Hyundai to push for WRC Sardinia win and “accept the consequences”

Hyundai will push for victory at Rally Italy Sardinia and “accept the consequences” as the team aims to score its first win of the 2025 World Rally Championship campaign.

The Korean marque came to Sardinia — a rally where it has only been defeated twice since 2016 — under pressure to end Toyota’s 100% winning start to the year.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak heads into Sunday’s final four stages with the chance of a victory still realistic, sitting 11.1s behind Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier after a brutal Saturday decimated the majority of the Rally1 field.

The battle for the victory has so far almost mirrored the events of last year, where Tanak headed into the final day 17s behind Ogier and came out on top by 0.2s after the latter picked up a puncture in a dramatic final Power Stage of Rally Sardinia 2024.

Hyundai technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison says his team has a clear plan for Sunday’s stages, which are unknown to crews having been added to this year’s rally for the first time. 

“We are still in the fight and he [Ott] lost 10.5s to a puncture [in stage nine] and he is still only 11.1s behind Ogier,” said Demaison.

“For sure, it is frustrating, but anything is possible tomorrow. We were 17.1s behind Ogier last year and we won so anything is possible. 

“I keep saying it but we are in a situation where we are forced to push and we will accept the consequences.”

Tanak says his plan of attack for Sunday will be to maintain the rhythm he showcased through Saturday.

“I think we need to keep the same rhythm as we had today. Every day is different and rallying is difficult to forecast. We will try to do our best and we will see where we end up,” said Tanak.

Ahead of another final day showdown

Sébastien Ogier is expecting Tanak to push on Sunday rather than settle for championship points, and the eight-time world champion believes he will need to mirror his expertly balanced risk versus reward approach.

“I think we had good race management and as expected Ott is pushing very hard,” said Ogier. 

“It is about managing the risk and I tried my best to do that. We lost a couple of seconds both times behind Adrien [Fourmaux, who suffered a puncture in stage 8 and rolled in stage 11], so let’s see if we can get back this time, I can ask [the organisers].

“Tomorrow are very challenging stages, the long one especially and the Power stage is far from being easy. I know this first one is difficult. We will need to push as hard as this afternoon, that is clear.”

Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala hailed Ogier’s ability to manage such challenging conditions — but is also expecting his driver to be tested on Sunday.

“I must say Sebastien is incredibly strong in the rough, and in the technical sections he is incredibly good and able to manage the situations,” said Latvala. 

“You can see that he is not the most comfortable with the very fast roads, but what he did in the last stage was really magnificent. I said to my engineers I wish I was that smart. 

“There is still a possibility that something can happen and trying to minimise those things is not easy. The first pass [through Sunday’s stages] will be very important and hopefully by the second time in the stages you can have a situation where you manage it a little bit.” 

Fourmaux explains roll that ended a nightmare Saturday

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Adrien Fourmaux started Saturday as Hyundai’s best hope to challenge for victory, 2.1s behind Ogier before the Frenchman’s day unravelled in spectacular fashion.

Fourmaux lost almost four minutes to a puncture in stage eight and ran off the road in stage nine after being distracted by dust coming into the car. In stage 11, Fourmaux was forced to retire from seventh after rolling his i20 N.

“I confused two trees. There was one corner tightening but the braking was after one tree and I missed it and there were two trees and I braked on the next one. It was enough to go wide and I hit a rock and that was enough. We had a half a roll [at slow speed],” said Fourmaux.

It is unclear if the car is able to be repaired to rejoin the rally on Sunday.

“I guess but you never know [ the damage to the car] until we have the proper inspection.”