Tag: Dani Sordo

Spaniard Sordo sped through the closing special stage of the opening leg at Italy’s ‘Cathedral of Speed’ circuit to demote the Finn and lead this final round of the FIA World Rally Championship by 1.0sec.

Both drivers Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi later received a 10-second penalty after cutting the same chicane during the opening leg’s final PZero Grand Prix Speed Test on the Monza Circuit. 
With the penalties applied, Sordo retains his 1.0sec advantage over the Finn with third-placed Sébastien Ogier now only a further second back.

Heavy rain transformed the track and parkland roads into a muddy mess, with standing water causing aquaplaning. Conditions were so extreme that drivers opted for Michelin’s heavily-treaded snow tyre in an effort to find grip.

Sordo won the opening test in his Hyundai i20 to relegate overnight leader Sébastien Ogier, but Lappi was first to gamble on snow tyres and immediately moved ahead. His lead stayed intact until the final test when he ploughed through a chicane and fell behind.

Sordo, who won two of the five stages, was rewarded for making changes to his car’s set-up to improve the handling after yesterday’s curtain-raising test. He will restart last of the frontrunners.

Ogier was the first of four men who started the season finale with a title tilt. He won one stage to lie third in his Toyota Yaris, 11.0sec adrift of Lappi’s Ford Fiesta, despite twice clipping bales and spinning.
To secure a seventh title, Ogier must distance team-mate Elfyn Evans, but the Welshman was only 5.1sec behind in fourth after a measured drive.

Ott Tänak, whose chances of retaining the title hang by a thread, was fifth, despite receiving a shock when the driver’s door of his i20 flew open during SS2. The Estonian was 0.6sec behind Evans and 7.1sec clear of Kalle Rovanperä’s Yaris.

Andreas Mikkelsen, competing in the FIA WRC3 class, ran as high as third, matching the more powerful World Rally Cars in his Rally2-specification Škoda Fabia Evo. He ended seventh, ahead of top-flight debutant Ole Christian Veiby. WRC3 category contenders Emil Lindholm and Oliver Solberg completed the leaderboard.

Thierry Neuville was the first of the title hopefuls to fall. After sliding into a fence this morning, the Belgian clipped a chicane this afternoon before finally retiring when his i20’s engine stopped after ploughing through standing water.

Teemu Suninen retired after limping through three stages with a misfiring engine in his Ford Fiesta and team-mate Gus Greensmith exited when he hit a gate and broke his front right suspension.

Saturday’s longest leg is based on roads near Lake Como, in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Two identical loops of three tests are followed by a closing stage at Monza. The mountain weather will play a massive role, with snow certain to cover the high sections.

In FIA WRC2, Pontus Tidemand battled horrendous weather conditions at ACI Rally Monza to establish a slender category lead. The Swede, driving a Škoda Fabia Rally2, holds an overnight advantage of 6.8sec over M-Sport Ford Fiesta driver Adrian Fourmaux, who was in formidable form during Friday’s morning loop with three impressive stage wins but picked up a right puncture during the second pass.

Mads Østberg was 5.6sec further back in third and reluctant to take any risks so early in the event. The Citroën C3 R5 pilot is fighting head-to-head with Tidemand for the series crown and could mount an attack over Saturday’s mountain stages.

In the Junior WRC Championship, Tom Kristensson is coming closer to a second consecutive title. The Swede finishes the day with a lead of over 2 minutes over Latvia’s Martin Sesks, who faced trouble in Roggia1. Fabrizio Zaldivar completes the Top 3.

2020 ACI Rally Monza – Unofficial Results after Section 6:

1. Dani Sordo (ESP) / Carlos del Barrio (ESP)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	53min 39.3sec
2. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN)	Ford Fiesta WRC	53min 40.3sec
3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)	Toyota Yaris WRC	53min 41.3sec
4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)	Toyota Yaris WRC	53min 46.4sec
5. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	53min 47.0sec
6. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN)	Toyota Yaris WRC	53min 54.1sec
7. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) / Anders Jaeger (NOR) – WRC3	Škoda Fabia Evo	54min 33.5sec
8. Ole Christian Veiby (NOR) / Jonas Andersson (SWE)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	54min 43.6sec
9. Emil Lindholm (FIN) / Mikael Korhonen (FIN) – WRC3	Škoda Fabia Evo	55min 26.0sec
10. Oliver Solberg (SWE) / Aaron Johnston (IRL) – WRC3	Škoda Fabia Evo	55min 27.2sec

Sardinia, 11 October 2020: Hyundai driver Dani Sordo along with co-driver C del Barrio has taken back-to-back victories on Rally Italia Sardinia, winning this year’s event by 5.1 seconds, to repeat his victory on the same event last year. Sordo went in front on Friday and controlled his advantage all the way to the finish, winning five out of the 16 gravel stages in total.

Although he had his lead reduced this morning, the Spaniard’s victory was assured after a nearly flawless run. Behind him, the runner-up spot was contested in an intense battle right down to the final six-kilometre Power Stage.

Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier – the winner of six stages in Sardinia out of sixteen – regained strength from Saturday onwards, once he was running a bit lower down the order, hence being less affected by sweeping away loose gravel.

The Frenchman fought a very close battle against Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville, with the duo separated by only a tenth of a second after the first of three stages today. In the end, Neuville sealed the runner-up spot on the final stage: by just one second.

Championship leader Elfyn Evans was most affected by the soft and sandy gravel of Sardinia though, running first on the road throughout Friday with his Toyota. He too could improve his pace from Saturday onwards to seal fourth, although nearly a minute behind the battle for the podium. Nevertheless, this was enough for the Welshman to retain the top spot in the championship standings.

M-Sport Ford driver Teemu Suninen finished fifth – a disappointing result for the Finn after hos strong performance on Friday as he set the first fastest stage time and run in a strong second place for a long time. Unfortunately, mechanical problems on Saturday meant that he dropped down the order, eventually finishing in fifth place.

The Finn was still the top Fiesta driver, after his team mates Esapekka Lappi and Gus Greensmith encountered problems of their own. Lappi was out on the first day, while Greensmith’s car switched itself off on the Power Stage before re-starting.

Reigning World Champion Ott Tänak was sixth, having fought back from suspension problems on the opening day to win the Power Stage. Another Hyundai i20 WRC, driven by French privateer Pierre-Yves Loubet, was seventh – his first finish in a World Rally Car.

The FIA WRC2 category was won by Toksport WRT’s Pontus Tidemand, who made steady progresses with his Škoda Fabia Evo to win the class after moving into the category lead on Friday afternoon. Hyundai Motorsport N’s Ole Christian Veiby finished 28.8s behind him,while Tidemand’s team-mate Eywind Brynildsen completed the class podium for manufacturer-backed competitors. 

Finland’s Jari Huttunen claimed a second FIA WRC3 victory this year in the Rally2-specification i20, also finishing eighth overall. Kajetan Kajetanowicz is the class’ second and Marco Bulacia third.

Tom Kristensson won the FIA Junior World Rally Championship classification in his Ford Fiesta R2T, by a considerable margin in front of Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zaldivar and Latvia’s Martin Sesks.

2020 Rally Italia Sardegna – Final unofficial results:

1. Dani Sordo (ESP) / Carlos Del Barrio (ESP)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	2 hr 41min 37.5sec
2. Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	2 hr 41min 42.6sec
3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)	Toyota Yaris WRC	2 hr 41min 43.6sec
4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)	Toyota Yaris WRC	2 hr 42min 39.8sec
5. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN)	Ford Fiesta WRC	2 hr 43min 11.4sec
6. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	2 hr 44min 05.0sec
7. Pierre-Louis Loubet (FRA) / Vincent Landais (FRA)	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	2 hr 46min 21.3sec
8. Jari Huttunen (FIN) / Mikko Lukka (FIN) FIA WRC3	Hyundai NG i20	2 hr 50min 19.2sec
9. K. Kajetanowicz (POL) / M. Szczepaniak (POL) FIA WRC3	Škoda Fabia Evo	2 hr 51min 40.4sec
10. P. Tidemand (SWE) / P. Barth (SWE) FIA WRC2	Škoda Fabia Evo	2 hr 51min 58.4sec