How Hyundai's broken record gave Toyota a special Sardinia 1-2

They say that lightning never strikes twice, but it did for Hyundai on Rally Sardinia as victory slipped from its grasp in brutal fashion for the second consecutive event, leaving Sebastien Ogier and Toyota to clean up the spoils.

Sardinia is known as a car-breaker, with its rough, narrow, gravel stages offering the sternest of tests for both driver and machine. This was evident from a simple glance at the results sheet – only four WRC cars completed the 20 stages on the Mediterranean island, such was the high attrition rate.

While this rally will be remembered as another one that got away from Hyundai, the dramatic turn of fortune for the South Korean manufacturer shouldn’t take any of the shine from Ogier, who underlined exactly why he is a seven-time world champion. This was a rally of two halves, punctuated by a dramatic Saturday that turned the event on its head, leaving Hyundai crestfallen and Toyota jubilant following an unlikely pendulum swing in its favour.

Elfyn Evans had won last time out for Toyota on Rally Portugal, and he and Ogier were braced for damage-limitation as the pair opened the road in the Sardinia heat, courtesy of sitting first and second respectively in the championship standings. Ogier even admitted before the event that he was unsure if it was worth turning up, knowing how difficult his road position would make things in Sardinia. It’s a happy hunting ground for Hyundai, which had won four of the previous five visits, and the Frenchman’s fears were soon proved correct as Hyundai once again showcased the speed of its i20 Coupes.

Ott Tanak, aided by a favourable road position, blitzed the opening morning by winning all four stages, before going on to claim his fifth consecutive triumph at the start of the afternoon loop. Team-mate Dani Sordo claimed the remaining three stages to sit 19.4s adrift of Tanak, who was in a different league. The margin could have been even bigger had Tanak not suffered a tyre delamination on the final stage of the day.

For Ogier, ending the day 36.2s behind Tanak in third was a victory in itself, since he had admitted that any gap under a minute would have been a good result. Again, the reigning world champion struck a fine balance of fast and calculated risk-taking driving, while preserving his rubber opening the road. His performance was further highlighted by the struggles encountered by Evans and Thierry Neuville, who were directly behind on the road. The pair both struggled for confidence, and had dropped more than a minute in arrears in fourth and fifth respectively.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

It proved to be another heartbreaking day for Toyota rising star Kalle Rovanpera. The Finn was the only man who could live with Tanak’s searing pace in the opening three stages, but was forced out with a sudden suspension failure, although he would return to the action on Saturday.

M-Sport also had one of those days to forget: Teemu Suninen rolled his Ford Fiesta in the very first stage and was out of the contest, while Gus Greensmith had been running strongly with stand-in co-driver Stuart Loudon, before a transmission issue forced the pair to stop on the final stage of the day. Both cars would return to the event under restart rules on Saturday.

With the road order shuffled, Tanak continued his relentless charge on Saturday, when much cooler conditions greeted the drivers following overnight rain. The 2019 world champion swept the first stage of the morning loop to claim a sixth stage win of the event, extending his lead to 34.8s over Sordo, who hit trouble…

It was the start of a downward spiral for two-time Sardinia winner Sordo, and the beginning of Hyundai’s collapse. The Spaniard aggressively attacked a man-made watersplash at the end of stage nine, which resulted in his Hyundai stalling. Eventually the engine coughed into life, but only after a significant time loss that put Sordo just 7.5s ahead of Ogier, who along with Evans enjoyed an increased turn of pace. They were now able to live with the leading Hyundai duo.

The afternoon belonged to Ogier, who won three of the next four stages, including the 15th, on which Hyundai’s victory hopes evaporated. Sordo, sitting in second, clipped a culvert on the exit of a left-hander, and it ripped the right-rear wheel from the i20, before pitching the car into a gentle roll

Hyundai’s stranglehold of the stage times was broken on the next test, as Ogier won stage 10 by 1.7s from Tanak, and in doing so took second spot from Sordo, who struggled to find the pace he had displayed on Friday. Evans then pipped Ogier in stage 11 to continue Toyota’s resurgence and open a gap to the Hyundai of fifth-placed Neuville.

The rally was turned on its head in stage 12, the second run through the rough, 13.7-mile Lerno-Monti Di Ala test. Drama struck Tanak when, five miles in, he hit a rock that caused terminal suspension damage to the Hyundai. For the second event in a row, suspension failure had forced Tanak out of the lead.

Ogier, now the new rally leader, was lucky to emerge through the final test of the morning unscathed as the rough surface damaged the front of his Yaris. Team-mate Takamoto Katsuta was not so lucky, picking up two punctures, while the Hyundai of Pierre-Louis Loubet had to stop and then limp through the stage. M-Sport’s rally to forget continued as the returning Greensmith succumbed to electrical issues on the stage.

Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC

Photo by: Toyota Racing

The afternoon belonged to Ogier, who won three of the next four stages, including the 15th, on which Hyundai’s victory hopes evaporated. Sordo, sitting in second, clipped a culvert on the exit of a left-hander, and it ripped the right-rear wheel from the i20, before pitching the car into a gentle roll. Sordo and co-driver Borja Rozada were unscathed but out of the rally, handing Toyota an unlikely 1-2.

Ogier comfortably led Evans, who won the final stage of the day, by 38.9s with Neuville, the sole remaining Hyundai driver, more than a minute back in third. With Katsuta the only other WRC driver to complete all 16 stages to date, it also meant only four from the top class were still in the frame.

“We have to remain focused on the job in hand,” said dejected Hyundai boss Andrea Adamo. “That means getting three cars ready for the final day and salvaging what we can. We then have to catch up fast from the next event – immediately – because performances and results like these are unacceptable.

“The worst thing we can do in these moments is to try and find a scapegoat, to apportion blame or to point fingers; we have to stay calm, try to understand where we need to improve and keep going.”

Ogier made light work of the final four stages, managing his sizeable advantage to claim the 52nd WRC victory of his illustrious career and the first for Toyota in Sardinia. The Frenchman led home Evans by 46s in the end, although Sardinia almost had one more twist in the tale.

Evans suddenly stalled after ingesting quite a bit of water after navigating through a watersplash on the final Power Stage, a short but challenging 4.8-mile run to the finish. The Welshman frantically tried to refire the car and dropped significant time before the Yaris finally breathed into life, and he ushered it to the finish to claim second ahead of Neuville.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“The car was working really well until the last stage where this watersplash was causing almost a heart attack for me when I saw Elfyn’s car stopping and when he tried to start it, it didn’t fire up,” said Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

"It’s hard to rank victories, but winning from being first on the road in Sardinia, it doesn’t happen every day, that is a sign that we need to rank this one pretty high, it’s special" Sebastien Ogier

Third-placed Neuville won both runs through the Aglientu-Santa Teresa stage, with the final pass securing him five bonus championship points ahead of Tanak, who salvaged a mere four points from this rally following his return under restart regulations. Rovanpera, Ogier and Sordo completed the stage points scorers. The final WRC driver to make the finish was Katsuta, equalling his career-best finish of fourth.

Ogier relished the victory, given its unexpectedness.

“It is true that I did mention before the start that I was not so sure what I was doing here this weekend and that I would prefer to be home,” he grinned. “It looks like it was a good idea to be here finally.

“It’s hard to rank victories, but winning from being first on the road in Sardinia, it doesn’t happen every day, that is a sign that we need to rank this one pretty high, it’s special.”

Latvala added: “Really successful weekend. We knew if we could get one podium that would be really good because we know from history that Hyundai has been very strong here and Toyota has never won here in its current form.”

Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing celebrates with his team

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

In WRC2, Jari Huttunen (Hyundai) took the spoils in fifth overall from Mads Ostberg in a dramatic climax on Sunday. Citroen driver Ostberg had emerged as the man to beat, heading into Saturday with a 27s lead over Huttunen after Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Toksport Skoda) crashed out on Friday.

But Ostberg’s charge was halted when he sustained a brake issue and then a wheel problem, which meant he checked into midday service six minutes late. That resulted in a one-minute penalty, handing Huttunen a 34.9s advantage.

Ostberg incredibly managed to reel in the Finn and grab the lead on Sunday, only for a front-left puncture on stage 18 to drop him behind again, triggering an expletive-laden tirade during a live television interview. His extraordinary outburst ended with the Norwegian receiving a €1000 fine and a suspended 25-point penalty.

Yohan Rossel claimed WRC3 honours in his Citroen to consolidate his championship lead, his first victory since the Monte Carlo Rally in January.

WRC2 winner Jari Huttunen, Mikko Lukka, Hyundai i20 R5

Photo by: Marcin Rybak