WRC Rally Italy Sardinia: Sebastien Ogier surges from fifth to lead
M-Sport's Sebastien Ogier mastered muddy conditions to vault from fifth to first place on Rally Italy, eclipsing his main World Rally Championship rival Thierry Neuville in second

Reigning world champion Ogier made light work of his opponents through stage six, their first test following midday service.
Amid slippery conditions with standing water throughout, Ogier went 12.2 seconds faster than his next quickest opponent Esapekka Lappi and immediately moved into the lead having started the stage only fifth following a muted morning.
Andreas Mikkelsen had led into service but signs of trouble began immediately afterwards, an over-revving engine on gear-changes during SS6 a sign something was amiss.
Dropping to second place initially, he then retired altogether on the following test, his Hyundai unable to go further after stalling at a hairpin.
This moved Neuville - who had been demoted to third by Ogier - back into second, but he could not make any significant impact on his title rival's lead on the following stages.
Neuville's day almost ended in disaster. He ran wide on stage nine and ripped the rear wing from his Hyundai, before overshooting a junction shortly afterwards and dropping close to 10s. He ended Friday 18.9s behind Ogier.
Toyota had struggled to keep pace with Ogier and Neuville since the morning, though Ott Tanak had kept in contact with the leading pair despite turn-in issues in third place.
His push to keep up came to an end on stage nine, Friday's final test, when he landed nose-heavy over a flat-out jump and caused terminal damage to his Toyota.
Tanak's team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala inherited third place, being warned by Tanak himself to exercise caution over the jump that had caused his own retirement. Despite heeding that warning, Latvala still went quickest on SS9.
Esapekka Lappi moved into fourth as the chaotic final Friday stage claimed not only Tanak but also Teemu Suninen.
M-Sport's young talent went off-line and clipped a solid object, sending him off a steep bank and into bushes from which he could not escape.
What had been a close battle over seventh became a battle for fifth position, as Citroen part-timer Mads Ostberg arrested rapid time loss to Hayden Paddon behind to end Friday 3.2s ahead.
Craig Breen holds seventh despite a frustrating day aboard his Citroen C3. He stalled three times due to a handbrake issue on SS6, then overshot a chicane and had to reverse out one stage later.
Such was Friday's rate of attrition, WRC2 support category drivers now populate eighth through 10th places.
Former Citroen WRC factory driver Stephane Lefebvre leads WRC2 aboard his works-backed C3 R5, taking advantage of steering issues for previous leader Ole Christian Veiby's Skoda. Veiby's team-mate Jan Kopecky is ninth overall and second in class.
Elfyn Evans continued plugging away after losing 13 minutes in the morning with a broken steering arm, but is well outside the top 10 positions.
Follow day two of Rally Italy as it happens with Autosport Live from 7.30am UK time on Saturday
Leading positions after SS9
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford | 1h35m56.9s |
2 | Thierry Neuville, N.Gilsoul | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 18.9s |
3 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 37.2s |
4 | Esapekka Lappi, J.Ferm | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota | 41.6s |
5 | Mads Ostberg, T.Eriksen | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 58.3s |
6 | Hayden Paddon, S.Marshall | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai | 1m01.5s |
7 | Craig Breen, S.Martin | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | Citroen | 1m26.0s |
8 | Stephane Lefebvre, G.Moreau | Citroen Total Rallye Team | Citroen | 4m02.9s |
9 | Jan Kopecky, P.Dresler | Skoda Motorsport II | Skoda | 4m16.9s |
10 | Nicolas Ciamin, T.de la Haye | Nicolas Ciamin | Hyundai | 5m20.7s |

Rally Italy: Hyundai's Andreas Mikkelsen leads team-mate Neuville
WRC Rally Italy: Neuville slashes Ogier's lead on Saturday morning

How Rovanpera tamed a wild Safari Rally
The Safari Rally acted as a brutal test of driver and car resolve as multiple retirements opened the path for a historic Toyota 1-2-3-4 triumph, headed by star Kalle Rovanpera. But keeping things clean was only half of the challenge, as a well-timed charge when conditions worsened allowed the Finn to take control
How Tanak turned the tables to deliver Hyundai a timely WRC triumph
The 2019 champion has been a bit-part player recently, but Ott Tanak ended a 15-month drought in fine style with a dominant win in Sardinia. On a weekend when championship leader Kalle Rovanpera struggled with cleaning the road, his Hyundai rival has made his belated arrival into the title race and given cause for those predicting a walkover from the Toyota star to pause
How Rovanpera overcame rallying royalty in Portugal to extend his WRC lead
Although the Rally Portugal entry list featured World Rally Championship royalty in Sebastiens Loeb and Ogier, victory was secured by rallying's rising star in Kalle Rovanpera. Here's the story of his 2022 hat-trick, as his key rivals faltered among the gravel and asphalt ahead of them
The former WRC star playing the unsung hero role for Rovanpera
Kalle Rovanpera’s 2022 World Rally Championship displays have been spectacular, with the Toyota driver benefitting from a secret weapon in his crew to win two of the opening three rallies. But while the former challenger to Sebastien Loeb won’t take credit for his fellow Finn's performances, a key bond has been formed which could prove key to Rovanpera’s title charge
How Rovanpera's Croatia turnaround sent a message to his WRC rivals
After a dominating Rally Croatia, a wrong tyre choice on the final day looked to have undone all Kalle Rovanpera's hard work and left him with a mountain to climb heading into the power stage. That he emerged the winner all the same has surely quelled any lingering doubts that the Finn is the man to beat in the 2022 WRC
How M-Sport's faith in Loubet led to a WRC reprieve after a dismal 2021
It's fair to say 2021 was a year to forget for Pierre-Louis Loubet. A maiden full World Rally Championship season offered hope but soon turned into a nightmare that ended in hospital, after being hit by a car in a road traffic accident. Now handed a lifeline by M-Sport, the Frenchman is desperate to rebuild his career
Why WRC mechanics deserve more respect
The drivers get the glare of attention, but it’s the mechanics who are key to the operation of any World Rally Championship car. Autosport donned a set of overalls and joined M-Sport on a Belgian national rally event to get an inside look into the trials and tribulations of a rally mechanic
The African McRae aiming to become a WRC pioneer
Taking his first step into the Junior World Rally Championship category, McRae Kimathi - named after 1995 world champion Colin - found himself in the unfamiliar climes of Sweden's snow and ice. Having impressed, Kimathi hopes to blaze a trail to the top level of WRC and help other African drivers to step onto the ladder