21. Rally Italia Sardegna 2024
30. 5. – 2. 6. 2024, Alghero • Automobile Club Italia • gravel 266.12 km • total distance including road sections - 1035.46 km • Other years • Other years
Info
SS12
"You must smile everytime, we are happy, we made a very good day and improved step-by-step. Now we have to go, we have an issue."
"For us it is a really nice day, no mistakes, no problems with the car and we found a good speed. At the moment we are leading in the Masters Cup, the car is running well and we are happy."
"It's a tough day, difficult stage and we are not in the pace. I'm not feeling the best for the rally."
"It's perfect day for me, after yesterday afternoon it is not easy to keep the smile. We have two options - look behind or look beyond. We have a very good car on gravel this year. Very happy for the team and for my co-driver also, thank you."
"It's been a good day, now we have a slow puncture on the rear. We knew it before, I was thinking only on this stage! We have no spares because another is flat. We put more pressure on before and now we are here."
"It was a really good stage, with the high grip it was amazing. We didn't give up, tried to do our best and a clean stage without any mistake. Whatever happens behind us, we did our best and I am happy with our day."
"It's been quite difficult, I'm not where I would like to be but we are through without any mistakes today and that's the most important thing for now."
"It was quite a good stage, the grip was very high, I found a good feeling in the car, so tomorrow will be good."
"A bit better, last time we had a slow puncture. At least this time was without a puncture. It's a nice feeling being in the lead, tomorrow is four stages again so we need to see if they are getting closer or not, but it should be fine."
"A bit better, last time we had a slow puncture. At least this time was without a puncture. It's a nice feeling being in the lead, tomorrow is four stages again so we need to see if they are getting closer or not, but it should be fine."
"It's been a day of two halves for us, this morning we struggled with the tyres and this afternoon we showed good pace. It's been enjoyable this afternoon, the stages have been great and we're looking forward to another push tomorrow."
"It's been a positive day, even more positive afternoon. The morning stages I didn't like the most, but the afternoon was fun."
"I expected that this second half of the day wouldn't be so complicated, but I do like these stages. Let's see one more day, but this was a long, long day. They are two very different roads tomorrow, one quite wide and one quite narrow."
"I think the issue from SS11 might be heat related, in this one it felt a bit better, the grip is still very low. I struggle with the bite in the brakes, after a long day they lost the bite so it is difficult because of how slippery it is. It is hard to know when to brake."
"We've been helped a lot by our rivals with how things have been this weekend, fourth place is fine but not where we want to be fighting. It's quite different to what we've done so far tomorrow, so we have to try and up our game a bit and see what is possible."
"I have a little bit more difficulty with this, it is very slippery in some places. I pushed as best I can. It was a little bit faster than before. The stages tomorrow you can gain a lot of time or lose a lot of time. The stages are sandy and narrow so we need to focus."
"It's been a difficult day, I am quite happy with the pace. It's interesting, it's good pace, but it's definitely a hard event."
SS11
"I can feel all the rocks, it's like rock-holing now. It was tyre damage, three or four kilometres before the end. Other than it was a clean stage, the car did not feel good to drive though. There's been a lot of trouble. Everything in Sardinia, then we're good for the rest of the season."
"No different, grip was a little bit higher. Less mechanical grip, lot smoother, quite fast and flowing."
"I think it was the nicest stage so far this weekend. Very nice grip, smooth and flowing. I focus on my own car, I keep going. This condition I like, not thinking too much about the race. I enjoy it."
"It's more enjoyable than the first pass, still struggling with the lines of the Rally3 and Rally4 cars. I had a feeling we were losing a bit of power, but we'll see."
"The feeling is pretty much the same now, it isn't going to change this weekend. Clean run through."
"This stage was really fast, slippery but slow at the end. The grip is really high, but I really enjoyed driving the car. I don't know how the tyres are but I tried to push because tomorrow is a tricky day. When it's really slippery I don't keep the feeling with the car, it is really difficult to keep in the line."
SS10
"There is quite a big difference, these kind of stages are really fast and in very good condition at the moment, even though it is a bit slippery. Morning stages were a bit rough. We're looking forward to doing these again."
"It's quite interesting, many different sections with a different rhythm. Good to be back on the pace so we're happy."
"It was more or less okay, I was driving smart. We need to try and stay on the road and try not to make mistakes."
"I drove not so well on this stage, so I hope the time isn't too bad. Why didn't I drive so well? I don't know. Maybe lack of skill."
"I'm just trying to enjoy it. We were a bit late before the start, but we don't play for anything. I hope the spectators enjoyed the rally cross part. We were late because there were a lot of things we wanted to do."
"We are taking it a bit easier, I don't have a feeling in the car, I can't be on the limit."
"I'm not if Ott is backing off but I have better tyres than him, so it's working. I cannot judge - it's his situation, not mine."
"It was okay, I lost a little bit of time but we tried to keep the same speed. I can't do much more. I try to drive the best I can all the weekend, sometimes it is good, sometimes it's not so good. Is what it is."
"I'm not feeling confident, we're doing what we can. If I push more than this it will lead to an accident so I'll just do what I can."
"It's much easier than. the morning but with the road position, it is impossible to do anything. With the cleaning, it is tough. Zero traction, it is also much faster than the stage before where you could really get the grip and move the car, but now it is like being on an ice hockey pitch."
SS9
"It was a nice stage, more enjoyable than the previous one. One of the rougher stages I've ever run, but it was clean."
"We gave everything. We're trying to be safe and not push it. We've been asked to be safe and not push it."
"It's not easy, very slippery. I am a bit more happy with the car. I think I have damage in the front wheel, so we'll see. Taka was doing a really good job until now, congratulations Taka it was a nice fight. It is nice to see Taka when he feels good and he is making a good job with the car. Unfortunately this is rally."
"I just want to enjoy the stages of the afternoon. For now, it's a really long and difficult rally. At the end of SS3, I said it would be a long rally. So many technical issues, it's hard for the car, we are doing the stages and I am happy for that."
"Let's see, I'm not sure with stages like this we can get third, but we'll see."
"Slippery, it's fast but there is no grip. Short in the junction, zero traction but that is normal."
SS8
"Never seen this stage so rough before."
Big hit to the rear left 1km from the finish
"[Thierry off?] For sure it's disturbing. Terrible stage, like driving without powersteering. So difficult to drive. Quite exhausted, sorry."
"I saw Thierry and I was really disappointed. ***** hell. Upset. I'm out of risk."
"Very very rough. Not so easy to keep the same rhythm as first pass. The lines are very different."
Puncture, front right off the rim
"I was losing the brakes as well near the end. It's okay, happy to get through. You can attack a bit more, but there is a lot more risks."
"I've lost the front brakes. Not our rally this year. We continue!"
Stopped at 15.5km. Slid off outside on a right hand corner. Car is stuck.
Driving slow
SS7
"The feeling was a little bit more difficult, this was quite rough. I decided to drive carefully and not damage the car, if I go sideways I will break the car. I drove a little bit more conservative. If the next stage has better conditions I will work with the car more."
"Very demanding I would say, tried to be cautious in some places but the big one is now."
"I think I need to go the best I can, it's a long rally. It's a lottery if you get a puncture or not, it doesn't make a difference if you take it carefully or not so I need to keep the rhythm and take the pace."
"It's beginning to be quite rutted and very narrow, it's difficult to commit when you haven't done it before. At least we improved quite a lot for the second pass, but we'll see for this afternoon."
"I hit the front right on the corner, luckily no puncture but it is very tricky. There are a lot of bumps and many surprises in terms of roughness on the stage. Not so enjoyable."
"It was really rutted and very deep, we are much faster than this morning as expected. That was much more rutted than expected but it is OK."
"I was careful of course, it's very rough. I had to be! It's always a big push."
Mechanical before the stage
"It's amazing. A lot of bedrock and easy to have a puncture. Huge rocks on the road, some are fixed to the floor. Very rough stage."
"We got a puncture. A lot of hard hits in there. Not ideal, we'll try to survive."
"I feel the car is not too strong to push all the time, it's breaking if I keep pushing."
"Very frustrating at the moment, not feeling at one with everything. We knew this would potentially happen this weekend. Portugal was a tell-tale of what was to come."
"A bit careful in the roughness, lots of impacts from the rocks. Just a small intercom issue we've had also. Basically I coughed while drinking and everything got wet."
Front right slightly off the rim
"I hit the front right on a right hand corner, luckily no puncture. Lots of bumps. Many surprises in the roughness. Quite s***t."
"The stage is completely destroyed. I don't know. I feel like I have no dampers, it's kicking everywhere. No control... all f****."
"I had hard tyres in the front, in the first part they were just solid and no bite. Very solid stage, very rough. No good feeling."
SS6
"Completely my own mistake, blind crest, went in too early and hit a stone. Not the best wheel change, we should have had more practice in Portugal."
"Very demanding for the car, we can be a bit faster. We tried to manage the speed very well."
"You just start to think which way is faster, because sometimes you push more but create a rut. I tried to be smart and try different styles of driving to see what works better, but we'll keep pushing."
"In one corner, there was a haybale outside and I made the pacenote without the bale. We didn't hit the tree, but the bale was in the line."
"I mean.. obviously tough start to the day. It's a shame because it was nothing special. I didn't feel anything and the wheel is bent from the inside. Big fight."
Stopped at 4.6km, continued
"That's how it is. I did what I did. I tried, was a bit careful in the rough places because of the bonnet."
"I don't have an explanation. No way."
"It's difficult. For me, I was not pushing a lot. Can't go faster, it would've been a huge risk."
"I had a good stage. Car was working well, I felt comfortable. More abrasive than expected. Loose, but abrasive underneath. I didn't have the same bite at the end, the tyres were overheating."
"Terrible feeling. No grip on the narrow parts at all. I tried, but can't be clean with it."
"This one I know a bit better. It's very technical, we needed to change the setup because we had some wear on a mechanical part. We had no choice but use it."
"I'm just trying to be driving and enjoying. Driving first on the road - hopefully something for the future. I remember in the previous stage I used to laugh about being faster in the Rally2, but now I understand!"
SS5
"Still the same. We are struggling quite badly, I must say. I have to fight all the time with the car."
"There was some very narrow parts, where we hit some tree or something like that. Really tricky stage, you have to be confident with the car on these kind of stages but we have to remain confident."
"It started pretty good, this stage is difficult. We touched a bank slightly, we will see. I don't think we have any damage but we're happy with the pace."
"It's been a rough old ride, but it's enjoyable. Some things we have to do in setup, but it's been a good morning. It's always good to have a good battle."
"I was thinking Molly Pettit would be here so I brought a flower on the bonnet! I was not cutting anything, but just from the ground in the last two kilometres it was easier to understand where the line was. In some places it was really nice, so in some places we were trying to be in good pace! I think now I will just work on the driving."
"Car is all good, the electric is working. It's really unfortunate what happened, but it is rallying. It is really bad being first on the road, but we'll see what we can do with the car."
"There is no line, it is demanding. Just driving super slow and being cautious every corner."
"Difficult stage to open the day, it's always difficult to judge the grip in low and it always seems low. We did what we could."
"I think we just made a very bad tyre choice, no grip at all."
"Quite crazy, I can't imagine what it's like on the second pass. Car is stalling on hairpins."
"Not the perfect stage from me, I was struggling a bit. Not a great time."
"I didn't notice. I saw some cars in front of me losing parts also. I had quite a good run, it's slippy so hard to manage. Need to be tidy in there."
"I actually have it since the beginning. I have no idea why!"
"It started okay but then I realised the bonnet was open on my side, I thought it was fixed yesterday."
"I was a little bit careful in places, difficult to keep the car in line. I lost time in the beginning to some mistakes."
"Overall, very low grip. I didn't feel good at all, not good. Zero grip."
"I don't know, it didn't felt quick. So sandy in there, much more than expected. Smooth run through, keeping the rear in line. If you want to do more, you can easily hit something."
Puncture, rear right off the rim
SS4
"Difficult day without service so I was trying to find a good setup. The car is okay, but I need to find something for my driving style. It's getting better and better."
"It's been a good day, the rear left tyre was on the canvas coming into this stage! Hitting the bank in SS1 messed with our strategy but we're in a good position for tomorrow."
"Maybe silly to say, but this was the plan. We tried to do our best and I said before the rally we had a really good test. I was also leading last year after the first day so it's just repeating it."
"Tomorrow is another day, it was not a perfect performance from me at the end of the day, as we can see it is going to be a really rough rally but we are happy we are here."
"It was a decent run, the tyres are completely gone but I guess it's the same for everyone. We had a better second loop, seems like the car works better when the grip is better and the road is completely destroyed, so we'll see for tomorrow."
"This one was working well, I also tried to drive smooth. On the last part I tried to Nikolay Gryazin-four-years-ago sideways. Like Mads Østberg says, I tried to push more. The grip overall is quite nice, we changed a bit of the setup but it's hard to see if the steps are correct because the grip has changed."
"For sure, the more I drive the better I am. Not a great run, but no serious mistakes. Quite rough in places, but I think we will have even more rough conditions for the rest of the rally."
"I need to go, I'm sorry. Stupid mistake from my side."
"I think we did a good time in the last stage, where we clipped the rear left but nothing major. This one was kind of rough, we were slaloming between the rocks but we are here."
"Puncture on previous stage, I touched nothing at the beginning. Maybe a bit low on pressure, I'm not sure. Let's see tomorrow I start behind, keep the smile and show the speed of the driver, codriver and car."
"It's good, we lost a bit of time passing Fourmaux. Friday has been demanding for the tyres."
"It didn't feel so good all day, need to find out why. Wrong way to go, so we need to keep pushing and find a solution."
"It's really good, but many difficulties. It was so difficult to keep the tyres in good shape, we made a small mistake this morning with the spare tyre but we are human. We went out with four hard and one soft by accident! But it is OK."
"That has been the hardest day you could imagine, the worst stages to get through! Luckily it was only half a day, we had good tyre management. Even though we didn't have the perfect tyre choice, six would've been better for sure. I kept some tyres and I pushed hard."
"We can't feel too sorry for ourselves because it is me behind the wheel, it's been a bad way to start but we have to keep trying tomorrow and see what comes of the event."
"It was so much grip now, really high grip. On the startline, I went into stage mode and it went into error again. F****g s***t."
Stopped, technical issues
SS3
Changed a wheel
"I was really bad earlier, also now a little bit as I worry about the tyres. It is hard because we took five tyres so we can't push like normal."
"Slow puncture, I don't know where, possibly 20km before the finish. It's gonna be a long rally."
"This one we couldn't really push, I wanted a clean drive but it's so abrasive and I had to save the tyres."
"Important to get a good position for tomorrow and Sunday, we'll see how Dani is, but for now I feel good."
"It's much cleaner, but more abrasive especially the second part. I was managing my tyres throughout, I don't know if it was too much, too little or just enough. I didn't expect it to be so abrasive."
"Quite okay, things aren't going great at the minute but we're through."
"Difficult to say, I was managing the tyres and hope to have some rubber for the last stage, a clean stage so no drama."
Changed a wheel
Puncture
SS2
Broken wheel studs
"It's crazy, it's fantastic, it's a home rally and it is a bit tricky. We are trying to find a good pace and rhythm to end the rally, we want to continue in this way,"
"It's been a bit tricky, difficult to find the rhythm on grip but this stage was better on the first time and I try to be better all the time."
"The experience was very useful, we were changing the pace notes a bit and my co-driver got lost completely so I was driving from memory for a bit! It was crazy my first time here, 2WD, lots of punctures, the engine was all the time at 9000rpm so it was really crazy!"
"It's okay, I just hit the wrong button. It's so rough in there, I'm cringing every time I hit a rock, it's hard to predict what's coming. We're hitting the bedrock now, which is a test."
"The last rally was in Acropolis last year, too long ago. It does feel great for sure, I have been away for so long so it is really hard to get that going so hopefully I will improve."
"Good stage, the car was amazing. I was very careful with the tyre in the first one. SS1 was very difficult, very demanding."
"Conditions are fine, we really enjoyed the push. I feel no traction, no power. We are not where we would like to be. I had some seconds to improve, but 20sec is quite a lot. We need to improve the times."
"It felt good, we are trying to manage the tyres but it is difficult because we want to push. I think the rougher stage will be terrible on the second loop, but conditions are as expected."
"It's nice, as expected. Bit tricky and rough, the tyre wear is high."
"8sec down is better than 40sec. Step by step. I have nothing to say. This time I need to do, not speak."
"Quite a big challenge but we managed to complete. First one was not the best for the tyres and this one was a bit slippery. We had a small off in the first one and damaged the bumper a bit. It was a slow corner and the speed was not correct."
"At the beginning I was struggling with the grip. The last part was better, but I still didn't find the good rhythm for these kind of stages. It's really slippery and it's bad for the tyres. It's hard to find a good rhythm and save the tyres."
"It's generally not too bad, it is a little bit difficult to place the car. It's driving not so bad at the minute."
"It's okay, it's so hard to manage the tyres at the minute. We're happy, we're still here. Let's see how the second pass goes. This time last year we were 20sec down on Rossel, so I think we're happy."
"I tried to have a really clean stage, a bit like the first one but the first one was more tricky and this one had more grip, so maybe I should've pushed more. I tried to have good rhythm and go with the flow."
"It was not a bad stage, on the previous one when you leave the stage you understand the time but here it is different compared to what I felt. It is very slippery and with the hard tyres the grip is really low, but everyone is on them."
"We are finding a better feeling. I wasn't happy with the first one at all but we decided to push in this one. We still need to find a bit better feeling with the car to work better."
"Ity's not a bad stage for me, the time is not bad. Compared to the first, when you don't know where the confidence is."
"I went on the outside of the line too much, I need to go back like the first run in the first stage."
"I went into a narrow section 1km into the stage and I almost went into a wall, really killed the confidence and I was just slaloming around the stones. We're already on one spare tyre after the previous stage. We don't want to pull the rocks out anymore."
"Slippery. Very slippery. I had a good feeling with the car. I was thinking my time would be a little bit better than this. [Anything you can do about that?] Drive fast."
"It's a strange feeling, it felt okay on the stage but the time isn't so good."
"I think everything is okay, just a bit more careful in this one. It's a long loop, but the tyres are good so not a big issue."
"I lost the hybrid before the stage, the uphill sections are trickier. Luckily it's quite slippery, so hopefully we don't lose too much."
"It's really slippery, I am fighting a lot with the car and the line. It's not easy, but quite expected."
"Difficult, wasn't expecting anything that bad to be fair. Not good performance, lot of things bad. Was it a brave choice to take one spare? Now, obviously yes."
"I pushed very hard, there was a little bit less cleaning in there but still. In the last section, the uphill is so loose. I tried to keep the revs down, but to find some grip somewhere is impossible."
SS1
Stopped in the stage. Continue.
Puncture, changed a wheel
Accident
Accident
Puncture, changed a wheel
"It was OK, about halfway through we understeered into a bank so we took it easy after that. It's so hard to know what the rhythm is like, which makes it hard to commit but it makes it interesting."
"It was horrible stage from my side, I didn't get the feeling from the whole stage and it was really slippery. I think I brake too much at the end of the stage because the brake pedal is very hot. The next stage is a different stage, very technical parts and a slow stage."
"It was decent, I couldn't get a lot of rhythm, very tricky stage. We keep trying though."
"Not a good stage, I did a spin. Very slippery, much more than expected. I had no grip at all and it was very difficult to manage that."
"Nothing special, really difficult but I was expecting it. On gravel I have nothing automatic, sometimes I do good things, sometimes I do really bad things. Still learning and I think the next one should be a bit better."
"It's not bad, my driving is not bad but the starting position is a joke. My championship rivals are starting twenty cars behind."
"It went quite well, the first corners I expected more grip. Immediately I almost went into a ditch, I drove a bit messy to start with and after that I didn't overdo it on the grip."
"Fully new for us, it's not easy and there is a lot of cleaning so the road position is helping and we are happy with the time to the guys in front. After what happened in Portugal we want to have a cleaner approach, try and work on my driving and not too much on the setup."
"It was quite hard for the tyres. I tried to keep it clean, but I feel like I didn't do a nice stage."
"It's getting better in some places, but some loose rocks are coming in the line, so, I had to avoid many places. Obivously I wasn't pushing enough."
"We are cleaning a lot here, we tried to avoid some rocks, but the grip is getting better and better."
"It's difficult, the first pass is so enjoyable, it demands so much commitment."
"I try hard, it's very slippery and loose, especially in the narrow where it's so difficult to get the traction. There is no flow, difficult long stage but first time, good run."
Puncture. "4 km, maybe, no idea."
"It's very, very challenging. There's no grip at all. Behind it will be much faster."