How Ogier defied the odds to become the undisputed King of Rally Sardinia  

The odds appeared to be stacked against Sebastien Ogier in Sardinia.

But Ogier hasn’t won eight World Rally Championship titles by shying away from challenges. And once again the Toyota driver issued a timely reminder of his legendary status, adding yet another record-breaking victory to his glittering career, while leaving Hyundai still searching for an elusive first win of 2025.

A poor road position on one of the toughest rallies for road-cleaning, coupled with a decision from Toyota not to use one of its limited test days to prepare for the 16-stage rough gravel assault, provided hurdles. That coupled with the fact rivals Hyundai had shown speed on gravel in Portugal last month, heading into a round where the Korean brand has won seven of the last nine editions, left Ogier to describe the feat ahead of him as “super difficult”.

Ogier’s assessment could actually be taken as understatement given how demanding this year’s Sardinian affair turned out to be. However, Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais were one of two Rally1 crews to avoid the pitfalls as they fended off a relentless push from Hyundai’s Ott Tanak for the second event in a row.

While Ogier admitted in Portugal last month that Tanak would have won had he avoided a power-steering failure, in Sardinia this was vintage Ogier, as he defeated Tanak on pure pace.

“It has been a very strong weekend and we can be very proud of that,” Ogier told Autosport. “Coming out as the winner in battle with Ott is always enjoyable because he is the guy that pushes the maximum all of the time, so when you manage to be faster, it is always a great performance.”

The signs were ominous when Ogier defied his third on-the-road start to win the opening stage. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux enjoyed spells in front before Ogier ended Friday with a 2.1s lead which even surprised the 41-year-old, who admitted he wouldn’t have “really bet on that” considering the competition he was up against.

One of the traits that have been standout from Ogier over the years is his event management and his ability to tread the risk-versus-reward line in tricky conditions, and this was once again on display on Saturday. Ogier lost the rally lead after his visibility was severely hampered following the recovering Fourmaux who suffered a puncture. 

Ogier dropped 29s but kept calm throughout knowing that he would receive a notional time that would reinstate him to the lead by 15s over Tanak.

“For sure we can’t be proud because we got beaten, once again that was the maximum [we had], and obviously Toyota is putting the bar really high – and technically they are a strong team, the car is strong and the driver package is strong” Ott Tanak

“I don’t know [if my ability to manage rallies is getting better with age], it is hard to judge, but it remains strong which is nice to see and it is what I enjoy. The day I am not able to do that I will probably stay home,” Ogier added.   

Tanak emerged as Hyundai’s best hope to stop Ogier and the Toyota juggernaut after the demise of Neuville and Fourmaux. The 2019 world champion threw everything at it to beat Ogier, while again fighting with his i20 N to deliver the extra tenths to defeat him. A puncture on stage nine cost Tanak 10.5s, although a brace of stage wins on Saturday afternoon cut Ogier’s lead down to 11.1s. 

Unfortunately the pace wasn’t there on Sunday to take the fight to Ogier. There was a glimmer of hope when Ogier made an error on the final Power Stage that required him to quickly reverse his GR Yaris from small bushes. But unlike last year, Ogier’s late drama didn’t hand Tanak a win, as he settled for second, 7.9s adrift.

Tanak is still searching for his first victory of the season as, like in Portugal, he finished second to Ogier in Italy

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

“For sure we can’t be proud because we got beaten, once again that was the maximum [we had], and obviously Toyota is putting the bar really high – and technically they are a strong team, the car is strong and the driver package is strong,” Tanak told Autosport.

“Generally they are doing very well and they are clearly the benchmark on this level, we are just not good enough yet. There is work to do.”

Ogier can now lay claim to being the most successful driver in Sardinia, Monte Carlo, Mexico, Portugal and Great Britain with his latest triumph in Sardinia moving him one ahead of Sebastien Loeb, who funnily enough was also victorious over the weekend at Rallye du Chablais.

Ogier’s 64th career victory, and a third win from four starts, has moved him to second in the championship standings, a mere 19 points behind Elfyn Evans. The good news for his rivals is that he has no intention to expand on his plans to contest only a half-season.  

Damage limitation for Evans and Rovanpera as WRC title race intensifies 

The two leading title protagonists, Evans and Kalle Rovanpera, found the going tough in Portugal – and with the pair set to face the worst of the road-cleaning effects, they were already thinking about damage limitation coming to Sardinia.

It’s fair to say that the damage limitation mission was a success. Rovanpera, who openly admitted that Sardinia’s stages do not suit his driving style, produced a smart drive to finish third [+50.5s], equalling his best result on the island. To add further gloss to the drive, Rovanpera reeled off another of his stunning Power Stage efforts to help score the maximum 10 Super Sunday points and move to within 20 points of Evans.

Evans is still leading the championship despite finishing off the podium in the last two rallies

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“I have to be happy with the points,” said Rovanpera. “This Sunday obviously gave us a lot, and now we can be happy. The gap is closing all the time and that is what we need. It is still a gap of course, but it is looking even better.”

Championship leader Evans faced the worst of the conditions on Friday, dropping more than a minute to sit sixth. A stage-11 puncture on Saturday threatened to derail Evans even further but a rapid 1m50 wheel change, while team-mates Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta also suffered punctures, elevated Evans to fourth. Three Super Sunday points followed to further limit the damage. 

“We have a wheel-change system that has been the same for years but we haven’t practiced since Kenya and it was on my mind actually,” said Evans of his wheel change that actually helped him gain positions. “It wasn’t the fastest as I cross-threaded the first nut, so that definitely cost us 10 seconds. I can’t say I’m super proud but it is important to lose under two minutes.      

“It was disappointing on Friday. I don’t think anyone does that on purpose, it was just one of those ones, small mistakes with big consequences” Rich Millener 

“Not too bad [a result for the championship], there are probably a few points we missed out on but not many in the end actually,” added Evans, who would have taken fourth had it been offered before the start of the rally. “At the end of the day we can be pleased to be at the finish at least, which was difficult in itself this weekend.” 

The brutal stage that ended M-Sport and Neuville’s hopes

Indeed, a decision from rally organisers to refresh the itinerary made reaching the finish even harder, as one of the new stages wreaked havoc. Watching the onboards of cars flying through the 18.43km run through Telti – Calangianus – Berchidda was enough to make the hardened rally fan wince. The stage was uncharacteristic compared to the traditional Sardinian fare, featuring high-speed, narrow stone-wall-lined lanes, blended with tight hairpins. 

This ultra fast test meant there was no room for error, as the WRC field quickly discovered. Half of the Rally1 field and several Rally2 crews hit trouble through the two passes. Foumaux said he was constantly checking he still had his wheels attached and likened it to a computer game, before adding “but in a computer game you can restart and lose only 10 seconds”.

Telti – Calangianus – Berchidda, stage two and five, was particularly challenging for competitors

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

It kept the M-Sport-Ford mechanics busy as all three of the Pumas, featuring a suspension upgrade, were wiped out in the matter of minutes. Josh McErlean and Gregoire Munster went wide, hitting a bridge and a rock respectively, damaging the rear suspension on their cars, while Martins Sesks rolled his Puma after misjudging a high-speed jump. 

McErlean and Munster rejoined the rally for what became an elective test session for Acropolis Rally Greece, while the team opted against repairing Sesks car and instead focused on preparing the car for Greece.

“It was disappointing on Friday,” said M-Sport team principal Rich Millener. “I don’t think anyone does that on purpose, it was just one of those ones, small mistakes with big consequences, and when you see the gaps on Sunday it really cements that even if you don’t have the top pace, being sensible here and getting to the end often pays dividends, but it is good lessons learned for the guys.” 

The second pass witnessed Toyota’s Katsuta and M-Sport privateer Jourdan Serderidis roll their respective cars after clipping a rock at the same tight right-hand hairpin. Luckily both were able to continue with Katsuta finishing the rally, where he was also delayed by a stage-10 puncture, in fifth.  

World champions were not safe either as then rally leader Neuville, who estimated he placed his car 15 centimetres wider than he should have, paid the consequences as his i20 N clouted a wall ripping the left-rear wheel from the car. Neuville managed to recover five points from Super Sunday with an impressive run to second on the Power Stage.

“My last retirement was here last year. We know it can happen but honestly it is very frustrating and it is a flat corner and I don’t know how I could get it wrong there,” said Neuville.

Neuville has put up a disappointing title defence, as he is fifth in the championship and 50 points behind Evans

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

“We compared the data and Adrien went faster than me, and myself and Ott were the same speed, but I took off a corner from my car, and everyone else had no issues. I don’t know what happened there.”

Plenty to ponder for hot-and-cold Fourmaux 

For the second rally in succession, Fourmaux set a dazzling pace to challenge for victory, only to be left empty-handed.

It has been a frustrating start for Hyundai’s new signing, who hasn’t been able to reach the heights of a stunning run to third on debut for the team in Monte Carlo back in January. 

In Sweden the speed was there but a mix-up with a helmet strap proved costly, while a technical fault on his i20 N ruled him out of the victory fight after the opening stage in Kenya. Fourmaux then led the Hyundai charge to finish fifth in the Canary Islands. In Portugal last month, the Frenchman was locked in a fight for the lead when his i20 N ground to a halt with a mechanical fault outside of his control.

“A bit like all the rallies we are fighting at the top in the beginning, but then something happens. To be fair I was pleased with my pace on new stages, which was positive, and then there are some negatives which I will turn into positives and things we can improve” Adrien Fourmaux 

Having showcased his speed on rough gravel in Portugal, Sardinia promised another opportunity to shine and put his Portugal bad luck to bed. Many onlookers predicted a strong showing as he started seventh on the road, and Fourmaux duly delivered on Friday. By midday service, he held a 2.9s over Hyundai team-mate Neuville after posting the fastest time in stage three, before ending the day trailing Ogier by 2.1s.

On Saturday, Fourmaux’s challenge for a maiden WRC win he desperately wants evaporated after suffering a puncture in stage eight. A decision to press on on the deflated tyre didn’t work out, and a wheel change was required. A recovering Fourmaux had to stop to let Ogier, who was caught in his dirt, through.

Fourmaux has just one top 10 finish since his podium at the Monte Carlo opener

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

From there his rally further unravelled. An off-road excursion after being distracted by dust coming into the car in stage nine followed, before rolling his i20 N after misjudging a braking point in stage 11. Luckily the damage wasn’t severe and he could rejoin on Sunday after a repair was completed at 2am, although opening the road meant it was difficult to salvage any points. 

“A bit like all the rallies we are fighting at the top in the beginning, but then something happens,” said Fourmaux. “To be fair I was pleased with my pace on new stages, which was positive, and then there are some negatives which I will turn into positives and things we can improve.

“I always think it is easier to get the speed then try to find a way to get everything altogether. I will just try to work on it.”

Hyundai’s technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison added; “It was a fantastic Friday but then it collapsed on Saturday. He still needs to improve that approach when he approaches this type of fight. He needs a bit more experience. He just has to learn from this.” 

Fourmaux will be hoping for an improvement at Rally Greece next time out

Photo by: M-Sport