19. Rally Italia Sardegna 2022
2. 6. – 5. 6. 2022, Alghero • Automobile Club Italia • gravel 307.91 km - (cancelled 27.89 km) • total distance including road sections - 1303.38 km • Other years • Other years
Info
SS21
"It's been very challenging, especially since the beginning of this [hybrid] generation. We are definitely very happy, especially for the mechanics - they put in an incredible effort all last year and the beginning of this year. This rally was not easy and they made a good job to keep the car going. We have made some good steps. In Portugal, we were really struggling and actually we managed to improve. No doubt, if the confidence is there then we can do a good job. We just need to keep working."
"I'm thrilled. It's been a really good weekend and we're starting to find our feet. The car is getting better and better - it's taken a bit of time, but she's some yoke!"
"I am not really happy. I would have liked to fight more with Craig, but he had amazing speed and we struggled with some problems. I didn't want to make any mistakes for the team and I am here to bring home the points."
"It's pretty good. I had a good feeling in the car, so thanks to the team for this amazing car. They did an amazing car and everybody around me continued to believe in me. I hope we will continue like this."
"For sure, the most important thing is that we got more points than Thierry. This was a tricky stage - I couldn't do more with the car and I was fighting so much with it all the time. It was kicking me out of the ruts many times, so not an enjoyable stage."
"It has been a really tough weekend. Many things were very challenging so I am pretty happy to be here. Yesterday we had problems but we survived and now we can continue with bigger confidence. I still have many things to learn but I am quite sure that we can improve."
"Today we made some good steps forward, but in general it's been a disappointing weekend. I am also disappointed in myself for the comments I made after SS1 - they were irrational and unfair. We do this as part of a team and I certainly didn't display that on Thursday afternoon."
"It's been another difficult weekend. Some positives to take as well - I think the performance is there - but it's difficult at this point to come away with so little points again."
"What might have been is for the last five rallies already. It's really disappointing, but we don't give up. We are driving on the limit quite often but yesterday I missed some concentration. At the end, we did what we could, but we need to get everything together to be competitive and so far that's not the case."
"We can be proud that our pace has been good on every surface, we just need to make it together. It was a stupid mistake in Croatia, but yesterday I was maybe a bit unlucky. I had a big push here but there was a lot of understeer with the soft tyres."
"It feels good. It was the most difficult part in Sunday to drive to the finish. I was really managing it and some stages I was completely off the throttle. We just needed to be here and at the finish, that was important."
"It feels amazing. I am so happy and proud - we did a solid drive with no mistakes at all. I want to thank my team because the car was perfect all the time."
"The result was good, but we had two punctures over the weekend and lost so much time. Otherwise, it was okay - I want to thank the team and my sponsors."
"Very satisfied. It's been such a difficult rally and yesterday was brutal, so to get another podium, it's been a near-perfect weekend. We've got four good scores now, and now we can push for the win on the next three."
SS20
"We put the hard tyres on for this one. It's very abrasive in this one, but now we will go back to softs."
"We need to bring it home. It's a tricky Power Stage and the more risks you take, the more chance there is you could lose huge time. We're in a great position now."
"It's difficult because we are just driving. It's not easy to drive with no target - we need to keep this position and not push. At the same, we have to be concentrated."
"Let's see. The soft tyres that we have are not the best and some guys have better ones, but let's see. Of course, we'll try to do our best."
"Tyre condition is quite good and I wanted to see the feeling with the car and how it's working for the Power Stage. It's okay."
"We tried something else going into here, and it seems like one of the better changes this weekend. It's made the car a lot more predictable and easy to drive. The Power Stage will be rough, so we'll just see it through and rest for the next one."
"It's just a case of saving the tyres as best we can and let's see what we can do now."
"I tried something a bit extreme with the settings, so I was not saving the tyres completely. We have been doing some different things today to try and help the guys for the next round."
"I tried something a bit extreme with the settings, so I was not saving the tyres completely. We have been doing some different things today to try and help the guys for the next round."
SS19
"I took two hard tyres in the car because we need to bring it to the finish and minimise the risk of punctures basically. The car is working okay, but this one is going to be very rough later."
"Honestly, it was nice. I am only driving at five or six tenths. I would dearly love to be on the podium today, so that's the plan."
"The first pass through the stages, we had nothing to do. We are not pushing and, for us, the most important thing is to control [the gap to] Loubet. We want to bring the car home and take the points."
"It's okay. We went very carefully because there were big stones everywhere. It's difficult."
"It was okay. I am trying to save the tyres a bit It would have been better to go fast and feel it for the next pass, but I think the Power Stage will be so rough that it won't make a difference."
"Surprisingly some loose rocks are coming from the inside. In the last stage it will be very deep ruts, so we just need to survive and bring the car back."
"We tried something - it was much better in the first stage than it was in here. It wasn't great."
"There's a lot of bushes sticking out this year, so I don't think the door mirrors stood a chance! It was quite loose at the start and we have a few areas to improve on, but it's all okay."
"I tried, but it's so loose in there compared to previous years. It's going to be tough for the Power Stage, but we'll try and see if we can take some points from a difficult weekend."
"Definitely it's cleaning, but for the Power Stage we might have a chance to grab something. I am not really confident to take five points, but one could be possible. The feeling is good."
SS18
"Today the priority is to drive through and bring the car home."
"I tried to be very neat and tidy. I didn't know what Dani was going to do, so I kept it clean and neat. That makes things a bit easier now."
"It's very narrow. In the middle part it was very difficult to keep in the line and it's tricky. The last day in Sardinia is always hard, but we had a clean stage so it's good."
"It was a very difficult stage. We just tried to go through and take no risks."
"We're just trying to save some tyres. It seems that I could go even slower, so I need to take it easy. We have some used softs now, so we need to save them a bit and see what we can do on the Power Stage."
"All good. I didn't do anything - I was saving the tyres and avoiding punctures. There were some big rocks, but it's all good."
"The grip was quite high. We're just driving and learning to see what we can achieve."
"We're just getting through really. We're more focused on the next one.
SS17
"I got a red flag message, but I'm not really sure what's happening. Today was obviously very good. I had a great feeling in the car and after the first stage I was able to control the lead already. Like yesterday, it was not so bad."
"In my notes, I put 'careful' and I braked very early but I think my tyres were dead! We can be happy - the car is working very well. It's a small but important day tomorrow."
"A red flag is a red flag - it's quite clear what you have to do. It's a pity, but that's how it is."
"Today was nice, but I struggled and made some mistakes. Also in the stage before this one I had a problem in the water splash and we stalled the engine. Both Adrien and Alex are okay and it was not a big crash."
"In this one there was a lot of cleaning. Let's see how Adrien comes behind - I think it will clean a lot for him."
"The conditions are pretty horrible, especially being first on the road. The lines are pretty narrow and it's a lot harder. Happy to be through that one."
Accident
SS16
"retired in SS 16"
"We got some damage on the radiator and then we fixed it. Now it's okay, but we have to be very, very careful because it could break again. I have to kill the speed in all the jumps and all the water."
"problems with suspension"
"It seems like the fastest way is if you are not pushing and just driving in the line. Honestly, I was really steady in this one. We don't need to push at the moment."
"It would be nice to get the podium position back, but we know what the target is. I am going to continue my way and with my feeling and we'll see."
"It's all under control now. A beautiful stage. It felt like I was going incredibly slow, but we obviously must be doing something right."
"I had a problem in the watersplash and I stalled the car. I am so stupid, but I didn't go fast."
"I can see that Kalle is pushing. We will see - it will be interesting to stay in front of him for tomorrow. It's a shame about the puncture this morning but I am happy with my day."
"We got some damage on the radiator and then we fixed it. Now it's okay, but we have to be very, very careful because it could break again. I have to kill the speed in all the jumps and all the water."
"It was more clean than the first run. There were some rough places and I tried to be clever. Of course we have some places to gain, but it's also rough and I don't want to have any issues."
"A lot more grip than the first pass, but I'm on road cleaning duties now!"
Stopped
SS15
"It looks good. I am just driving very clean, always in the line with no pushing. It's working okay at the moment."
"The giggling pin fell out of the laughing shaft, but I managed to put it back in again and now we're okay."
"The grip was very low. I just tried to be very low at the end, but it's like that."
"It looks good. I am just driving very clean, always in the line with no pushing. It's working okay at the moment."
"It was really slippery. I made some small mistakes so I lost time and confidence, but it's okay."
"I ran a little bit wide and it was very slippery. I touched the barriers and I am lucky to be here! I don't know how I did it."
"It's a problem, but it's nothing very special. We are managing it."
"There's a lot of loose gravel in there. The last 1.5km is some of the slippiest gravel I've ever driven on."
"On this one, the car and the balance is really hard to drive in the really loose conditions. I didn't want to push and I came through with no mistakes."
SS14
"Not so bad. We're having to drive around a little issue, but we're still here. What's the issue? Something..."
"We are here and it's tricky. I don't think anybody is really pushing - you can't. We'll continue like this."
"I am very surprised. I always felt like I was losing a lot. I was really struggling with the engine - it's really difficult with the driveability - but the traction must have been good."
"We didn't lose the pressure, so I just tried to manage the tyre. It's a shame like that."
"I was so stupid to put hard tyres on the rear. It's not good at all. I was struggling with the grip all the time - it's my mistake.""
"I'd like to save some soft tyres for tomorrow. We're not exactly fighting for much, but it's so, so difficult at the moment."
"It's always nice to the Finnish fans supporting on the stage. For sure, when we have nothing to fight for then we are not pushing much. We could have been much faster."
"It's going to be cleaning a lot in here. It's probably the worst of the day, I'd say. It's so thick in places and it drags you down, but there's not a lot we can do."
SS13
"I don't know why it's happening. We were working on the car before the stage and maybe it wasn't closed so well. Sometimes I lost a bit of time because it was in the middle of my view."
"We had a nice jump, actually! It's fun to jump high, but we didn't break anything so it's okay."
"I was very careful because it was easy to get a puncture in some places, especially at the beginning. I am happy that we are here and now we have a long afternoon ahead of us."
"For sure, it was kind of surprising how rough it was. It's been rough in the past, but the new section of road that we're using seems to be digging up more."
"We just had a spin in a narrow and slow corner. I have been struggling the whole weekend in these kinds of slow places."
"It was pretty rough and loose, but all okay."
Puncture
Stopped
Spin
SS12
Puncture
Accident
Rolled
SS11
"We put mixed tyres on and they actually seemed to work nicely, so it was a good choice."
"I was very careful with the tyres because I had a puncture in the last one. I wanted to make sure I had a spare for the second loop."
"I didn't have as good a rhythm in there to be honest. The notes weren't quite as good, but still a good morning."
"Craig took a little bit out of me in the stage before, but I like this one more. He is starting a bit further back so it's better for him - I started further back yesterday, so now it's equal."
"It was a tricky stage. I didn't find a good pace, actually. This morning it's not working, but it's okay."
"I have no idea what happened, but basically on a step over Tarmac the front bumper got stuck and we stalled. It's fine, but it was quite a big surprise."
"We had a bit more grip, so I tried to do better than before. For sure, in the low grip sections, it feels like I can't do anything with the car."
"I had a good stage, but the tyres were starting to overheat and I had to manage the traction towards the end. Let's see how the second loop goes - we were able to take out a decent amount of time already in the first stage, so let's see how it goes."
"We made some changes after the last stage and it seems to have made the car better, so at least we're heading in the right direction."
"The surface is pretty bad. The last one was very low grip and in here it's even worse in places."
Stalled
SS10
"Let's see how Esapekka is coming. I had a clean stage, so it's not so bad."
"It's a really technical stage. You can play with the car, but there are rocks everywhere and it's easy to get a puncture. The grip is low, so I'm happy to have three soft tyres."
Accident
Puncture
"It's my first time doing that stage, so I was trying to understand where we could push. It's so narrow, but we got through with no mistakes."
"It's very, very slippery. I tried my best, but I have no confidence in conditions like this. The rear is coming around too much and with soft tyres, it's difficult to handle the grip of the car."
"It's going to be a tough day, so I just need to be smart like yesterday. Nothing else."
"I think more soft tyres here would have been better. Let's see how this next one is in the afternoon. Quite tricky - it feels like I can not keep the car in the line."
"I had a good stage, but I lost a couple of seconds early in the stage."
"No moments, I'm just really struggling with the car. I can't seem to keep it in the line and I'm driving really slowly."
"It's obviously very narrow, but also very loose with low grip. It's going to clean here, but that's to be expected."
SS7
Accident
"I am really surprised because we decided to keep some good tyres for the afternoon and I tried to be careful in some places."
"It was difficult, but I knew it would be the same for everybody."
"I am not really trying to push more! I think we had a sort of smart pace throughout the day and I am continuing to drive at that."
"It looked like we were faster. It was a good and clean run for me but I didn't take too many risks, especially on the bumps at the end. We will see what the times are like behind."
"It's quite an enjoyable stage. Everything is quite outlined and once you get to a junction there's a new flow. It's a really enjoyable section of the rally."
"I had a little half spin on a hairpin, but apart from that it was okay."
"The transmission broke near the end and it feels like three-wheel drive. It was not fully broken, but it was under acceleration and braking."
"It's very slippery, so not an easy stage. The feeling is not so good."
"We don't have much to lose, so yes, we tried!"
"They are all really challenging, being the first car. Let's see how the times are - on this one I felt that I had a clean run with no mistakes. That's all we can do."
SS6
"It was very slippery... let's continue."
"It's very hard to judge what speed you are doing on this stage. It felt pretty horrible but it seems like it's okay."
"It was very slippery in places. I tried to do well, but maybe I was too careful in some places."
"We tried some new things on the car and I'm trying to get used to it, but it's very difficult for me to be comfortable with. We'll see what we can do."
"The car stalled on me in a left-hander and I had to restart it. It's very slippery and very challenging."
"It's hard to say - these roads are cleaning a lot. It's quite a hard surface and maybe they will be fast behind, but I had a very good stage."
"Hard tyres should be okay, but it's still slippery because of some loose stuff. It's all good, but I need to be a bit careful."
"I have nobody behind and there is a lot of cleaning in there, so with one spare wheel at least it helps a bit. It's going to be a tough afternoon and a tough weekend in general, because the frustration and disappointment is quite high for everybody."
"We thought when we were opening the road, soft tyres might help us. This one is really loose and it's going to clean up so much for the guys behind, but what can we do? We did our best."
SS5
"Honestly, I thought I had a front right puncture because there was a rock in a rut and I couldn't avoid it. On the front left, I don't know. It was rough and there was rocks everywhere."
"It's okay. We just tried to stay in the line."
"It happened like 6km before the end. I have no idea why, but anyway, we didn't lose too much. I managed to keep some speed, but that's how it is."
"It was very slippery. I tried to manage it and I am more happy with the car. We made some adjustments and now we have some more grip."
Puncture
"It's not been so good. We'll take it a step at a time, make some changes and go again this afternoon. There's still plenty to play for."
"It's been a good morning, just one very silly mistake in the last stage. We have to be quite happy with how everything's been."
"We are trying very hard. Some things are difficult to manage, but we are trying our best. Since Portugal, the chassis has improved a lot - if it could be exactly where it needs to be then it would be a great car."
"For sure, it's a little better than the first pass, but still very slippery in some places. The base is very hard so we didn't get much improvement with the grip level, but I am just trying to not make any mistakes."
"Transmission failure..."
"Not good. I was expecting the wing to not really be too bad, but you can not do anything."
Technical issue, losing time
SS4
"It was a really tricky stage and really rough. We tried to manage the car a little bit, but I am quite happy with the pace. We still have one long stage to go."
"All is good. The others were better!"
"Obviously without dust it's much better. I pushed a bit more because this morning I was too scared in many places. Now the car is a little bit better and I feel more comfortable. We need to push - if we don't push then we may as well stay at home."
"I made the corner under braking it went straight on. Otherwise, it seems okay."
"It was fine - a little silly mistake. We dropped maybe 10 or 12sec with the overshoot, so it would have been a good stage. I'm happy."
Stalled
missed a junction
"The visibility was better [than SS2] - still a little bit of dust, but not really disturbing. We made some changes on the car and it's slightly better, but I'm still not 100 per cent confident. It was a good run through, but maybe I should have been on three hards instead of the crossed tyres."
Has lost rear spoiler. "For sure, the conditions are rough. I am a bit afraid that I am too careful now because I am trying to avoid punctures and things. Let's see what the pace is like now."
Retired for the day, technical issues.
SS3
"It was a really nice stage to drive. Where I said don't cut, some drivers in front of me did and there were some rocks in the middle of the road. It was tricky, but it was nice."
"I braked too late before a hairpin and I had to reverse. It's like this. The rally is long and I had a bad tyre choice in this one. I went on hards and it was not working."
"I am a bit surprised. I hit a loose rock on the front left around 5km before the finish and I started oi hear a huge mechanical noise. I thought it was a puncture, so I was watching right-hand corners, but it seems it is only the rim that is bent. The time seems to be really okay."
"It's all okay, but I don't have confidence in the car. It's sliding a lot. I know this stage well - I have done it before - but I just can't push. I feel in myself that I am not comfortable."
"I had a half spin, but the car wouldn't restart. The engine would start, but as soon as I released the clutch it would die again. That's the way it is."
"We need to go..." [left stop line in electric mode]
"I struggled with the car a little bit. The grip was lower than I expected, but I tried to let the car do the work and commit to the notes."
"It's quite low grip - lower than the previous one. It's challenging with the tyres to really know [what works the best]."
"Nothing is wrong, but I was way too careful because I didn't feel the grip so well. We need to do something."
"It was okay, but it's a shame to start the rally like this morning. We lost 7.5sec to Elfyn in 3km. It's frustrating, but we keep gong. I am not 100 per cent happy with the balance and movement on the car, so we have to work a bit on that."
"Let's see what we can do on the second pass with the tyres. It's quite okay, but on the really narrow sections at the end you can't do much more because it's so slippery."
SS2
"There's nothing we can do - we have to be careful because in some places it's narrow and you can easily hit something."
"I don't know how I managed it. It's quite tricky, but we are doing step-by-step. Let's see if we can do more in the second loop."
"It would be okay to push but when you can't see, I just backed off. It's so easy to hit something and we just took it safely through."
"It's dusty from the beginning and also very slippery with these tyres. It's okay, but it's difficult like this."
"I could have tried harder in the dust for sure, but the plan for the weekend is to get points. It would have been so easy to take a wheel off in this stage by just running slightly wide."
"I can't see. I'm stopped every five or six-hundred meters. I was putting the car off the road in places and there was a wall of dust in front of me in some places."
"I couldn't see a lot for most of it - it was really bad."
"The visibility is difficult. This stage is a killer for this and it's very challenging at the moment."
"The grip is low as always, but the problem is we can't see anything because of the dust. It's not nice to be honest."
"There is no visibility at all. We lost up to 15sec in the dust and I had to slow down completely. It's a shame for the drivers."
"It was quite slippery, as expected. Difficult conditions to be first car but I don't know what else we can do. I made a few small mistakes at the beginning, but other than that we did the best we could."
SS1
"I think we have to really think about the championship, for sure. We know that it will be tough for the car and also for us, and opening the road here means a win will be quite difficult. We have to be clever."
"I had a good stage. I think it's going to be tough and the conditions will be loose and also quite rough. I hope we can do a good rally and we feel well-prepared. It will be interesting to see what the tyre choices will be now compared to tomorrow."
"It was quite slippery - more than I expected - but everything feels good. The car feels good. It's going to be a very changeable weekend so I need to be smart and make no mistakes. If I make no mistakes by the end of tomorrow then it will be good."
"Let's see. It's the first time here in this car. We went with the full hard tyres so it was quite slippery, but we had a good run."
"This is just a small test of what's to come, obviously, but it's good to get off to a nice start. It actually didn't feel too great to be honest, but we'll see what happens this weekend."
"I feel good. I went wide in a corner where I needed to be clean and pushed all the dust in front of myself. Today felt nice and I was comfortable with the car, so let's see."
"The team forgot to put a lead in the car, so I can't connect to the intercom! I hope we can find a spare one, otherwise there's no point in doing tomorrow!"
"We will try to do our best. It's a difficult rally and it's very easy to make a mistake everywhere."
"In one place I was ten metres too wide, but it was super slippery! I expected more grip to be honest and it looked like the first cars had good grip, but maybe it was going the other way now. A bit too spectacular, but we will calm down now and focus again for tomorrow."
"We will try to do a good rally and to be at the end will be the goal."
"We will try to do our best to get to the end, but it will be a big challenge for the drivers and cars. Many things can happen on this rally, we know that."
"We have been strong here in the WRC, but let's see what we can do. The start was okay, but we have to try and be clever with tyres this weekend."
"The atmosphere is good and the jump is nice, but it was very slippery! I made a lot of mistakes, but you just need to survive this kind of stage."
"The game plan is to drive a clever rally. I have started this rally so many times and it's a very difficult event, especially this year with everything being so warm and rough. I will try to use my experience to see where we can push and be clever."
"The plan is to continue like this. We will see - the car is good and I am happy after shakedown. We want to do no mistakes and keep our focus on getting maximum points for the championship."
"For sure it will not be easy here..."