Lappi, who drove second in the World Rally Championship in Sardinia, regretted the lost battle for victory – Rovanperä gassed up to third and captured his World Cup lead

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville drove to victory and teammate Esapekka Lappi to second in the World Rally Championship in Sardinia. Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, who drove third, captured his World Championship lead.

Belgian Thierry Neuville drove to victory in the World Rally Championship in Sardinia. Esapekka Lappi secured Hyundai’s double win in second place. Hyundai got to celebrate for the first time in this season’s World Cup. Neuville beat Lapland by 33 seconds.

– This was a challenging weekend. The situations varied and we just had to manage to keep the lead we got on Saturday, Neuville summed it up at the finish.

Neuville drove the Power Stage, which ended the rally, to the finish line and was only seventh fastest.

– It’s really nerve-wracking to go to a special test like this with worn tires, when you notice that there are going to be out riders at the end, Neuville said at the finish of the rally from the Power Stage.

Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä finished third and secured his lead in the overall standings of the World Championship. Rovanperä stretched again in a great way on the Power Stage and grabbed a full five points from there.

– The ride was controlled, it didn’t feel bad. Now I enjoy the rain and mud when the car has grippy tires underneath. We were patient throughout the rally and didn’t make any mistakes, we got good points from a difficult rally, Rovanperä commented on his final clip and the Rally of Sardinia.

The third place was valuable for Rovanpera because Ott Tänak and Sebastien Ogier suspended on Saturday. Today, too, the sky was interrupted by Ford’s technical problems, and Toyota driver Ogier drove out of the race’s top spot.

Driven in fifth place in the World Rally Championship Dani Sordo stopped on sunday morning. A defect occurred in the exhaust gas system of the Spanish Hyundai, which caused a fire hazard.

Lappi was obviously saddened that he couldn’t drive seriously for the win, because the team wanted Neuville to get as big a points pot as possible for the World Cup battle. This is how Lappi passed Neuville, who was behind him on Saturday, in the overall standings.

– You just have to accept these things, even though they are frustrating. This is good to go to Kenya, Lappi said at the finish line.

When Lapi was asked about possibly taking the opening win in the next World Rally Championship in Kenya, the answer was succinct.

– It depends on who is behind me on the leaderboard, the driver added.

Ogier dramatically out on Saturday

The Saturday of the World Rally Championship ended dramatically with Ogier’s exit from the top spot. The Frenchman lost control of his car on the 14th special stage and spun off the road. The heavy rain made the conditions difficult and Ogier fell into a very rare driving error for him.

Ogier and Lappi had a huge second-second battle for the World Rally Championship victory, but Ogier’s exit completely changed the situation. The spirit of the game was clear when Hyundai took a double lead. Neuville took command and Lapi’s role was to secure a valuable double win for the team.

– When Sebastien (Ogier) stopped, it’s a clear game that we will ride quietly, Lappi, who seemed frustrated, referred to the team management’s desire to freeze the situation at the top.

Rovanperä dodged cows on Friday

Friday’s topic was the dodging of Kalle Rovanperä’s cows. Rovanperä experienced a nasty surprise on the long Monte Lerno special test (EK 4). He had to make a quick evasive move when the cows were roaming the road.

Rovanperä recounted the events on the DirtFish rally site.

– There were cows on the road at three kilometers. There were three cows on the road, two of them right in the middle of the road. I ducked into a ditch, but sure enough I hit two cows. I still drove to the gravel, Rovanperä said.