It was easy to predict, but Special Stage 7, the last of the day, of Rally Italia Sardegna upset the general classification of the sixth event of the 2023 WRC again. Under a treacherous rain, which made the bottom muddy than expected especially in some stretches of the final part of the race, Kalle Rovanpera won the Monte Lerno – Sa Conchedda 2 of 49.90 kilometres.
The reigning world champion made good use of his starting position – which is the most unfavorable in the dry, but becomes the best in the rain – to set the best time ahead of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1s driven by Esapekka Lappi and Thierry Neuville.
Rovanpera’s stage victory doesn’t change the balance of power much in the general classification, while Lappi’s second place does change them. Thanks to the excellent performance made in today’s last race and to the simultaneous and unexpected difficulties encountered by Sébastien Ogier, the Finn climbed to the top of the general classification of the event.
Lappi found himself at the end of the race with an advantage of just 1 tenth over Ogier, but that was enough to spend the night as leader of the 20th edition of Rally Italia Sardegna. For him and Hyundai this result is nothing short of unexpected: just remember that at the end of the first lap on Monte Lerno, i.e. at the end of the morning lap, Ogier had a 16″3 lead over Lappi (second at that moment).
In 3 races the Finn recovered all the margin that separated him from his former teammate, managing to overtake him albeit by the blink of an eye. Thierry Neuville also had an excellent race, just 6 tenths slower than Lappi despite a handbrake problem which slowed him down during the afternoon.
Thanks to this result, Neuville was able to make his third position much firmer: he now has a 27″5 advantage over Kalle Rovanpera, who moved up to fourth position by exploiting the bad performances of Takamoto Katsuta (who is still 1″3 behind by him), Elfyn Evans and Ott Tanak.
The Estonian from M-Sport had to race in the last stage without using the water pump. This stopped working after a few kilometers from the start and caused the number 8 Ford Puma Rally1 to lose power. It is no coincidence that Tanak lost over half a minute from the best time set by Rovanpera and, half of this gap, denoted him among the first and the second sector.
At the end of the special, Evans also recriminated for a right front tire puncture. However, the Welshman managed to close the race losing just over 30 seconds from the best.
Pierre-Louis Loubet’s day ended in the worst way, with an accident in the last part of the special. In a very narrow and muddy stretch his Ford Puma ended up getting stuck in some shrubs after a low speed exit. A strange accident, which suggests that there was a problem with the steering a few corners before. In fact, the Puma of Loubet and Nicolas Gilsoul failed to make the right-hand bend where it ended up in the vegetation.
Everything changes also in the WRC2 thanks to a sumptuous performance by the young Sami Pajari. The TokSport team rider scored a great SS7, beaten by just 4 tenths by only Oliver Solberg (now out of contention due to the failure of the front left shock absorber during the morning lap).
Thanks to this time, the promising Finn flew to the top of the WRC2 classification with a margin of 15″3 over the first of his pursuers, a good Adrien Fourmaux at the wheel of the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2. Third position for Emil Lindholm, who avoided a mocking exit a few corners from the finish line on SS7.
The first stage of the 20th edition of Rally Italia Sardegna ends here. The rally will resume tomorrow with SS8, the 16.28 km Coiluna – Loelle 1. The first car will enter the test at 08:05.
Rally Italia Sardegna – WRC 2023 – Classification after SS7
Pos. Pilota/navigatore Vettura Tempo/distacco 1 Lappi/Ferm Hyundai 20 N Rally2 1h31’48”8 2 Ogier/Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +0″1 3 Neuville/Wydaeghe Hyundai 20 N Rally2 +18″6 4 Rovanpera/Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +46″1 5 Katsuta/Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +47″4 6 Evans/Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1’05″6 7 Tanak/Jarveoja Ford Puma Rally1 +1’09″8 8 Pajari/Malkonen Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 +3’48″5 9 Fourmaux/Coria Ford Fiesta Rally2 +3’54″8 10 Lindholm/Hamalainen Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 +4’01″6
