible 1-2, which has really helped our position in the manufacturers’ championship.”
Ott Tänak (6th)
“It has been a difficult and disappointing weekend for us. From the suspension problems on Friday, we knew we wouldn’t be able to mount a serious challenge. We still kept pushing and supporting the team as best we could. Aside from the issues on Friday, the car has been OK, but we know we could have done so much more this weekend. We managed to complete the rally on a more positive note with five points in the Power Stage. The team is working really hard, as it has all season long, and they are doing a great job. We haven’t had things go our way, but we’ll push through and surely improvements will come.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier (3rd)
“It’s been very intense for more or less the whole weekend. Of course, at the end, third place maybe doesn’t show the performance that we had here, but that’s how it is. We had to be second on the road for a big part of the rally and a lot of time was lost there. After that it was always going to be difficult. But I think we tried our best and I cannot be disappointed with my performance, I gave everything I had and it’s still solid points for the championship. I’m getting more and more settled in the Yaris WRC and the performance is there. I just need to continue with that and I’m confident about the future.”
Elfyn Evans (4th)
“Today the main objective was to stay ahead of the driver behind and make sure that position was secure. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as many points on the Power Stage as I would have liked, but all in all at least we secured the result and came away with solid points at the end of the weekend. Of course, you always want more than fourth place but we knew coming here starting first on the road was going to be tough, and we were almost out of the fight for the podium by the end of the first day. We continued to push but the times were close and, in the end, I think fourth was realistically the most we could achieve. Going onto asphalt, being first on the road should normally be an advantage and we’ll be hoping that will be the case.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (5th)
“We started this rally really strongly and had great speed in the slower sections – proving that we can be competitive when the conditions are right. But we also had some small issues and were struggling a bit in the faster sections – meaning that fifth was the best we could do this weekend. Still there are a lot of positives that we can take away, and we’ll focus now on the Tarmac rallies where the Fiesta has always been strong.”
Gus Greensmith (25th)
“I think we made some really good steps forward this weekend, and a lot of that was due to the time I spent at M-Sport before the rally. Going through all of the data with my engineer we were able to find a lot of ways to improve and also tried something new with the set-up which gave me a lot more confidence. For me it was definitely one of my better performances. It was pretty disappointing about some of the issues we had, but that’s rallying and we’ve shown that we can fight a lot closer to the top.”
2020 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round six
1
E. Evans
111
2
S. Ogier
97
3
T. Neuville
87
4
O. Tänak
83
5
K. Rovanperä
70
6
T. Suninen
44
7
E. Lappi
38
8
D. Sordo
26
9
C. Breen
25
10
S.Loeb
24
2020 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round six
1
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
208
2
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
201
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
117
4
Hyundai 2C Competition
8
Warren’s Thoughts
At Hyundai it was a good drive by Dani Sordo. Five stage wins gave him the lead, and he was able to keep his pace high enough so that when others hit the pace that they needed to challenge, he had enough in reserve to hold on the lead and therefore take the victory. Unfortunately, the issue with the subframe being underweight by 24kg’s has slightly taken the shine off the result. The significant fine that the team picked up because of this will set some minds at rest, but others may think more should have been done. Ott Tänak was really held back with his woes on Friday, but once the problems were resolved, he was on the pace. Sadly, it makes it even harder for him to retain his title. Thierry kept his title hopes alive with a strong drive, and nearly took the win from his teammate. He is now Hyundai’s best hope for the driver’s championship.
At Toyota the championship leader, Elfyn Evans did what he could given that he was opening the road on Friday, including a stage win and finished in fourth. His teammate, Seb, did what he could to finish higher up, but third overall could have been second, and a smaller gap to close come the end of the year. Kalle showed well, but retirement beckoned for the young Finn.
Finally, at M-Sport they started really well, holding a 1-2 after the first stage, with Teemu ‘Sending It’! As the rally went on throughout Saturday, the pace was too much for the Finn to hold the faster cars behind and ultimately ended the event in fifth. We didn’t get to see what Esapekka could do, after his engine overheated and he retired. Gus Greensmith went well, setting eleven top ten times. Reliability cost him a decent result, but we shall see what he and Elliot his co-driver can do in the last couple of events.
One more thing to mention is that Petter Solberg and Andreas Mikkelsen teamed up in a Citroen C3 WRC running on next year’s Pirelli tyres, with the younger Norwegian on the stage notes as they completed the final stage. We don’t know what time they set, but nevertheless it is a significant moment for the tyre manufacturer.
Petter Solberg (NOR) and Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) of team Citroen C3 WRC. Photo credit Red Bull Content Pool
Looking ahead, we now have two events left to complete this season. Ypres in Belgium at the beginning of November, and now in December, Rally Monza. This event was announced on Friday afternoon!
Tom Ingram boosted his title credentials with a win in round 21 of the British Touring Car Championship at Croft. He held off Honda’s Dan Cammish as title contender Colin Turkington had another nightmare race.
Dubbed the ‘King of Croft’, Turkington’s retirement in race two was compounded with a driveshaft issue on lap one. He pitted and rejoined five laps down on the leaders. Scoring no points and falling to third in the title race.
Ingram rocketed from third on the grid past Cammish at turn one, and past Tom Chilton by the end of lap one. Stephen Jelley had a spin in his BMW 125i at turn two.
On lap three the safety car was out as Bobby Thompson’s impressive weekend ended in a horror smash as he got put onto the grass and his car dug in and rolled over multiple times. Thankfully he was unhurt.
On the restart Cammish was fighting Chilton, with both Honda Civic FK8’s struggling with brake temperature issues. The discs were glowing as they were pushing hard. Cammish finally got past him on lap 13 and set about hounding down Ingram.
Ash Sutton, who started 20th after suffering a puncture in race two, was up to sixth, with Tom Oliphant in his way. He got past him and was fighting Matt Neal for fourth.
Cammish was on the tail of Ingram coming into the final lap. Ingram did all he could to keep the Honda behind and held on to take the win. Cammish finished three tenths behind. Chilton rounded off the podium with Neal and Sutton having a drag race over the line. Neal took fourth by 17 thousandths of a second.
Ash Sutton has the championship lead by seven points from Cammish with Turkington in third as the title race hots up going into the final six races of the season at Snetterton and Brands Hatch.
Josh Cook took his second win of the weekend as Matt Neal was given a 0.7 second penalty for hitting Cook on the final lap.
Cook had led all race but Neal had more pace, and his move three corners from the end was judged to have been gaining an advantage by the stewards, and so the places were reversed.
Meanwhile the two title contenders had a race to forget. Colin Turkington locked up at the start going into turn one and put it in the wall. Ash Sutton had a golden chance to capitalize but made a rash move on Jake Hill on lap seven and suffered a puncture, finishing 20th and out the points.
Hill was holding Sutton off, and the Infiniti driver dove down the inside at the final hairpin. Sutton made contact and punctured his tyre, but he’d gone past the pits before realising his tyre had punctured.
With the two title protagonists stricken, Tom Ingram and Dan Cammish both picked up good points to close the gap.
Towards the end of the race Neal had bags of pace. He passed Hill into second and was soon on the back of Cook. He closed the three second gap in a matter of laps and by the end of lap 14 he was on the back of his fellow Honda Civic driver.
On lap 16, Cook was holding Neal off, with an extra 60kg of ballast on his car, but Neal dove down the inside into the final section of the lap. He tapped Cook on the inside and nearly tipped him into a spin. He passed Cook and finished first on the road but the stewards swapped the positions.
Pos
Driver
Car
Interval
1
Josh Cook
Honda CIvic Type R FK8
2
Matt Neal
Honda Civic Type R FK8
+0.700*
3
Jake Hill
Honda Civic Type R FK2
+1.164
4
Tom Ingram
Toyota Corolla
+1.616
5
Dan Cammish
Honda Civic Type R FK8
+5.202
6
Tom Chilton
Honda Civic Type R FK8
+8.693
7
Tom Oliphant
BMW 330i M Sport
+8.875
8
Bobby Thompson
Audi S3 Saloon
+9.489
9
Senna Proctor
Hyundai i30N
+14.573
10
Stephen Jelley
BMW 125i M Sport
+15.473
11
Aiden Moffat
Infiniti Q50
+17.396
12
Chris Smiley
Hyundai i30N
+19.052
13
Adam Morgan
Mercedes Benz A Class
+22.835
14
Sam Osborne
Honda Civic Type R FK2
+22.976
15
Mike Bushell
VW CC
+23.269
16
Andy Neate
Ford Focus ST
+27.980
17
Jack Butel
Mercedes Benz A Class
+28.900
18
Jack Goff
VW CC
+31.145
19
Rory Butcher
Ford Focus ST
+46.635
20
Ash Sutton
Infiniti Q50
+1 Lap
21
Michael Crees
Honda Civic Type R FK8
+4 Laps
Retirements
DNF
Ollie Jackson
Ford Focus ST
Crash
DNF
Colin Turkington
BMW 330i M Sport
Crash
DNS
Carl Boardley
BMW 125i M Sport
DNS
Nicolas Hamilton
VW CC
*Matt Neal received a 0.7 second penalty for causing a collision.
