Sebastien Ogier finishes the first day of the WRC Rally Italy in first place – but Ott Tänak is hot on the Toyota driver’s heels
The 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC) began on Friday with the first compact event of the year. Sebastien Ogier took the lead after the first four special stages of the Rally Italy in Sardinia. The Frenchman won the first and third special stages (SS) of the day, putting him 4.5 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak. Elfyn Evans suffered a puncture early on and had to minimize the risk
The choice of tires played an important role on the demanding gravel roads of the Mediterranean island on the first day. Tänak, Gregoire Munster, Adrien Fourmaux and Takamoto Katsuta chose six hard tires and thus had a little more leeway than the other drivers, who only chose five tires. However, the four drivers also had to lug around 20 kilograms more weight.
Ogier managed his tires perfectly and took care of them without having to sacrifice a good pace. The Frenchman knows exactly what it takes to be successful in Sardinia: With four victories, he is level with Sebastien Loeb in the list of winners and could take over the sole lead in the all-time leaderboard with a first place at the end of the rally.
SS 1 was the key for Ogier to finish the first day in first place. The 40-year-old drove 7.7 seconds faster than Tänak, giving him a comfortable lead. Another stage win on the third special stage finally gave him a lead of 4.5 seconds over Tänak, who struck back once again to minimize the gap.
However, the Estonian struggled with the technology of his Hynundai, as the system failed at the start and did not adopt the correct mode. Nevertheless, he set the fastest time on SS 2 and made up 5.9 seconds on Ogier, who only finished fifth. After four special stages, Tänak is hot on the heels of the eight-time world rally champion, as he made up another 0.2 seconds on Ogier in second place on the final special stage.
The two dominated the Rally Italy at the front, with the rest of the field unable to follow them. Dani Sordo is 33.2 seconds behind Ogier in third place in his Hyundai. This puts the Spaniard 1.3 seconds ahead of Katsuta, who finished the day in fourth place. The battle for third place is damn close, as the current championship leader is also in the mix
Thierry Neuville won the final special stage of the day with a 3.7-second lead over Tänak, sticking to Katsuta’s rear bumper. The Belgian had to open the day as the overall leader and was at a major disadvantage as a result: he lacked the grip on the dusty track that his pursuers found on the cleanly swept route.
Evans was the unlucky rider of the first day. The Welshman had only chosen five tires and had to fit a spare after the first special stage after suffering one of the dreaded punctures. This meant that the Toyota driver could no longer attack, as he could not afford another puncture. Evans was 20.7 seconds behind Neuville.
Munster first had to adjust to the demanding special stages in Sardinia and did not really find his rhythm. As a result, the M-Sport Ford driver is 11.9 seconds behind Evans in seventh place. Fourmaux was lucky in misfortune: The Frenchman had six tires in his luggage and needed all of them because he suffered two punctures. He lost a lot of time and will probably no longer play a role in the battle for the top positions. He fell behind the Rally2 drivers.
“It went well,” says Ogier. “But we lost some time when we had to overtake Fourmaux [on SS4]. [Friday] was very hard on the tires.” Neuville explains: “That was the most difficult day for us. The tire choice was not perfect, we should have chosen six tires.” Unlucky Evans commented on Friday: “It was a bad start, but we have to give everything tomorrow and then we’ll see what happens. “
