Ogier leads as Neuville retires in WRC Rally Italia Sardegna
2nd June 2024Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier maintained his rally lead in the World Rally Championships’ Rally Italia Sardegna after Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville retired from the day.
Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool
It was a titanic battle out front as both Ogier and Hyundai’s Ott Tanak exchanged blows on the Italian island of Sardinia. Ogier was hit with an early puncture which allowed Tanak to get the advantage. However, later on in the day, Tanak was reportedly ordered not to push too much despite a thrilling fight with Ogier.
The two WRC champions traded the rally lead across the day with Ogier coming out in front, 17.1s ahead of Tanak.
Drama ensued on Saturday as, WRC Championship leader, Neuville crashed out on stage eight. The all-Belgian crew carried too much speed into a slow right-hander and the Hyundai i20 Rally1 was sent off course and down a steep bank.
Unable to get out of their situation, the championship leader was forced to retire from the day’s action but will return for Super Sunday.
“We were in the middle of a very tricky twisty section when I momentarily lost my concentration on a corner and didn’tSarde realise we would have a slow one right after,” said Neuville.
“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.”
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta had his issues and, he too, was forced to retire from the action due to drivetrain issues. A problem was identified during the tyre-fitting zone but the Toyota crew tried to push on. He and co-driver Aaron Johnston retired on Stage nine.
Daniel Sordo completed the second day of action in the final podium position, two minutes off the pace of Ogier and nearly two minutes away from Tanak.
Following Elfyn Evans’ problematic Friday, the Welshman had another frustrating morning. After Neuville’s crash, Evans tried to push but later opted to drive more conservatively in a bid to seal points. Evans finished the day in fourth, benefitting from Neuville’s and Katsuta’s misfortunes.
M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster was the final WRC driver inside the top 10, finishing Saturday fifth, 30s behind Evans and two minutes and 43.3s off Ogier.
Munster’s teammate, Adrien Fourmaux rejoined the rally – following technical problems on Friday – and finished down in 15th.
Read more WRC here:
- Ogier takes overnight lead in WRC Rally Italia Sardegna
- Toyota targeting a trio of WRC 2024 wins at Rally Italia Sardegna
- Ogier secures unprecedented sixth WRC win at Rally de Portugal
- Ogier leads as Rovanpera crashes in WRC Rally de Portugal
- Rovanpera leads Toyota top three in WRC Rally de Portugal
- Neuville takes the opening WRC stage win in 2024 Rally de Portugal
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
