Sébastien Ogier retained his grip on Rally Italia Sardegna with one eye on redemption as the searing Mediterranean event continued to dish out punishment on Saturday.
Twelve months ago, Ogier saw a near-certain victory here ripped away by a final-stage puncture that handed Ott Tänak the win by just 0.2sec – the joint closest finish in FIA World Rally Championship history. This time, he'll take an 11.1sec advantage over the Hyundai driver into Sunday's four-stage finale, which totals 77.78 competitive kilometres.
What began for Ogier as a 2.1sec buffer over Adrien Fourmaux turned into a 11.1sec lead over Tänak by day's end after another punishing loop of rocky roads on the island tested the resilience of the Rally1 crews – and saw Friday's second-placed man Fourmaux roll out in the penultimate stage.
Ogier was consistently on the pace across Saturday's sun-scorched six stages, winning three in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 and maintaining a strong rhythm despite a moment of frustration on SS8, when dust from a recovering Fourmaux – who had just stopped to change a wheel – cost him time.
The eight-time champion was handed a corrected time for that test and ended the day satisfied.
"It's been a long day," Ogier reflected. "The afternoon was rough. But I'm happy so far — I think I've managed the rally well up to this point."
Behind him, Tänak mounted a fightback of his own. The Estonian dropped time with a slow puncture on SS9 but responded with stage wins on both passes of Lerno–Su Filigosu in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
Behind the top two, Kalle Rovanperä quietly worked his way into third overall. The two-time world champion had started the day fifth but climbed steadily as others faltered, capitalising on issues for both Fourmaux and Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari. He sits 55.5sec back from the lead.
Pajari had enjoyed another assured showing before running wide on SS9 and clouting the rear of his Yaris. The damage was cosmetic, but the Finn also lost time with a wheel change later in the day, slipping to fifth behind championship leader Elfyn Evans – who made gains after a muted Friday but also lost a chunk of time on SS11 when he too stopped to change a wheel.
The attrition up ahead meant that Nikolay Gryazin, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, slotted into sixth overall ahead of Takamoto Katsuta, who was another to carry out a wheel change – adding further frustration to an already trying week.
Oliver Solberg was eighth, but it was Emil Lindholm who was the highest-placed driver registered to score WRC2 points in ninth. The Finn finished the day ahead of Lauri Joona, who rounded out the top 10.
End of day two (Saturday):
1 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h32m38.9s
2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +11.1s
3 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +55.5s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +4m33.3s
5 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +4m56.3s
6 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +5m59.6s
7 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +6m11.4s
8 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +6m19.5s
9 Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hämäläinen (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +6m36.6s
10 Lauri Joona/Samu Vaaleri (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +7m48.1s
(Results as of 18:30 on Saturday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
What's next?
Two new stages near Olbia will each be driven twice to form a challenging final day of 77.78 competitive kilometres. There will be a final chance for service and a change of tyres just before the second pass of Porto San Paolo serves as the rally-ending Power Stage.
