On Saturday, six special stages will be run in Sardinia.

Sardinia WC Rally

Situation after the 10/16 special stage

1. Sébastien Ogier, Toyota

2. Ott Tänak, Hyundai +14.4

3. Kalle Rovanperä, Toyota +39.9

4. Sami Pajari, Toyota +1.04.5

5. Elfyn Evans, Toyota +2.13.8

6. Nikolai Grjazin, Škoda (WRC2) +4.52,5

7. Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +4.53,4

8. Emil Lindholm, Škoda (WRC2) +5.11,5

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The Coiluna–Loelle section, which includes a great jump, was run for the second time today.

The Finnish drivers did not take any big risks. Kalle Rovanperä continues in third place overall and Sami Pajari in fourth.

Ott Tänak was the bottom. Rovanperä was about three seconds behind him and the second fastest Sébastien Ogier. Pajari was almost ten seconds behind Tänak’s time.

The positions of the blue and white names have been established, so there’s no point in messing around with the route now.

– I went wide at one point, lost three or four seconds there. Nothing dramatic. I’m trying to keep my tricks intact, Rovanperä said after the stage.

Pajari was roughly on the same page as his compatriot.

– Absolutely, it came clean. Let’s go safely.

The difficult rally of the Finns’ teammate Takamoto Katsuta continued with a flat tire. The Japanese has now jumped a long way to tenth.

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Kalle Rovanperä continued his good run.

Only Sébastien Ogier was faster than him, clocking a staggering ten seconds faster than the Finn. Ogier moved into the overall lead over Ott Tänak.

The Estonian driver’s rear tire began to deflate about five kilometers before the end of the stage.

The special stage at Rovanperänka was not without its troubles.

– There’s a lot to clean up. A really rough stretch for the car and everything. We also got hit at the beginning. I don’t know if there were any loose rocks, I didn’t have time to see them.

Rovanperä says that after the hit, he drove a little more carefully because he didn’t know if the car was completely safe.

– There were some strange sounds.

French driver Adrien Fourmaux crashed his car into a ditch at the same point where Sami Pajarilla had gone wide a moment earlier. Fourmaux escaped with a scare and continued his journey, but he lost a lot of time.

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Saturday’s longest special stage is a stretch of over 24 kilometers from Lerno to Su Filigosu.

The speed had to be adjusted to the conditions of the rock piles and the clean gravel road.

Kalle Rovanperä is already aiming for Ott Tänak’s scalp.

– This is not an easy section at all. The road is clearing up a lot. We had no grip at all. Those coming from behind will definitely drive harder, Rovanperä said.

– We got what we could. There just wasn’t a line.

The Estonian clearly increased his speed, as he already felt the pressure of the Finnish ace on his neck. Tänak increased his gap to Rovanperä by 8.1 seconds.

Sami Pajari drove safely.

– Nice clip. I don’t know, you should drive faster. It wasn’t bad. It felt like you could go faster. A few are now going as fast as they can.

There was drama at the top of the race as Sébastien Ogier caught Adrien Fourmaux, who had suffered a flat tire. The Toyota driver had to drive for many kilometers in a cloud of dust created by his compatriot.

Ogier will receive time compensation for what he suffered. Therefore, the overall situation will change after the jury’s deliberations. The Frenchman will move back ahead of Tänak.

The Finnish duo moved up a place anyway due to Fourmaux’s misfortune.

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The first section of the second day’s ride consisted of a 22-kilometer ride from the shores of the beautiful Sa Coiluna Lake to Loelle.

The iconic jump of the Sardinia Rally once again offered Instagram moments to the rally fans who were there.

Rovanperä found a good ride already on Friday’s afternoon run. The pace had only improved during the night break.

The Finn set a special stage time that was 14.6 seconds faster than World Championship leader Elfyn Evans.

– It went ok. The feeling of both the car and the starting point is definitely better now. Let’s see what we can achieve,

What kind of modifications did you make to the car?

– Secrets, Rovanperä laughed on an international rally broadcast.

Pajari was 8.7 seconds behind his Toyota colleague. Overall, Rovanperä moved ahead of the Lahti driver to fourth place in the rally.

– I expected Kalle to attack from behind. This didn’t go so badly, Pajari began.

– It wasn’t a surprise that Kalle was going hard. I would have liked to go a little faster, but we tried to pull smart.

The fastest time on the special stage was set by Ogier, who started from the best starting position in the hot group.

The Frenchman increased his lead to 7.4 seconds.

Emil Lindholm continues to lead the small category.

– A bit slippery, but I like it. Quite an okay start, clean stretch. This is a good way to continue the day, said the Škoda driver.