The event organised by Automobile Club d’Italia with the support of the Regione Sardegna will take place from 1 to 4 October. The rally will be the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Sardinia is preparing to welcome the FIA World Rally Championship for the 23rd time. The Italian round, organised by Automobile Club d’Italia with the support of the Regione Sardegna, will be the penultimate event of the WRC season and the final European round, bringing the spotlight back to the island’s gravel roads from 1 to 4 October 2026.

The return to the island at such an advanced stage of the season significantly increases the sporting importance of the event, which could prove decisive in the fight for the world title, more than ever before. It will be the fourth autumn edition of Rally Italia Sardegna, following those held in 2004, 2012 and 2020. A calendar position deeply rooted in Italian rally tradition, capable of offering particularly evocative autumn scenery as well as more demanding technical conditions, with a higher likelihood of variable weather and tricky surfaces.

In 2004, the first edition was held, inheriting the traditional Sanremo date scheduled for the first weekend of October. In 2012, a calendar reshuffle brought the Italian round back to autumn, in an edition that could have crowned Sébastien Loeb world champion, were it not for his off at Monte Lerno, which postponed the title decision to Corsica a few weeks later. In 2020, amid the pandemic, the event took place in the second week of October.

Full programme details will be announced in due course via rallyitaliasardegna.com and the event’s official channels.

No one like him, Sebastien Ogier is the winner of 2025 Rally Italia Sardegna, securing his fifth victory in the race organised by Automobile Club d'Italia in collaboration with the Region of Sardinia, which brought the FIA World Rally Championship back to the island for the 22nd time. The eight-time world champion, driven by Vincent Landais, showed all his experience in managing the race. He had a careful first day of the rally, he dominated the second and raced like only a real champion can do, on the final day, despite a small mistake on the final Power Stage that could have changed the outcome of the race.  The Frenchman kept his nerve, reversed after touching a bush and threw himself downhill towards Porto San Paolo, where he secured his 64th career victory, his fifth in Sardinia . This victory that was so desired, fought for and meticulously planned is a success that makes him the only driver in the world to have won Rally Italia Sardegna five times, setting a new record.

“I'm really happy, I'm struggling to find words. This  race suits my style: you need speed and to be precise, but also consistency to manage the tyres. With Ott, it's always a close battle right to the end, but I think I built my advantage little by little, day after day. The decisive moment came this morning when we managed to increase our lead. In the last stage, I had to reverse: I knew I had lost  few seconds, but I still managed to maintain control. Sardinia has always been good to me, and winning here for the fifth time is really special," said Ogier at the finish line.

This time, the top two positions on the podium were reversed compared to last year. Ott Tänak and Marin Järveoja,  finished second, perhaps regretting a slow puncture that slowed them down during Saturday's stage on SS9 ‘Tula-Erula’. Tänak lost a few seconds at that point but managed to get through it. 

"I don't  think I gave it my all, also because you can only do that when you have everything under control and can push to the limit, but we struggled a bit this weekend. It was very challenging, but we still tried to get the most out of it. We did some testing, but the range in which the car works well is very narrow, so we try to get the best out of it every time, but we're second and that's fine," said Tänak.

Third place goes to young talent Kalle Rovanperä with Jonne Halttunen. The 2022 and 2023 world champion repeated his best result in Sardinia, achieved in 2023, he was the protagonist of a wild Sunday where he won the Power Stage and Super Sunday, scoring very important points for the championship.It's not a rally that I particularly like, but at the end we managed to find a good rhythm. I think that after starting from a better position yesterday, we managed to make the difference today. I tried to attack and we managed to score some great points for the team and for the championship,’ Rovanperä said

Great celebration on the podium in Olbia, staged at Isola Bianca, The winners were welcomed by a cheering crowd of fans and the event's patron, Federica Pellegrini. The Italian olympic champion once again experienced the thrill of co-driving over the weekend, climbing into a Rally1 car for an experience that she described as ‘something I don't think I'll forget very easily’.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT completed the top five, extending their lead  of the World Championship manufacturers' standings. Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin are still leading the drivers' standings, finishing fourth despite a significant gap, which was increased by both starting first on Friday and a puncture on Saturday. Fifth place for Takamoto Katsuta, with Aaron Johnston, who was also slowed down by a puncture during the tough second day, which featured the most famous special stages.

Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmonson, on Toyota GR Yaris, won the Rally2 classification at the end of a race full of twists and turns, with sixth place overall. Right at the start, Solberg made a mistake on SS2, hitting a wall, but he managed to close the gap during the rest of the race until a puncture for Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov allowed him to gain a position on the leading crew. Between them,  Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen finished in the overall standings, with Marko Salminen . Pajari seemed to have the pace to finish further up but a puncture and a collision in the first stage on Sunday forced him to drop a couple of positions, ending up seventh, just ahead of Gryazin. Both Solberg and Gryazin were not running for points 

DAPRA' Wins WRC2
The Italian national anthem echoed through Olbia in WRC2, marking a special moment in the history of Rally Italia Sardegna, where Italian drivers got some big wins in front of their home crowd. Roberto Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti, claimed the first WRC2 world success. It was a thrilling victory that rewarded their determination, considering that before the final special stage, three drivers were fighting for victory within just 4.8 seconds of each other.

At the end, he not only maintained his lead but also extended it, finishing 5.8 seconds ahead of Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak and 10.9 seconds ahead of Martin Prokop and Michal Ernst. Daprà also had the satisfaction of finishing in ninth place overall. "I really don't know what to say. Thanks to everyone who believed in me from the beginning. Thanks to ACI Team Italia, Delta Rally. Now I just want to enjoy the party," said an overwhelmed Daprà.

 ITALY IS IN WRC3 WITH FONTANA
 Another thrilling Italian win in WRC3 for Matteo Fontana and Alessandro Arnaboldi, 
The Italian driver after some issues  got back into the race, holding off his rivals and winning by 24.5 seconds ahead of Nataniel Bruun and Argentine Pablo Olmos, and  Andrè Martinez with Matias Aranguren.

ENVIRONMENT AND SIDE EVENTS 
As always, the focus was on the environment, especially given the special relationship with the Sardinian territory and the hard work to get and keep the three stars in the FIA Environmental Programme, which rewards events that are most aware.

A key moment on Sunday morning was the planting in front of the Archaeological Museum in Olbia. The ceremony was a symbolic moment that anticipates the “Un pilota, un albero” (One driver, one tree) that involves the planting of 138 trees to represent all the crews competing in Rally Italia Sardegna.

This year's rally had many  side events  with Italian radio RDS and   DJ sets by Francesco Cadente, Rino de Niro and Claudio Guerrini on stage.  Friday, over 5,000 people flocked to the free concert of pop band The Kolors.

The success is also in the numbers: more than  4 million views of content on official channels on the major social networks, while total coverage provided by Rally.tv supported by RAI Sport reached over 80 million people, underlining the rally's strong appeal.

RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA 2025 - STANDINGS
1.Sébastien Ogier–Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3:34:24.5; 2. Ott Tänak–Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +7.9; 3. Kalle Rovanperä–Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +50.5; 4. Elfyn Evans–Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5:05.7; 5. Takamoto Katsuta–Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +7:29.6; 6. Oliver Solberg–Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +8:32.9; 7. Sami Pajari–Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +10:29.0; 8. Nikolay Gryazin–Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10:58.7; 9. Roberto Daprà–Luca Guglielmetti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +12:15.3; 10. Kajetan Kajetanowicz–Maciej Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +12:21.1.

RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA 2025 - STANDINGS WRC2
1. Roberto Daprà–Luca Guglielmetti (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) 3:46:39.8; 2. Kajetan Kajetanowicz–Maciej Szczepaniak (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +5.8; 3. Martin Prokop–Michal Ernst (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10.9; 4. Jan Solans–Rodrigo Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +45.3; 5. Romet Jürgenson–Siim Oja (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +53.5.

RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA 2025 - STANDINGS WRC3
1. Matteo Fontana–Andrea Arnaboldi (Ford Fiesta Rally3) 4:03:55.4; 2. Nataniel Bruun–Pablo Olmos (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +24.5; 3. Andrés Martinez Merizalde–Matías Aranguren (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +17:26.0; 4. Timo Weigert–Jasmin Weigert (Renault Clio Rally3) +30:05.0; 5. Kerem Kazaz–C. Silvestre (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +31:32.4.

STAGE FLASH

DATE: 08 June | FLASH N°: 14
DAY: 3
STAGE: SS14 Porto San Paolo 1 | STAGE LENGTH: 13,70
WEATHER: Sunny
ROAD CONDITIONS: Dry

Car #55 J.Mcerlean - E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1): "One of the slowest of the rally. Proper technical, a lot of sharp corners. High grip, but it gets quite tricky towards the end, it is a typical Sardinia powerstage"

Car #13 G.Munster - L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1): [The damage on the car?] "It is just so loose, the car is never stopping to slide. We hit a small stone, nothing major just a loose stone"

Car #16 A. Fourmaux - A.Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "There is no grip. It is really sandy at the same time, quite narrow and there are rocks everywhere. A little bit of hanging dust at the beginning, but after it was clean"

Car #1 T. Neuville - M.Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): [Same time as Fourmaux, but at the beginning you were 4s ahead. What worked at the start but not at the end?] "Everything worked to be honest. I do not know if it got more loose or something. We had a good stage and the same rhythm always"

Car #9 J.Serderidis - F.Miclotte (Ford Puma Rally1): "It is really fun. Jumping all the time, turning all the time. There are 1000 corners in this stage. It is enjoyable, you don't have to push too much and be gentle with the throttle. It is good training"

Car #18 T. Katsuta - A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "I just stalled. Everything OK, I just stalled. I have no idea why"

Car #5 S.Pajari - M.Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "I was playing it safe. Should not have been too bad. We will check again on the road and we will see. I did not change so much, but the car is not quite perfect"

Car #33 E. Evans - S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "Hopefully there will be more grip than there was in there. I did not feel good at all. I guess a lot of it is just the grip. Very difficult to find the pushing rhythm"

Car #69 K.Rovanpera - J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "Quite OK. Really low grip. Really difficult conditions, in this twisty part it feels you are not going anywhere. You do not have grip in the narrow. Our tyre game is not the best at the moment. We still need to survive the long one. We will see"

Car #8 O. Tänak - M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "All OK for me, a clean stage"

Car #17 S. Ogier - V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "In the last hairpin over a crest I was on the side of the road, it was very slow but I was on the wrong line. All good" [a moment at the end]

Car #29 N. Gryazin - K. Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): "Not easy, really slippery. I tried to be really precise, but sometimes you are touching the side walls. No drama I tried to be clean but it is not easy"

Car #21 O.Solberg - E.Edmondson  (Toyota GR Yaris): "It is extremely slippery, it is just crazy but really cool stage. Up and down, technical, it is quite fun but really really difficult"

Car #43 M.Prokop - M.Ernst  (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): “We did a big mistake at the beginning, we missed a braking point, hit the wall and stalled the engine. We lost a lot of time in this junction. Really difficult Sunday. The last two corner, it is so difficult to find the line. Yeah it is a proper Sunday.

Car #27 R. Daprà - L. Guglielmetti (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): ”It’s ok, we had a moment, we risked a bit, we need to keep the focus and try to do it.”

Car #44 R.Virves - J.Viilio (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): "It is OK now. Like the whole rally, probably not so interesting to watch us but it is our job this time"

Car #37 R.Jurgenson - S.Oja ( Ford Fiesta Mk II): "Today it has been really good. New stages for everyone so it is equal. This one maybe not so good, more“

STAGE FLASH

DATE: 08 June | FLASH N°: 13
DAY: 3
STAGE: SS13 SAN GIACOMO - PLEBI 1 | STAGE LENGTH: 25,19
WEATHER: Sunny
ROAD CONDITIONS: Dry

Car #55 J.Mcerlean - E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1): [Looking surprised about the time?] "Yeah. Honestly there are so many tight corners going uphill and you are waiting all the time to get traction. It is a nice surprise because I tried to drive clean. This is a super tricky stage. It would be very cool to be on board with Ogier coming in there"

Car #13 G.Munster - L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1): "Not much to look at today, just carrying through. Trying things out. In the dust I could not see 30m in front so big time lost"

Car #16 A. Fourmaux - A.Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "On the last part of the stage we had a lot of hanging dust and we did not see anything, it is very narrow and I did not take any risks. I have to say thanks to the team, all the mechanics, because they fixed the car yesterday and did an amazing job. Thanks to them"

Car #1 T. Neuville - M.Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "Terrible. I had a good stage, but it is cleaning so much in there. I expect the fastest to go 20-25s faster. Not much I can do. I do not know about the dust but I know Taka is on a 4 minutes [gap] so he might have an advantage towards the end of the stage. This is the only thing we can play for this weekend, so we have to try"

Car #9 J.Serderidis - F.Miclotte (Ford Puma Rally1): "Demanding, terribly demanding. The beginning is so technical, it is an early wake up. Then the end it is nice. We enjoyed it"

Car #18 T. Katsuta - A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "The dust is bad. I could not see in a few places. I do not know but I had to be careful because it is very narrow. You cannot trust everything in the corner and it is very difficult. I do not know if it is the same for everybody or not but for me it was really really bad"

Car #5 S.Pajari - M.Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "We spun and I hit something. I need to check what happened. I do not know, let's see"

Car #33 E. Evans - S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "[Sami had a problem, were you stuck in the dust?]Yeah. Really quite bad. I lost quite a bit"

Car #69 K.Rovampera - J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "Quite horrible to be honest. So tricky. I do not know what the other guys are doing. You can drive 1 minute faster on this stage, I was so bad. But luckily at least I was faster than them" 

Car #8 O. Tänak - M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "The stage went OK. Every morning it is like I am driving the car for the first time in my life. It is a bit demanding. Let's see, I will try to improve. The dust was not so nice"

Car #17 S. Ogier - V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "Good, clean stage for us. Demanding one, very technical, very narrow. I fought a lot with the hairpins in some places but I am happy with that"

The French champion, co-driven by Landais , won three of the six stages to retain the lead in the Championship. With three stage wins, Tanak-Jarveoja are close behind. Thousands of fans who travelled to the island to follow Rally Italia Sardegna could not have asked for anything better, with a heated duel set to continue until the very last day of the race.

Day 2 delivered plenty of excitement and drama on the tough and demanding special stages, particularly on the punishing “Tula – Erula”, the last stage of the loop that also included “Lerno - Su Filigosu” and “Coiluna – Loelle”, from which Sebastian Ogier once again came out unscathed and is still leading the overall standings.

The race, organised by Automobile Club Italia in partnership with the Region of Sardinia, proved to be one of the toughest on rallying calendar, with bumps, jumps, dust, water crossings and a surface that crumbles to reveal rocks and stones. Under the Sardinian sun, the experienced Ogier made fewer mistakes than anyone else, setting the fastest time in three of the six stages.

‘Tomorrow we will continue to push, that's the plan,’ commented Ogier. "I don't care how it ended last time, or at least I try not to think about it. On the rocky sections, you try to avoid problems, but it's never easy. We'll see how it goes. Last year we had a 17-second lead before the last day and lost everything due to a puncture. This time we're 11 seconds ahead, so it's also important to rest and prepare. I know San Giacomo quite well from testing, but Ott knows it too. We'll have to be at our best."

However, the lead gained does not allow him to sleep soundly, because Ott Tanak's Hyundai is chasing hard . The Estonian was just a hair's breadth behind his rival this morning, but on SS9 he lost over 10 seconds due to a loss of pressure in his rear left tyre but then won another two stages, closing the gap to Ogier to 11.1 seconds. The duel is postponed until tomorrow, when the important points of ‘Super Sunday’ and the Power Stage will be up for grabs on new and once again very complicated stages that could make for a thrilling finale, just like last year, once again between Ogier and Tanak.

‘I wasn't pushing hard this afternoon, I was just managing the tyres. Tomorrow's stages are really tricky, so we need to stay focused, especially on San Giacomo,’ explained Tanak. ‘I think we did a good job today. There are important points up for grabs tomorrow, so our goal is to try and get them.’

Young Rovanpera, who has never been comfortable on Sardinian gravel in the past, seems to have finally found a rhythm that suits his abilities. However, this second day of competition, the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver began to push hard after adjusting the setup of his car, taking advantage of the twists and turns to secure a provisional podium place at 55.5 seconds. The crucial moment of the day was when Adrien Fourmaux had to retire after he rolled his car on SS11. Punctures characterised the second loop of stages in the afternoon, with Elfyn Evans, Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta all having to stop in SS11 to change a tyre. Despite this, Evans, with Scott Martin, is currently in 4th place, while Pajari, alongside Marko Salminen, is fifth, both more than 4'30 behind the leader.

Among Rally2 cars  Nikolay Gryazin and Aleksandrov. Behindis are still leading the category standings, having managed to maintain a substantial lead over his pursuers.
 Behind  Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson  closed the gap to the top, winning five of the six special stages. Now, just before  the last day, the gap between Gryazin and Solberg is 32.4 seconds.
 However, the top two crews in the Rally Italia Sardegna are of no consequence for the WRC2 standings, where  Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hamalainen,, are currently leading the way after winning the first stage of the ‘Coiluna Loelle’ leg. The most significant episode of this second day for WRC2 was when Yohan Rossel,  was forced to retire due to a broken suspension arm on SS8 ‘Lerno-Su Filigosu’, which stopped him from starting the next stage. This twist benefited Lindholm, who took the lead in WRC2 with a margin of 1'11' over  Lauri Joona  and 1'27”' over Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
 Unlucky for italian   Roberto Daprà, driving for ACI Team Italia with Luca Guglielmetti  who had managed to climb up to fourth place, 14 seconds off the podium at the halfway point of the day, before slipping back with a 1-minute loss due to a radiator problem.

Matteo Fontana and Alessandro Arnaboldi continue their solo escape in WRC3, the Italian Under-21 crew scored another three stage wins  and increased their lead over all their chasing rivals to over three minutes.
 Behind them,  Nataniel Bruun managed to move into second place with Matteo Chatillon.

Super Sunday 8 June will see the closing stages of 77.94 km that will crown the 2025 winner of  Rally Italia Sardegna. The two special stages  are new and will be repeated twice to complete the 320 km. The first new section  will be  “San Giacomo-Plebi” (25.19 km), which returns after more than ten years but only partly follows the route taken in the past. “Porto San Paolo” special stage (13.78 km) will host the final power stage and is a completely new section, with sweeping views of the sea and the spectacular profile of the island of Tavolara. The final podium is scheduled to take place in Olbia at 4 p.m. on the Isola Bianca stage.

OVERALL STANDINGS IN THE RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA AFTER SS12: 1. Ogier-Landais (Toyota Gr Yaris Rally1) in 2:32'38.9; 2. Tänak-Järveoja (Hyundai I20 N Rally1) +11.1‘; 3. Rovanperä-Halttunen (Toyota Gr Yaris Rally1) +55.5’; 4. Evans-Martin (Toyota Gr Yaris Rally1) A 4'33.3; 5. Pajari-Salminen (Toyota Gr Yaris Rally1) +4'56.3; 6. Gryazin-Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia Rs) A 5'59.6; 7. Katsuta-Johnston (Toyota Gr Yaris Rally1) +6'11.4; 8. Solberg-Edmondson (Toyota Gr Yaris) A 6'19.5; 9. Lindholm-Hämäläinen (Skoda Fabia Rs) +6'36.6; 10. Joona-Vaaleri (Skoda Fabia Rs) +7'48
WRC2 CLASSIFICATION AFTER SS12: 1. Lindholm-Hämäläinen (Skoda Fabia Rs) in 2:39'15.5; 2. Joona-Vaaleri (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 1'11.5; 3. Kajetanowicz-Szczepaniak (Toyota Gr Yaris) at 1'27.7; 4. Prokop-Ernst (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 2'22.5; 5. Daprà-Guglielmetti (Skoda Fabia Rs) at 2'44.2.

FLASH NEWS

DATE: June 7  2025 |   FLASH N°: 11
DAY: 2
STAGE: SS11  LERNO - SU FILIGOSU 2 | STAGE LENGTH: 24,34km
WEATHER: Sunny
ROAD CONDITIONS: Dry                 

Car #55 J.Mcerlean - E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1): "Compared to the first pass there were big ruts now. It is so warm in here"

Car #13 G.Munster - L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1): “[Josh] is opening the road, so for sure it is not easy for him. We are trying things out for Greece. It is very specific, for sure not suiting here. It is the only thing we have to do today. It is good to be in front"

Car #1 T. Neuville - M.Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): “We will see for tomorrow. If we do not get a better road position I do not think there are possibilities for good points tomorrow. We are here now to try, there is not much more to take from the weekend, only a few points tomorrow... will go for it"

Car #9 J.Serderidis - F.Miclotte (Ford Puma Rally1): “It was rough. Much more rough. Still enjoyable, unfortunately we do not have the handbrake. We lost a lot of time we almost stalled two times. But it enjoyable"

Car #18 T. Katsuta - A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): “I got a puncture in the previous stage. Just trying to find a good feeling with the car. At the moment I feel quite good confidence and the car is working well. I am trying to fine tune to get even better confidence for tomorrow. It will be very very rough"

Car  #33 E. Evans - S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): “There was an exposed rock, in the tarmac section I tried to go around it. Probably I made it worse trying to go around it, it is like that" [changed front right wheel]

Car #69 K.Rovanpera - J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): “Super super rough. I just tried to keep a good pace but trying to avoid all the rough parts. So many surprises.. it is very rough"

Car #5 S.Pajari - M.Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): “I hit some rocks in the line. I tried to drive it to the finish, but it started to do a bad noise. So I needed to change the wheel and lost quite a lot. Let's see"

Car #8 O. Tänak - M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): “For me it was clean. I was very clean and had no trouble. Quite a sketchy moment with Pajari, after a fast corner ... the only thing to hit for me were the rocks. We have a system to warn us, but nothing came up... no marshals no warning"

Car #16 A. Fourmaux - A.Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) [rolled, crew OK]

Car #17 S. Ogier - V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): “It was a good stage. We lost some time again with Adrian blocking the road, probably we will have a similar time like Ott"

Car #29 N. Gryazin - K. Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): "Terrible. I do not know what changed from the first pass. It is not rhythmical... we need to check the tyres, it is so demanding for the tyres. There are too many stones"

Car  #34 E. Lindholm - R. Hamalainen (Skoda Fabia RS RAlly2): "It was maybe 10km in, it started cutting out the voice and she disappeared completely. She has a strong voice, but not strong enough over the gravel... we swapped intercom mid stage but still there were some distortions" [switched intercom]                                               

‘The Champ’ is stronger than the challenges that shuffled the lead and returns to the service park with 15-seconds over Ott Tänak. Fourmaux punctures and loses over three minutes. Rovanperä enters the podium zone.

Olbia, June 7th 2025 - Many surprises at Rally Italia Sardegna on the second day with many changes at the top, but it is still Ogier at the lead, after winning two of the three special stages: ‘Coiluna-Loelle’ and ‘Tula-Erula’.

"It was a complicated morning: good pace on the first stage today, but in the second one we were too cautious and then we found Fourmaux's dust. The 15-second lead over Ott can disappear in an instant in stages like this." Ogier's words.

It was on the special stage with the famous Micky's Jump that the most striking twist came with the puncture for Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria, at that moment second behind Ogier. They stopped to change the tyre, but despite completing the operation in a very short time they were almost three minutes behind. At the restart after the pit stop, Fourmaux found himself just ahead of Ogier, who was slowed down in his dust until he sportingly stopped to let him pass. Race Direction then awarded the new time to Ogier for SS8, allowing the multiple world champion to get the lead back.

On the final stage of the day, there was also a small issue for Ott Tänak who just five kilometres before the end, he suffered a lack of pressure on his left rear. The Estonian driver did well to control the situation and minimise the time lost.

"It was similar to what happened to us in Portugal, first a slow puncture and then we tried not to get the tyre on the rim. This afternoon will also be tricky for the tyres because if you push it can happen like that, we had the tyres completely gone at the end of Tula. Ogier clearly feels good in his car,' Tanak's words.

Fourmaux's problems continued on SS9 “Erula-Tula” with a spectacular off-road run at Sa Mela and just before that a straight through the trees, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were back in the podium positions, third and 37.5 seconds behind. The gap might seem rather wide, but given how quickly things can change on these very technical stages, the 2022 and 2023 world champion is in a good situation.

"Yesterday we made some changes and the situation improved. I feel better in the car today, and then I was starting in a better position. It was incredibly tough, even more than we expected, we managed to get through. There is always a chance to go fast, but also to make mistakes, and in the afternoon we will have to be good at going fast without any mistakes," Rovanperä said.

Fourth place for Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, again in a Toyota, who also had a little shudder on SS9 but came through and are now 55.4 seconds off the lead. Fifth place for championship leaders Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, who nevertheless have a rather sizable margin (2'00.7).

In WRC2 the situation evolved in an equally complex morning during which series leader Yohann Rossell, with Arnaud Dunand, had to stop after breaking a steering arm. In the lead, behind a super Gryazin who leads in Rally2 but not scoring points, are Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen leading with more than a minute over Lauri Joona and Samu Vaaleri and 1'24 over Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Maciej Szczepaniak.

Fourth place went to Italian Roberto Daprà, with Luca Guglielmetti, the first of the Italian drivers and also first among the ACI Team Italia standard bearers. The gap to Daprà is 1'38, so the fight for the podium is still wide open and the management during the afternoon will be crucial, with the special stages that will present a rougher ground situation and will require an effective but clean drive..

PS10 ‘Coiluna-Loelle/2’ will start at 15:05 and will also be broadcast on RAI Play (streaming) with commentary by Gianfranco Mazzoni and Andrea Nicoli. It will be rebroadcast on RAI sport this evening at 24:00.

STAGE FLASH 

DATE: June 7  2025 | FLASH N°: 8
DAY: 2
STAGE: SS11  LERNO - SU FILIGOSU 1 | STAGE LENGTH 24,34km
WEATHER: Sunny
ROAD CONDITIONS:  Slippery                  

Car #55 J.Mcerlean - E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1): "[I will work on]A lot of things. Driving is the most important thing. I said in the last stage that I do not want to talk about cleaning but I have a new appreciation for the champions that win championships doing that. There is a lot to learn from driving like that"

Car #13 G.Munster - L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1): "A lot of cleaning, no brakes. That is it"

Car #1 T. Neuville - M.Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "[What are you working on?]You can try a few things. We are currently using hards in the front and softs in the rear. Trying different settings. I am not sure we are gonna learn much for the upcoming events. Not much to learn, but it is good to see car fixed again, the guys did a good job and the car is ready for tomorrow"

Car #9 J.Serderidis - F.Miclotte (Ford Puma Rally1): "I lost the brakes 10km before the end of the stage. The last part was slow. I still enjoyed, the last part I liked very much but I could not [go faster] because I did not have any brakes"

Car #18 T. Katsuta - A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "No issues with the brakes. I was saving the tyres for Sunday. Not ideal tyre choice for this stage but the feeling is good. I am just trying to find a good feeling and some good setup for Sunday. That is the only thing I can do today. Just keep going"

Car  #33 E. Evans - S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "We want to continue driving and continue to work a bit on the car. We try to be at the end of today, but still need to be comfortable in the car for tomorrow"

Car #69 K. Rovanpera - J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "[The changes?]A few things combined which made it work. This one is not an easy stage and I think it will clean a lot. I was wide in the beginning on every corner. There was no grip at all and no line for us. The guys behind will be much faster but we are doing what we can"

Car #5 S.Pajari - M.Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "Quite nice stage I must stage. I was not pushing. I do not know if I should, I guess not really. The feeling is like this, I would like to be a bit quicker. They are pushing so hard, to compare to them is not so easy"

Car #8 O. Tänak - M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "I had a good stage, definitely better rhythm than on the previous one. No dramas for us"

Car #16 A. Fourmaux - A.Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "We just had a puncture. That is it. On the inside I hit something, it was in the line and I did not see anything. It was not in the notes. That is quite frustrating" [changed tyre and stopped to let Ogier through]

Car #17 S. Ogier - V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "[How long have you been in Adrian's dust?]I cannot judge. It is OK, I am sure I will have this time back" [stuck in Fourmaux's dust]

Car #29 N. Gryazin - K. Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): "It feels nice to be honest. Difficult stage, but I tried to be clean. There is a tyre strategy and other things. But I try to enjoy myself and enjoy driving. I do not care about the time. For the moment it is feeling good"

Car  #34 E. Lindholm - R. Hamalainen (Skoda Fabia RS RAlly2): "I was struggling with the rear end grip, sliding a lot out of the line. Not the best stage. We keep going and focus on our task"

Car  #20 Y.Rossel - A.Dunand (Citroen C3): "Just too fast on a slow corner and I hit a tree. I do not know how much time I lost. I tried to fight but now it is over" [front right tyre off the rim]

Car #43 M.Prokop - M.Ernst (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): "It is such a nice island, nice weather. The stages are just brilliant. So difficult and that is what I like. This stage I did many times, but it still surprises you. I enjoyed that"

Car #21 O.Solberg - E.Edmondson  (Toyota GR Yaris ): "In the previous stage I did not have handbrake and sometimes I had front wheel drive. I lost some time. The car is not as good as yesterday, I am crushing through more than yesterday. The balance is not great. At least here the handbrake is working, and could drive normally. We just sent it through recalibration it and it is OK now"