17. Rally Italia Sardegna 2020
8. 10. – 11. 10. 2020, Alghero • Automobile Club Italia • gravel 238.84 km • total distance including road sections - 1199.15 km • Other years • Other years
Postponed from June due to COVID-19.
Info
SS16
"It's amazing. I'm not really happy with my performance today but we managed to bring it home so I'm really happy."
"I can hardly do more. I was on the limit and I pushed very hard. It was intense the whole weekend, we gave everything and there is not much more I could have done."
"I have a broken disc or something in the last 1.5km so I was pumping the brakes all the time. A difficult start, we got it right but lost too much time in the beginning."
"I'm not sure the position could be so different. I wasn't happy with my run in here, but otherwise the weekend was okay."
"The start was really great for us and we were able to show really good pace. We still struggle in the faster stages and we need to work for that. Thanks to the team, it's great to be able to bring the car home."
"It's been disappointing, but okay, that's how it is and there's nothing we can change. Let's keep pushing and see how we can do."
"After what happened yesterday, I am happy to be at the end. The pace was not always there but we have some positives that we can take."
"I don't know. Something with the electrics... the whole car just switched off. We reset it and it started again."
"It's an amazing feeling. Our first time here and it was really difficult but we didn't have any big problems during the rally."
stalled
"It happens. We were pushing on the first loop but I got a puncture and that was the end of the fight. We will try next time for sure."
"Very happy. It's not easy being the first R5 car on the road all weekend. We had a safe strategy and followed it so for the championship this is very good."
"I had a target to catch Pontus today. I didn't really wake up this morning but I tried a lot on then others. I got a puncture in here, I don't know where it happened but it's a rough stage so it can happen anywhere."
"It was really good fun! I did three runs of the shakedown and we came here to try this as a warm-up for the tyres next year. Andreas did a fantastic job as the co-driver - almost as good as Phil Mills!"
puncture
SS15
puncture
"It's never safe - I don't understand the times. They were really fast in this stage and I'm really surprised."
"A good one - but one more to go!"
"Yeah, it was good but I don't know what Seb is doing. I tried my best and I had a good clean run to be honest."
"We had to keep Teemu behind. It seems like that worked out this morning, so in here we just tried to be clean and get through."
"It was safely through - all okay."
"Let's see. It's the Power Stage now so we need to drive well."
"Enjoying it. It's been okay, a little technical issue in there but nothing serious it seems. The guys at the front are pushing at a ridiculous level, so I'll just enjoy the last stage."
SS14
"It's okay. I was a little bit too safe on the first one but I tried in here. I think it will be a little bit too much to catch Pontus in the last two stages."
"We will see. We are just checking the pacenotes on the first pass through and we'll see what happens on the second pass."
"It was quite okay, but I was really bad in the stage before. We need to get pushing it, we can't sleep."
"It's a good stage - I made a little mistake near the end where I wasn't in the right line but's interesting."
"I gave it everything, I don't know how I could do more. It was a tricky stage but I kept it flat-out so hopefully that's enough."
"We tried our best and it wasn't enough."
"Very low grip, it's completely dry. I tried to have a clean run."
"It was nice. We were being too careful because now we have to finish."
"Far slippier than expected. It was so loose and in some places I was too sideways and losing time."
SS13
"It's better than nothing!"
"Probably not enough. Okay, we tried."
"Our fight today is with Teemu essentially. Overall it was a clean run."
"The road is quite damp in there but there is pretty good grip."
"It was a bit tricky but I wasn't taking any risks. It's important to finish now."
"It was okay in there. A few small mistakes, but apart from that it was pretty clean."
"I expected it to be more muddy but it's not so bad. Of course, it's slippery but not too bad."
SS12
stuck in the ditch
"We are happy to be trough the day. It was good today, and I hope for another good day tomorrow. Even though this will be a weekend to forget, we try to enjoy"
”Our game plan has worked very well so far. Still 4 stages to go on Sunday. It’s going to be a tough day.”
"My tyres are completely destroyed. I was trying to manage it a little bit but towards the end I could feel it start to understeer."
"I really tried my best. I don't know if it made any difference but on the last one we lost some seconds to Elfyn."
"I tried very hard but it looks like they have a little bit more speed than us. I lost maybe two seconds on the bridge where I was a little too late on the brakes."
"It's important to beat him [Neuville] after tomorrow!"
"I tried to be really smooth and clean. I don't know what it will be like compared to the others, but I had a bad previous stage so I tried to clean it up in here."
"Wrong tyre choice for sure..."
"Without brakes it's not nice! We tried a fix before the stage and it felt okay but not perfect. The team will fix it for tomorrow so it's not a problem."
SS11
"It's like a tarmac stage, quite high grip, but narrow line. A little bit tricky as well. It was ok, a nice stage"
technical issue
"The tyres for me were a little bit too soft and I was not happy with the balance of the car. We can't complain."
"It was good, but there's still far to go."
"I got a bit too much wheelspin on the uphill. We have a different tyre strategy and I have no idea which one is going to be the best."
"We will see at the end. We have slightly different tyre choices but this was not a bad stage for us."
"We had a pretty good run, but grip was quite low in places."
"I was a bit cautious after what happened this morning. We are trying to manage it now."
"It was not so bad with the hard tyre."
"No brakes... we have to go."
brake issue
SS10
”Anti-roll bar broke down again, but otherwise this loop was OK. Trying to drive smoothly for the rest of the day also.”
"It's difficult - I had control in the lead and I took it very easy in the last stage. All of a sudden the tyre delaminated!"
“Up to 3rd, so in a good position now. Didn’t feel so confident in this stage, as had a puncture here earlier. Good feeling for the rest of the rally!”
alternator issue on the road section
"It's not the time to push anything but still there is a long way to go. We need to stay cool and go like this."
"It was very nice. Now Sébastien is coming fast but I really enjoyed this stage with the car."
"There is no options - I just have to deal with it. It's been challenging."
"I am pushing very hard. The fight is still on, obviously the second spare wheel wasn't necessary. We will continue pushing."
"Not a good run - I stalled. I don't know... we lost two or three seconds there."
"It felt okay. Just a bit disappointed with the previous one - I was too careful trying to look after the tyres and I paid the price for it."
"I lost all of the aerodynamics in this pass and I think the rear right [tyre] is completely dead. We are still here so we are lucky."
"It's quite a big difference, but some sections are quite rough so it's not easy. I was not so happy with my driving but it's part of the learning."
SS9
handbrake issue
accident on Micky's jump
puncture
stopped
"I was taking it a bit careful for the tyres but otherwise it was okay. No problems."
"I was struggling quite a lot in the hairpins. I am giving everything I can and that's all I can do."
"I touched something 3km before the end so I had to slow down."
"I focused on the road so I was not distracted."
"Quite a bit of movement in the car. I was trying to be clean and tidy and not pushing hard enough."
"It was difficult. I struggled a lot, it was like a broken damper or something and it was moving a lot."
"It's still the cleaning effect and it's not easy. All okay."
"The condition are better, you have more grip but there are still some slippery sections. Tricky."
SS8
puncture
"I really don't know where I got it so it's frustrating."
"It's been a hard weekend so far but the times are there. We are improving but I think the guys behind will be faster for sure."
"I tried to make a junction and use the handbrake to rotate the car, but I needed to reverse."
"I thought tyre wear would be a problem, but I think with five [tyres] we would have been better. Maybe I slowed down too much where Rovanperä went off."
"It was a bit slippier than expected and could have been better. I tried, we will keep pushing."
"Obviously we are trying everything we can. The car is working well so we're trying to drive as well as possible and give it a good go."
"It was better in here. We made some changes in between the stages. My pacenotes were just not good enough in the first one so we need to improve a bit more."
accident
"I hit touched the rear again... it's like that."
"Kalle had an accident in a very tricky place - it's not so nice at this speed in between the trees."
"Very slippery, but this is a good experience for me."
SS7
steering
"I am testing now, so that makes me happy. We know that this was a rally we could win and it's a real shame with what happened yesterday."
broken driveshaft
stopped
"I saw a cow in the middle of the road and I was a little scared! Also with the sun I lost a bit of time but it's okay."
"I did my best. There were two or three seconds which I could drive better but that's not enough."
"Carrying a second spare wheel isn't an advantage now but hopefully later in the loop my tyres should be better and it will be an advantage."
"The objective is to get as high as I can."
"All okay - it was a decent run. Quite difficult with the low sun in places."
"Struggling with the two [spare] tyres."
"Early morning sun in the face and low grip, but all okay."
"A day of cleaning for us - it's the first time for me in these kind of conditions. We will just drive carefully."
"It's very slippery. Okay, we need to open the road so that's the reason."
SS6
damper broken
"Happy about being in the lead & pleased with the day, but it hasn't been easy doing these stages for the first time. It will be just as hard tomorrow but we will keep doing our best! "
"The car felt very strange on the stage - I struggled with the brakes but I think this is something else... I don't know, I will call the team and see."
"For sure, no trouble but it wasn't easy on our first time here. We will try our best and everybody is giving it their best behind us, so we need to keep going."
"In the previous stage at the end I hit something that bent the wheel. When it starts to work I do mistakes..."
"Really nice - it's only the first day but we need to continue like this until the end."
"It's been a really good improvement, especially over the last two rallies. We're getting there."
"That was quite a disappointment. I couldn't use my two hards [tyres]."
"I am trying my best and we are catching some time back."
"It's been demanding. Obviously very disappointing - tough times at the moment."
SS5
double puncture
steering issue
"In a cut I hit a rock. It was more than 8km before the end of the stage. It's rallying."
puncture
"I didn't have a very good stage. The tyres were a little bit too soft and I was sliding a little bit too much."
"That was probably the worst driving I've done all day. The time doesn't look to bad but the road is cleaning a lot in there."
"We are trying. I am not sure if we went too hard for this stage but we will find out after."
"The car stalled in the hairpin and I couldn't restart the car, I lost 6 or 7 seconds there."
technical issue
stalled in harpin
"It's very slippery so we will probably lose a lot of time to the guys behind. We have to deal with it."
"We are attacking, but the conditions are very loose in here. Much less grip than we expected so it's going to be tricky."
SS4
driveshaft broken
accident
"It's good! The car is really nice to drive, we are working with the setups and I think the team has made really strong work with the car during these holidays!"
"Not too bad - I was really trying in there."
off road
"I think this was the first stage today which was okay. I think we took the wrong tyres and also the setup was not good."
"I think so far it is working well, so we have to keep going. The car is working pretty well."
"This stage probably suits our car better. We are going to try to improve this afternoon and catch back some time."
"Pretty satisfied. It's hard to know, but I get the feeling it might clean again. I'm quite happy with my morning."
SS3
stopped, damaged suspension
spin
"It's quite complicated, so I'm just trying to manage it as well as possible."
"Incredible - honestly. Sometimes you hit something and you can't see why. We are lucky because we have four wheels here and we need to continue for the rest of the day."
puncture
"I have been a bit careful, but we tried to increase the speed. We will do our best."
"Very difficult - I thought the pace was not bad but the time is not so good."
"We will try of course. It was really rough and a difficult stage, but I'm happy. I didn't want to make any mistakes or get a puncture so it was good."
"This stage was much better than this morning. This morning I was too nervous, but there is still a long way to go so I need to survive."
"We had a better stage in there. There were some places where I may have lost a bit of time by trying too much, but it was better than this morning."
"That was a pretty clean one. Not so many places to improve, but it was a clean."
"I did my best. We have to work on the car, it's not working in these conditions so we struggled."
"It was a tricky stage. It's difficult because we can not change to the second loop setup, so the car was quite soft and there were quite a lot of big hits."
"I think that stage was okay for me. It's a challenging one, so I am happy to be out without trouble."
"It's a bit rough now in places, but all okay."
SS2
technical issue, suspension
"Happy with this pace on a brand new rally for me against much more experienced competition."
"It is difficult. Very bad timing in the championship as well - I am very disappointed. I am doing my best - I started my career in rear-wheel-drive so I am trying to take advantage of that."
"It's a very long rally to go still. The stage was good, but I don't have the experience so I struggled a bit to find the perfect rhythm.
"It was very slippery for me, but I tried to enjoy and we will improve for next time."
puncture
"It feels really good with the car. Everything is fine, but I don't know where the limit is with the tyres because we only have five tyres. It was good."
"I stalled twice - my mistake, but a bit disappointed."
"It's really nice to see - I am beginning to push a bit more but I had quite a big moment towards the end!"
"It's good to be like that but there is still a long way to go!"
"The second spare wheel makes the car slide a lot. We played it safe, but I can't push like I should be able to push."
stopped, mechanical issue
"This one is a bit more natural. It will get quicker though. We tried our best but it's not easy."
"All good - a bit slippier than expected in places. Overall it was okay."
small off
SS1
didn't start, medical reason
"I got a good rhythm in there and went with the flow!"
"Difficult to find a good rhythm."
technical issue, rear wheel drive only?
"It was really slippery - I was very surprised. We tried to get through, it was very difficult but we're happy to be at the end."
"Really tough. For the start of the rally, it's not so bad. This is good."
"It was a very tricky stage and so slippery. There is a strange feeling in the car, I don't know."
"I had an overshoot on one of the junctions and I just completely missed it, so I lost about 10-seconds."
"I was sending it! It's excellent - that was a great stage."
"It's tricky. The grip level is very low compared to the shakedown and you don't have room for error. Just crazy sometimes!"
"I don't know. I had a good stage but the car is too unstable in these conditions - it's always kicking around. I did my best."
"I think this was the trickiest stage I have ever done. There was zero grip all of the time and I think the one hard [tyre] on the car was not working at all."
"Clean stage - all okay."
"It was difficult. It's very very slow and I was quite cautious. It's difficult when it's so narrow."
"Challenging - it was quite slippery in there and very narrow, so not easy."