The Frenchman in his Hyundai is leading the way after a strong performance on ‘Sa Conchedda’. Reigning world champion Neuville is 2.9 seconds behind, while Ogier is third, 8.1 seconds back. Three Puma Rally1 cars have been forced out due to technical difficulties on the ‘Telti-Calangianus-Berchidda’ stage. The second pass will start at 15:31.

Olbia, 6 June 2025 –  Immediate excitement at  Rally Italia Sardegna, the event organised by the Automobile Club d'Italia in partnership with the Region of Sardinia that  is currently hosting the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. 

Today things got serious, and this morning the first three special stages immediately set the action alight. Adrien Fourmaux with Alexandre Coria in their Hyundai i20 N Rally1, made the most of this very first part of the race. The driver, who yesterday hosted Federica Pellegrini in the car for an unforgettable co-driving experience, kicked off  with great determination. His choice of tyres was excellent, allowing him to make the most of the almost 28 kilometres of “Sa Conchedda”, the last and longest stage of the race. With a good starting position, Fourmaux climbed from third to first place on this stage, taking the provisional lead with a 2.9-second gap over his closest rival.

Adrien Fourmaux: "We tried to avoid problems and preferred to slow down at some risky points, particularly in the first stage where we knew this well. After that, we were able to push a little harder. There are many parts of the stage to sweep in the middle of the road, I tried to avoid them but clearly they pushed me out. I think it will be a long race, so we will have to keep fighting to stay in the top five. I just have to try to stay calm and do my best, and then we'll see."

 Second place is Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team teammate Thierry Neuville, the reigning world champion navigated by Martjn Wydaeghe, also managed his starting position well and is in a promising position for the rest of the day.

Thierry Neuville: "The choice of tyres was the big gamble today. The stage was very slippery, but I'm satisfied: the pace was good. We worked a bit on the car to get more feeling, but overall the pace was there."

Among the top drivers Sebastien Ogier, multi-world champion and four-time winner here  in Sardinia, with Vizz Landais, Ogier is 8.1 seconds behind in third place with the official Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 and admitted that perhaps the tyre choice made this morning did not pay off as it should have.

Sebastien Ogier: "I think we could have done better in the middle stage, but it was quite complicated, with a lot of dirt still to be swept away. I had the feeling that passing after two cars was worse, we got a bit messed up, I didn't feel comfortable in that stage, but all in all I think it went well. After Portugal, we made some changes to the setup without having done any testing, based on our experience in that race. We discussed how to work and I'm more satisfied with the car here. Of course, without testing, we're still missing some information. Perhaps the soft tyres would have helped us a little more this morning. But after these three stages, we can still be satisfied."

The selectivity of SS2 ‘Telti-Calangianus-Berchidda’, designed as a new stage specifically for this edition, also caused a stir. Along its more than 18 kilometres, the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team experienced one of the toughest moments of the season, with three of the four Ford Puma Rally1s having to retire. First, Gregoire Munster and Louis Louka bent their right rear suspension against an embankment, then Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy detached their left rear, and a few seconds later, young talent Martins Sesks, with Renars Francis, rolled over on a fast stretch through the vineyards. While Munster and Treacy are likely to be able to continue  Rally Italia Sardegna tomorrow, this is not so certain for Sesks, given that the damage to his car is quite consistent.

Nikolay Gryazin and Kostantin Aleksandrov are leading Rally2 with  Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 set up by Italian Delta Rally. However, Gryazin is not registered in the WRC2 championship, where  Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen are currently in the lead. Behind them is one of the most experienced drivers in Rally Italia Sardegna, Martin Prokop with Michal Ernst,  at the wheel of  Skoda Fabia RS.