Super-Sub Sordo's Sardinian Success!
Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio won Rally Italia Sardegna in their Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC for the Shell Mobis World Rally Team, the second victory in a row for the Spaniard in the Italian round of the World Rally Championship promoted by Automobile Club d'Italia and supported by Regione Sardegna.
Second on podium 5.1 secs behind but completing a brilliant Hyundai 1-2 were teammates Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, who snatched the position by one second from Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC on the Power Stage that ended the rally.
Sordo took the lead after winning SS4 on Friday and then he was able to hold the position until Sunday with a perfect strategy and fast stage times. Ogier exerted lot of pressure on the Spanish driver and won six stages overall battling also with Neuville before being overtaken by the Belgian in the very last kilometers of the event.
WRC leader Elfyn Evans, co-driven by Scott Martin, finished fourth in their Toyota Yaris WRC, while Teemu Suninen and Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Fiesta WRC completed the top-5 after leading in the early stages thanks to their scratch position on SS1. Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC, was sixth overall and winners of the final Power Stage following recovery after a suspension issue in the opening day.
Despite a post rally scrutineering scare when their i20 subframe was declared underweight, Sordo retained his rally win, but the Shell-Mobis Hyundai WRC rally team was fined for the non-compliance, which they blamed on a quality control issue at the Hyundai factory.
Based in Alghero, North-West of Sardinia, the sixth round of the 2020 World Rally Championship was held under Covid-19 control regulations and was the first Italian round in the 2020 calendar.
Top-10 Rally Italia Sardegna 2020.
1. Sordo / Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC) 2h41?37
2. Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC) + 5
3 Ogier / Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) +6
4 Evans / Martin (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1.02
5. Suninen / Lehtinen (Fiesta WRC Ford) +1.33
6. Tanak / Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupè WRC) +2.27
7. Loubet / Landais (Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC) +4.43
8. Huttunen / Lukka (Hyundai NG i20) +8.41
9. Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia Evo) +10.02
10. Tidemand / Barth (Skoda Fabia Evo) +10.20
2020 World Rally Drivers Championship
1. Elfyn Evans 97
2. Sebastien Ogier 79
3. Ott Tanak 70
4. Kalle Rovanpera 70
5. Thierry Neuville 65
6. Esapekka Lappi 38
7. Teemu Suninen 34
8. Craig Breen 25
9. Sebastien Loeb 24
10. Gus Greensmith 16
Teams Championship
1. Toyota Gazoo Yaris Racing 174
2. Hyundai Shell-Mobis 165
3. M-Sport Ford 101
12th October, 2020