The Toyota Yaris WRC managed to finish 3rd overall at Rally Italia Sardegna with Sébastien Ogier behind the wheel. Teammate Elfyn Evans came in right behind.
This time around it was Hyundai that took the big win with a 1-2 finish with their new i20 WRC.
The final result looks like this:
1 Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) 2h41m37.5s
2 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +5.1s
3 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) +6.1s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1m02.3s
5 Teemu Suninen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m33.9s
6 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2m27.5s
7 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Vincent Landais (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +4m43.8s
8 Jari Huttunen/Mikko Lukka (Hyundai i20 R5) +8m41.7s
9 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Sczecepaniak (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +10m02.9s
10 Pontus Tidemand/Patrik Barth (Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo) +10m20.9s
Retired Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota Yaris WRC)
Here’s the race report from Toyota’s perspective:
RACE REPORT
Rally Italia Sardegna came down to an exciting finale with Sébastien Ogier claiming a podium finish in his Toyota Yaris WRC in third overall after a valiant effort on the final day. Elfyn Evans finished fourth and continues to lead the drivers’ championship, 14 points ahead of his team-mate Ogier and 24 in front of the driver in third.
The Toyota drivers’ positions at the front of the road order on Friday (a consequence of their strong championship placings) made it difficult for them to fight for the rally victory on Sardinia’s sandy gravel roads. After winning four of Saturday’s six stages, Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia came into the final day in second overall, 27.4 seconds behind the leaders. Stage wins in both passes of the Cala Flumini test helped them to close that gap to just 9.2s with one stage remaining. They eventually finished just 6.1s from the winners in third overall, taking another strong points haul towards their bid for a seventh world title.
Having been particularly disadvantaged by opening the road on Friday, fourth place overall also represents a good result for Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin. They focused on securing that position on the final day, increasing their advantage over the car behind to 33s within the day’s first two stages. Both Ogier and Evans claimed additional bonus points towards the championship with the third and fourth best times respectively in the Power Stage.
What’s next?
Belgium is set to host a round of the WRC for the first time when the Ypres Rally takes place on November 19-22. First held in 1965, the rally is known as a demanding asphalt event on farmland roads lined with ditches. Its WRC debut will also include a final day held around the famous Spa-Francorchamps racing circuit.
