Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville claimed the overnight rally lead at the World Rally Championship season-ending Rally Italia Sardegna on Friday, seizing control during a brutal second leg that reshaped the standings across multiple classes. Neuville edged past teammate Adrien Fourmaux by a narrow margin of just 0.4 seconds following a dramatic final stage on the island’s rock-strewn gravel tracks.
Neuville Seizes Rally Lead After Late Charge Through Sardegna Stages
Friday’s action at the 13th and final round of the WRC season featured six demanding stages that tested both machinery and tire durability. The morning loop opened with three different stage winners, which briefly hoisted Fourmaux to the top of the leaderboard. However, Neuville clawed back time during the afternoon runs, overtaking his teammate in the day’s final speed test to finish Friday with a total time of 1:25:04.9. Fourmaux settled into second place just 0.4 seconds behind, according to official stage classifications reported by Sportacentrs.
Toyota Gazoo Racing crews held the next four positions, led by Oliver Solberg in third place, 12.3 seconds off the lead. Sébastien Ogier slotted into fourth, followed by Sami Pajari in fifth. Championship leader Elfyn Evans finished Friday in sixth position, a placing that would comfortably secure him the world drivers’ title if the rally concluded with those standings.
Punctures Strike M-Sport Ford and WRC Contenders Across Rough Loops
The unforgiving, stone-littered tracks and deep ruts of the Sardinian stages took a heavy toll on the field during both morning and afternoon loops. M-Sport Ford crew Mārtiņš Sesks and co-driver Renārs Francis suffered a punctured tire on the fourth stage, costing them more than two minutes and dropping them down the order. Similar tire failures disrupted the runs of Dani Sordo, Oliver Solberg, Sébastien Ogier, Takamoto Katsuta, and John Armstrong. Reviewing his morning performance after dropping to 17th midway through the day, Sesks admitted he felt exceptionally slow, noting that stepping back into a WRC cockpit after a two-month break required an adjustment in pace.
Despite the early setback, the Latvian crew rallied in the afternoon. Sesks and Francis posted the ninth-fastest time on the fifth stage and followed up with consecutive seventh-place finishes in the final two tests of the day, cementing tenth position among Rally1 runners as reported by Jauns. Hyundai’s Dani Sordo compounded his team’s mixed fortunes by crashing out of the rally during Friday’s final stage.
Title Battle and Technical Era Draw to a Dramatic Close
The championship equation heading into the weekend remains tightly contested among the top Toyota drivers. Evans leads the standings with a 17-point advantage over Pajari, while Solberg sits four points further back. With a maximum of 35 points still available across the remaining stages, all three contenders retain mathematical chances at the title. The event marks the final competitive outing for the current generation of Rally1 vehicles before new technical regulations take effect in 2027.
In the WRC2 category, Robert Virves suffered two flat tires, while class leader Teemu Suninen sustained a puncture on the final stage, allowing Gus Greensmith to inherit the class lead heading into Saturday’s six stages.
Competitors Tackle Six Tests on Saturday
Competitors return to the stages on Saturday morning to tackle another six tests covering 123.66 competitive kilometers. Crews will run from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM local time. Live coverage of the rally is available through the Go3 streaming platform, with the event concluding on Sunday following four final stages.
