15. Rally Italia Sardegna 2018
7. 6. – 10. 6. 2018, Alghero • gravel 314.36 km • total distance including road sections - 1388.03 km • Other years • Other years
Info
SS20
"I tried everything I could today. I was always losing a few tenths here and there. The last stage was very rough and I made two mistakes which cost me a few tenths. It is still good points for the championship. We lost the battle but we haven't lost the war. There are still six rounds to go, it isn't time to panic. Thierry was lucky with the rain but there will be another rally where he loses time as the road opener."
"I had to try. I gave it everything. I want to say thank you to the team for all their work this weekend."
"Obviously we wanted more, but things didn't click this weekend. But we wanted a clean rally this weekend and we got that. It's the first time in three years that I've finished this rally. I'm hopeful Thierry can win."
"It feels really good after the challenges of the beginning of the year. I could have been on the podium earlier but for a few mistakes."
"Yeah we are at the end of the rally. I am quite happy with a lot of the things we did over the weekend. Not comfortable at all today though."
"No this isn't the best we could have got out. It is difficult, I want to be a winner, I want to be at the front. I need to work on why I can't get it together across the weekend. Just a bit more patience."
"I have been struggling in the slow sections and in Finland we have none of those so I'm aiming to be battling for the podium. I hope Seb can win because it is nice to work with him and it is good for the team."
"I stalled the engine, I went too quick into a left-hand corner. The ruts were quite deep and I stalled."
"If we can put these hard moments behind us then we will get stronger. For the moment I have good faith in our team and you can see that we are fast."
"Just struggled to get out in some places. Overall it has been a pretty frustrating weekend it must be said. The mistake on Friday morning has made it a tough weekend to be honest."
"The driving was not so bad, but the lines were terrible. I had to make my own lines in many of the corners, where the WRC cars will be able to have a better exit."
"The feeling is really nice because the Czech fans are everywhere here. The weekend didn't start completely perfect but we've been fast the rest of the weekend and there were no mistakes."
SS19
"We just needed time to work on the car’s setup before the Power Stage. I haven’t heard about anything regarding the time card."
forgot timecard on time control, Ott Tanak picked up
"I make two mistakes. I overshoot the ruts and I was once a bit close to the wall so I lose a bit of speed. We are going to go for it to the end."
"Everything is under control in my opinion.Yeah it's okay, I don't know what to say to be honest!"
"It is a reasonably safe margin. Just have to stay focused and have a clean run through the last one. Just looked after the tyres so we have something left for the Power Stage."
"Yeah a lot of positives. Hayden was going really well today and we struggle a bit. We just have to manage the rally now and get through. The conditions are tricky out there now so we just have to be careful and get it to the end."
"I'm sure everybody will save their tyres on here, but I'm aiming to enjoy the stage as much as possible."
"It is very different than first thing this morning. Very abrasive now. Tyre wear shouldn't be a problem. For sure the guys who are pushing may not have as much tread for the Power Stage."
SS18
"Plan is to get experience and it would be nice to get good times but it is difficult if we are driving a bit carefully on these narrow roads."
"It was ok, not full attack, not full risk. But we are trying our best and it looks like it is possible to pass Kopecký for eighth overall."
"It is okay, this stage is quite difficult. There are already a lot of stones so I think on the second run it is going to be pretty rough. We would like to bring the car home in second but I think it is going to be very rough."
"No nothing happened, we just got stuck on the bush and couldn't get it back. We turned a bit late and hit the crest before hairpin."
"I don't think it is possible to fight with WRC cars in an R5. We are avoiding the big rocks as we're aiming to bring the car home."
"I'm trying to get a feeling of this one before the Power Stage. I've never pushed on this one before! We'll definitely push on the Power Stage, saving the tyres for that basically."
"It is tight! We will have to push to the end. This stage is all about fighting with the car, and for sure you can be a lot more aggressive. I will have to push on the next one."
"I don't know! I just try to keep it on the road and push as much as I can without making mistakes. At this level everyone is pushing hard and fighting with Ogier is the most difficult!"
"Well it was very frustrating yesterday. I wanted a podium going into the summer break but sometimes plans do not go the way you want. The feeling in the car is good and if we can get some Power Stage points then that will be a benefit in the future."
"The first pass is nice on this stage, the second maybe not so enjoyable. The view is so nice, it is good to have the end of the rally over here."
"Just managing the gap now. 10sec is reasonably comfortable in these stages. You'd like to drive faster, but points are more important."
"It felt a lot better now, but I don't know why Elfyn is so fast from first on the road. Maybe there is suncream on the stage, we are at the beach!"
"I had a spin quite close to the end. There was a bump in the middle of the corner, maybe I was going a little too fast. And then I had to do a three-point turn."
spin
"It was quite good fun, but quite different from what I remember from last year. Quite loose this year. It will be interesting to see how it develops later."
SS17
"It is okay, it is very narrow so it is hard to push harder."
"I don't know if it's enough. It was a good one I promise! It wil be tight. Two small mistakes at a junction where I missed the ruts and ended up in a bit of loose so I lost a bit of time."
"Yeah it is holding position. Not easy to find the rhyhtm. A few surprises with the mud, but I didn't need to push. A few corners there is suddenly mud and the grip gets quite bad."
"It is a good way to start. Just keep it nice and smooth, the line that is there is quite small but I'm trying to utilise it. I'm a bit cautious on this one after what happened last year so I took it easy at the start!"
"I don't think I can do anything. It is difficult to push halfway. I have to get to the end, I'm not willing to take the risks."
"A lot of cleaning in there, I'm driving in the middle of the road and not making any mistakes. See if we can get it back."
"It is quite a loose stage, narrow in places as well. Not great to be first but to be fair I'm just driving through this morning."
SS16
Broken alternator
"It is very strange, we had a front-right puncture. I was quite stupid, I carried on for four or 5ks before changing to stop it. It was still on, it had just delaminated."
The car is fine, I had a puncture. Driving in the lines, didn't hit anything. I think the tyre just came off the rim.
Technical issues
"Really happy to be here because the conditions were rough in the afternoon. In the second stage after service we almost rolled. There was a big rock in one of the ruts and the car went up onto two wheels."
"It was difficult stage, lots of ruts and lots of rocks. I tried to be on the careful side and avoid the punctures."
"The car is fine, I had a puncture. Driving in the lines, didn't hit anything. I think the tyre just came off the rim."
"It is very strange, we had a front-right puncture. I was quite stupid, I carried on for four or 5ks before changing to stop it. It was still on, it had just delaminated."
I try but I'm not sure it was enough. I don't know why I was complaining about the rear. The tyre wear was quite bad on this one and obviously we don't have a spare.
It is tight. It was fun this afternoon. The second stage I didn't find a good rhythm. On this one I had to push.
"Yeah unfortunately, I'm just on his tail - I haven't got past. We have to be satisfied with our performance and it is a tough competition at this level. I think Tommi will let us fight but we need to keep in mind the manufacturers points."
"Yeah it is like that, we played it safe in the afternoon."
"It is never an easy situation opening the road."
SS15
Stopped
Change a puncture
Good! I already have the hard tyres on the car. I will just swap them around and have another go. The balance with the spare is quite tricky. I tend to lose the rear quite a lot, I'm trying to be tidy but it feels slow.
"We have to push on the other one that's for sure. I wasn't saving tyres."
"I had a good stage, but I'm struggling a little bit with the rear of the car. No compromises, everything can still happen to him as well."
"Lappi did a very good time on this stage. It was tough on that stage, I had to back off at points because it is very rough and I had some big hits. I didn't think Esapekka would push as much as he did."
"It's tough, pretty clean run to be honest. No mistakes, no dramas. Everything OK. I'm six years younger than Latvala so I should be faster!"
"We probably didn't make the right tyre choice but that's how it is! Still one stage to go but it has been hard on tyres."
"You wouldn't want softs! What a transformation though on 12 months ago. Apart from one or two places for the team to work on the car is a joy to drive."
"There's so many loose rocks about to be honest and there are a few that are embedded into the stage."
SS14
It was fine, we're not really fighting for anything huge but we're trying to have good pace and get good experience. You need to be very committed but we can still go a little bit faster.
"The stage was ok, small mistakes and difficult to push on the limit."
It's a big push for me because I was so angry with the last stage on the morning and I stalled at the start of SS13 so a big push now.
Obviously it is a very different story. A lot more grip, I'm sure there is a lot of tyre management to do. But on this one we had a good run.
The battle is going on, this stage was not so great for me in the monring and this was quite bad for me with the rocks in the beginning. I'm quite satisfied with the time.
I have no idea, I puncture like 3 or 4k before then end. I won't be more cautious.
I'm trying for sure, we took some safety with two spares. That's a team decision. It means I can up the risk a little bit on this loop.
"It was quite okay. But just when I finished the motocross track I drove through my dust and I went off stage a bit as I went through it."
I think it is ok for this loop, but hey you've got to try these things some times. I'll tell you at the end of the loop if it worked or not.
"It feels even more slippy on hard tyres! Quite a few nasty stones sticking up."
I knew it was a straight road through the dust but when you can't see anything at all I just backed off a little bit.
SS12
"I would prefer that Stéphane is still in the battle because this is not an easy rally for us. When there is no pressure you can lose concentration compared to when you are pushing."
"I made a mistake on the beginning, I spun early on but because it was so narrow I had to go back up the stage to try and find a place to turn around."
"On a bit of braking I hit the bank and spun, getting the puncture."
"We have been driving on the hard tyre and on these conditions they don't work properly. We are saving the soft tyre for tomorrow."
"It is a good question, wrong rhythm probably. At the end of the stage I had a lot of oversteer. I'll have to push more this afternoon."
"I had a good stage but nothing more than in the previous one. It is quite rough on this one. We are going to continue, we want to bring home a good result for the team and the championship. We don't know what our strategy will be this afternoon."
"It's definitely suited me better. It is hardwork, grip is better than ever before but you have to be careful with the rocks. When the sandy surface is damp it is binding it together and giving it grip."
Stopped at 10.5 km
"The main target is to get to the end of the stages. After the half point I found a nice rhythm. At the start I was too cautious but as soon as I realised there were no rocks then I just went for it."
"We need to work a little bit with the car. The stages are fast and nice but I am not confident with the car. I struggle to feel the grip and I can't push really. The conditions will change a lot this afternoon, it will be a completely different stage the next time we complete it."
"It is the first time since shakedown since the car has felt good again. We haven't done anything to the set-up, the conditions are just coming to the car. There is a bit of sweeping but not as much as there has been in the past."
"It has been a tough morning, something strange going on with the feeling the car. Think it might be a rear rollbar the car is understeering quite a bit."
SS11
Good run, good stage and a really nice condition to drive. It should be much more rough this afternoon. I don't know if I'll take six tyres tomorrow.
Stopped 9.7km into this stage, suspension damage
"It doesn't make any difference. I have no plans, we need to drive."
"It is okay, as long as we are faster than Ogier it is okay. The car is working very nice today, I feel very comfortable. I don't want to risk too much, today we are back on our own rhythm."
Sheep crossing the stage in front of him at 6.4km
"I was not confident in the morning, I started a little bit too slow and I know I needed to improve. This stage is quite rough, there are a few rocks, on the second loop this test is going to be very rough - very hard on the cars."
"I don't care, I'm still here! There are so many loose rocks, at least five I avoid. I was cautious not to push too much because then you wouldn't keep the margin to avoid them."
"It was a bad stage, I didn't have a good feeling with the car. Quite a lot of understeer on the stage."
"Didn't push really, just driving to the conditions. It's just sweeping at the moment. The cars behind will be faster but our focus is on Mads. This stage is a lot drier than the last one but still a few damp patches."
"Quite a big impact at the start of the stage on the front-right, I need to check it on the road section here."
SS10
"We just try to enjoy and learn the stages. We had used tyres on this stage so we could save tyres for the next ones so it wasn't optimal on this one."
"I hope I can find a good rhythm and set good stage times today."
"Controlling at this point of the rally is a bit early. I was not quite sharp enough on this first stage of the morning."
"We try but tricky conditions. There was a lot of standing water in some places. We tried to keep it on the road and go as fast as we can."
"He did a very good start, Esapekka is pushing hard. I had a good run but I was careful at the beginning because there were so many rocks at the start of the stage."
"One mistake at the end when we got off the rallycross track - we probably lost half-a-second in the mud."
"It's a good thing to beat Hayden on this stage because I think it's called New Zealand! He's normally very fast on this one. The conditions are changing quite a bit throughout the stage."
"I enjoyed it, it is a bit muddy near the end but the conditions are nice to drive. One jump gave us a good old knock on the head but it was all okay."
"Not too bad, but pretty tricky in some places, some big puddles of standing water in some sections. But overall OK."
SS9
"Difficult to force the issue today. Nothings really clicking. It is just being sensible this situation, bringing it home and starting again tomorrow."
"We put the soft tyres, no questions, just tried to enjoyed the stage. I had to try and get a good road position for tomorrow."
Unfortunately, we had to retire on SS9. We went off and can't continue to the end of the stage. We both are okay. Hopefully we can continue tomorrow.
"It's tricky, tricky day. I was able to push on a little bit but still a fair bit of work to do. No stalls on this one either."
"My microphone is broken! I had a big push for the last one, I had a little moment but kept full throttle. I have to thank Ott for telling us about the damage after the jump, that assisted us."
Off Road
"All fine. Doing what we have to do. It is a bit frustrating for sure not to be fighting. Pace this morning was good, but it doesn't mean anything when you have damage."
"Good, good. We weren't able to match on the previous stages, I was driving on the edge of the grip. I made some changes to the suspension and it feels good. I saw Ott and it looks like some smoke is coming from the bonnet."
Stopped 8.6km in to the stage. Cooling Damage after heavy landing.
"It's been a good afternoon, it wasn't easy with the conditions on the first stage with the fog and the slippiness. I was perhaps more in attack mode compared to this afternoon."
"I was struggling with the handling at the beginning. I put on a new front-right and rear-left tyre before this stage and I think the height difference between the tyres unsettled it. I think I have lost quite a bit of time."
SS8
"It is just impossible to choose the right tyres. A hard tyre should work in here all the time but it seems like everything we've done today is wrong."
"I'm not happy. I just feel stupid to do the same mistake two times. Same tyres as before, same information and the same mistake. It does not feel so good."
"That last one was okay, I was saving the tyres but I saved too much because the end of the stage was wet and it didn't affect the tyres too much. So I lost a few seconds."
"I put the hards on there again because we didn't have anything to lose really but it is still wet and damp in there. Not the day we wanted."
"I pushed like a swear word and the time is not good, I'm not happy. I don't know why the speed isn't coming. I had one hard tyre as I didn't want to push all the softs."
"I thought this went well, I was really clean but the time is really bad. It is difficult to find the perfect speed it seems."
"I thought this went well, I was really clean but the time is really bad. It is difficult to find the perfect speed it seems."
"What can we do? We do our best but that is how it is for the moment. I don't know why we are losing speed, there is always a reason for something."
"So far it is a good loop, just had a issue with the shifting on this stage. Mid-shift I lost a bit of time. Don't know what is causing it."
"Not so easy, this stage is quite abrasive, I tried to do this loop with not as many softs so we have more for the rest of the weekend. Maybe I was too cautious with the driving."
SS7
Puncture
Stopped in stage at 10.0km - Gearbox issue
SS6
Supension issues
Off Road
Stopped 9.4km into the stage
Off Road
"It's not nice to drive at all! I'm just happy to finish this stage, irrelevant of what the time is. We overshot at one junction and had to reverse back."
"I don't think it's helping to be at the back! I don't know what to say, it is very tricky conditions and difficult to judge the speed. Sometimes it feels like you are walking through the stage, and it is a long walk!"
"The downhill slow section in the mud, I was struggling so much with the driving. The car is fine and it is working well - as we saw with Seb's times."
"Not an off, three times it stalled. I pulled the f****** handbrake and it kept stalling. It happened last night in the Super Special and it is very frustrating. Apologies for the language but..."
"It was so slippy at the end, I lost the confidence. There were some nasty brakings and I lost the confidence in the mud. It was my mistake."
"If you want to be safe you have to drive so slowly."
"Not easy at the moment, we'll see what we can do." (potential gearbox issue)
"It is crazy, so muddy. The tyres are blocked, they are full of mud. A lot of sailing."
"That's how it is. No problems, all good."
"No mistakes but it is not possible to push. It is slippery. I saw the line of Neuville, it looked like he hit a bank but no damage to his car it seems."
"Really tough, too much standing water. I had so much water on the lines. I had a spin, I had to reverse. I was maybe not committed enough and then you start making small mistakes."
SS5
We were hoping for a bit more sun. It's difficult at the moment but we'll see. The weather is very changeable at the moment so it is difficult to see what this afternoon will bring.
"If you look compared to the guys around me the time is not so bad. The conditions are not so good. Some good stages - we made a mistake on tyre choice in the last one - but I thought this one was alright."
It's been a good morning. On the slow sections I still need to improve the driving. Not sure if I can change it in a half-an-hour service but it does need to improve!
A couple of big jumps kind of threw me off in a few places but it wasn't so bad. We put on the hards in the last stage which was a bit stupid with the rain.
"More confidence definitely, confidence is better but conditions are not typical Sardinia. It is not the easiest condition to drive on, there is no benefit to road position, it would have been better to start at the front."
To be honest it's not being driving too bad. It's just pretty difficult when you don't have a massive amount to fight for.
It's not easy. It's not easy. We can improve, I'm struggling but I don't know why to be honest. Let's see what we can do for this afternoon, maybe I will take two spares, it could be a good choice.
It was very muddy in the beginning. Losing at the start but it was better at the end. Plan for this afternoon will be determined by the conditions, I'm feeling really comfortable at the moment so let's keep this pace going.
What can I say? It's tight and not so easy. Not really satisfied, it is much more satisfying if the feeling is good.
"I try what I can. The tyre choice was right, definitely."
I'm pushing very hard, in the last couple of stages there were a few moments so maybe I need to calm down a little bit.
SS4
"It is too damp for us this morning, we had to put our two hard tyres on for this one otherwise we would have had nothing left for the next one."
"I had a little mistake with the tyre, we expected it to be dry. We fitted some hard tyres but the stage was wet - it was raining - so it was a bad choice."
"It was a decent run, there were places I could drive a little faster but it is the first time here in a World Rally Car. There are no corners with first or second gear so this stage is easier for me!"
"I'm driving to a speed which is safe and no risk at the moment. I know I can lift up the speed when I get more self-confidence and then it will get a little easier."
"Definitely not the plan at all this morning. But it's done now and we need to use it as an event to learn things and keep learning the things we've been working on."
"We knew that this stage would suit the Toyota better being more fast and flowing. The car is doing what I'm saying which is really nice."
"It's been difficult..."
"A good run, what can I say? It is a faster road. I don't think the issues are set-up, it is something I need to work out with the diffs I guess."
"Quite a same time! I didn't understand on the last one why we were so slow so we need to figure that out. I don't know why my car is wetter and muddier than Neuville's, that's a good question!"
"Same approach as the other stages, but there were more big stones on the road. We tried hard but we know we need to stay calm to be in a good position tonight for a good start tomorrow."
SS3
"This stage was better, the conditions didn't quite work to our strategy - we couldn't use the two spare tyres so we're just carrying round extra weight."
"I struggled a bit with the balance in here, the car is moving quite a lot and I couldn't get a nice rhythm. I was fighting the car a lot in the corners."
"It was a good run, but still disappointment that I can't drive on first and second gear - that's where I need to improve my driving. Need to focus on the next stage now."
"Mediocre. Just tried to calm it down on the junctions. I'd never done that stage before so it was important just to go through it and learn it."
"This was not going well for us. It felt very slippy and I couldn't get the grip. I though I was doing okay but the time isn't very good. This is a long rally we have to remember though."
"It is difficult when you lose so much time to push for that last bit. Obviously the car isn't 100% so we need to get it back to service for a proper check over."
"It was a clean stage, some new parts added this year which were quite narrow and tricky. I'm happy so far. With six soft tyres at least I don't have to think."
"We got a puncture on the first stage and I drove it on, now we only have four tyres. There's a lot of rocks so we need to be in the middle of the road."
"This one was a bit drier so maybe some cleaning will happen. We had quite a bit of understeer before now but it is improved a bit."
"Not a good split then? I expected also the road to be cleaning but at the end not really."
"I pushed much harder on this one, the first one was tricky being first on the road with it being wet in places. This one I pushed more and it was consistent. This stage was much drier than the first one, but towards the end it was getting quite slippy."
SS2
Puncture
"Really tough stage, conditions are tough and the narrow parts are getting really muddy and slippery. The next stages should come back to us a little bit more."
"We couldn't get it stopped for a right-hander, I touched the bank and damaged the steering arm. We had a spare in the car so we got it replaced."
"That's a good time then, it felt quite frustrating because you had to hold back so much. There is so much mud on the stage. I made no mistakes - had quite a clean run - and that probably gained us some time."
"I'm losing time, couldn't find good rhythm - need to learn how to drive in first and second gears. Damage was just small touches to banks."
"I had an overshoot, I thought I could brake a crest on asphalt."
"It was not easy I can tell you. I didn't take any risks, I tried to be clever on the stage and I think it went well for us. A couple of hairpins I struggled to turn in a bit, we can't 100% trust the front-end at the moment."
Suspension damage - stopped at 17.3km
"We had a good run, tried not to attack too much because if you slide too much you lose time. Still room for improvement but the car is doing what I want."
"The road is so narrow and you only have one line to follow, when it opens up and there are more lines to follow it starts to feel better."
"This is not so bad, in the faster sections the car feels alright but in the twistier stuff the car doesn't feel too good. I think it is a set-up issue but I don't know for sure."
"Conditions aren't good to be in front. I didn't want to take too much risk on this one."
"Very tricky conditions, we knew it was going to be a difficult stage but the rain made it very slippery. Obviously it is good for us fighting for a good position for the rest of the weekend but it is very challenging."
SS1
"Good stage to start the rally, the car was working very nice. I need to hope for some rain overnight so there are slippery conditions for everyone tomorrow."
"I hope we'll keep it on the top, we had good speed but didn't have the consistency in Portugal so hopefully we'll get the consistency this weekend."
"I didn't notice the bit of damage, I've done enough now! Let's have a clean rally from here!"
"Not really what you expect for Sardinia, I struggled a bit through the watersplash, the water smeared on the screen and the wipers wouldn't clear it off."
"I want to improve on last year so it's podium at a minimum. I was aggresive on this stage, it might not have worked but at least I tried. I'm third fastest so it's bad!"
Unfortunately I stalled and dropped five or eight seconds, I just pulled the handbrake and it just stopped - it's the first time I've stalled the car properly.
"It is really important to get a clean run and a nice result from the rally. Car is good, start was OK but some of the corners were trickier than I expected."
"Good results give confidence but it's a different rally. I need to forget that and focus on getting a good result this weekend."
"I thought we could go flat into the jump but going through the air I think I was a bit too optimistic! I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
"It is a good challenging stage, very enjoyable and a good start to the rally."
"There is a lot of mud in the stage, but I'm enjoying it."