20. Rally Italia Sardegna 2023
1. 6. – 4. 6. 2023, Olbia • Automobile Club Italia • gravel 320.88 km • total distance including road sections - 1168.22 km • Other years • Other years
Info
SS19
"It was quite controlled to be honest, it didn't feel fast. I was enjoying the rain and mud when I had proper tyres on the car. Quite good points - I was not expecting much from this weekend. We were not the fastest from starting first on the road but I think we did a clever run."
"You need to accept these things. For sure it's frustrating to not win but that's how it is. Let's hope that Thierry will finish and we get a 1-2 for the team. That would be very encouraging after Portugal."
"Obviously it was a challening weekend. We came here with the belief that we could fight for victory but the first day was challenging and we lost a bit of time. Yesterday we found ourselves in the lead and we had to manage it until the end. It's the first victory for the team this year, it's a 1-2, and the first time for our team principal as well. Craig Breen is in our memories as well - we wanted the win in Croatia but we got it now."
"I don't think I have many chances to win the Power Stage. It seems like this year altogether on gravel I am struggling at the moment. It's difficult to find any speed and confidence."
"It's not what we wanted from the weekend for sure. When the bad luck starts to hit you, you can do anything you want but sometimes it doesn't work. You have to accept it and move forward."
"It was so slippery. I felt pretty careful in some places and then the next minute it's just like a sledge. It's always like this in these conditions."
"Tricky conditions, really difficult. The rain is coming and going all the time so whoever is lucky with the rain will win the stage. We made the best of the situation. Not a nice end for Adrien, he has done a fantastic weekend and the whole M-Sport team has so many positives to take out of here. If it's a win for us then we are of course very happy."
"I don't like to drive this one! Everywhere aquaplaning. There is thick mud and you have no grip. It's a shame that we retired yesterday but otherwise we had a good pace on Friday. I try to focus on Kenya and we will push there."
"I had some aquaplaning on the tarmac but nothing too serious. It was really challenging for us but I think without the broken wheel on Friday we would have been quite okay. It's a bit of a disappointment."
"We were working very hard and it was my plan for this day to keep Rossel behind me. I remember on the last day in Monza when we were fighting for the championsip and we lost. A good first rally in the new car but we need to do more if we want to be in the top three, for example."
"We had a moment under braking where there was standing water and after that I took it really easy just to finish the rally. It was an incredible weekend and I am really happy that we are here."
"It's a very difficult weekend for me and for my team. I worked all the time on the settings but we need to search for a solution before the next event. If I stay like this it's impossible to fight for the championship."
"It's tough, especially for the guys who are fighting. There was a lot of water and we needed to just survive."
SS18
"For me it's not really important to conserve tyres. Just one more stage to go and we want to bring home the victory. Our tyres aren't in great shape - we went all in yesterday and it paid off."
"The car is good. I have nothing really interesting to tell you at the moment - the target of the day is coming in the next stage."
"It's just a case of getting through now and obviously saving everything for the Power Stage. Just a steady run through."
"All okay. The tyres should be quite okay so let's see how the weather will be in the Power Stage."
"Everything is good, everything works with no problems. It's nice. It would be nice to keep a bit more speed but that's not the target for today."
"The tyres look quite okay. The next one is going to be unknown with the weather so it's hard to know what will happen. We will try to push to get some Power Stage points."
"For sure, we need to push in the Power Stage. It's the only stage we're here to drive on Sunday."
SS17
"No real concerns to be honest. Just driving through, our tyres are not in very good shape so we have to be clever and bring home the first victory this year for us and also for the team."
"I think Ott may have a few more new tyres than us, but we also have quite okay ones. It should be okay - let's see what the feeling will be."
"We are just driving through. I don't have tyres, I have two spares, there is no point to push in the Power Stage."
"All pretty okay. We've had some rain overnight but in terms of the conditions it's all looking one."
"I don't know... we have a problem with the power with the car."
"It will be about conditions, also. Let's see if hard rain is coming or not, and at which moment, because it can affect things massively."
"Obviously the other guys have been very fast this weekend. We will try to get close [in the Power Stage] but it's not going to be an easy task."
"Some slippy sections with loose gravel but all okay so far. The Power Stage is going to be a big mess later on I think [if it rains]."
Engine issues
SS16
"Nothing special - we are just driving through to the finish. We can't fight for nothing at the moment."
"Just a clean drive through, just to keep the lead and get through the stages. With every stage start there's less mileage to go until the victory."
"For sure we need to understand where we are in terms of the tyre wear - but we can manage it."
"We are just getting it through safely and trying to save tyres for the afternoon and the rain."
"All fine, no issues."
"Nothing special - we are just driving through to the finish. We can't fight for nothing at the moment."
"We are not fighting for much anymore, unfortunately. The approach is drive through the morning and try to make some points for the team in the Power Stage. There's not much more we can do."
"The car is all good. We are just experimenting a bit with the settings to understand for Kenya."
"It's a very nice stage actually. Of course it's very slippery but I just wanted to get the feeling back after yesterday."
SS15
"Let's say the last two and half stages have been the toughest I have seen for a while. We kept the pressure on Seb and in the end he made a mistake. Now it's looking good for the team but we still have one day to go."
"I am relieved to be at the finish. It was a tough day out there but the feeling was getting better and better with the car. We learned a lot today, that's important, but it's still not always perfect yet and we can still improve. Tomorrow is a short but tricky day - we need to have a clever drive through and try to bring home the 1-2 for the team."
"It was difficult. All of our soft tyres are basically like slick tyres and we only have one hard on the car. It was quite tricky to stay on the road."
"It's been a pretty rough day today. Obviously now the gap is not so comfortable but it's still pretty big. The plan is to get through safely and have a look at some Power Stage points tomorrow."
"It was a difficult stage and we started with a bit of a stress because at the start line they asked for the time card 15 seconds before the start. It was okay, we didn't take any risks."
SS14
Stopped after stage
Stopped
Stalled
"When I saw Seb it was clear that you don't fight. It was an easy decision to back off."
"That's good news but unfortunately a shame for Seb. Luckily they are okay because in these conditions it's easy to go off. The target was to keep the pressure and obviously we managed that well, so we have to be satisfied."
"I don't have any tyres left. All of our soft tyres are in quite bad condition and I had just one hard on the car. I am not happy to hear about Seb but for sure the plan was to just get through because so much stuff is happening."
"I'm not nursing an issue, just nursing myself through and trying to finish! Obviously that's a bit too much time lost, but okay."
"Really difficult to know where is the grip and so difficult to drive."
Off road
SS13
Broken wheel
Puncture
"It is challenging. It was raining so much at one point that you can't see more than five metres ahead. It was just a clean run through for us, nothing special. It was a bit more rough than I was expecting and I was also stuggling a bit with understeer."
"For sure, the last six kilometres were horrible. The ruts were full of water so you couldn't drive, it was just aquaplaning all the time."
Engine issues on finish line
"We had very heavy rain in some sections. I don't know if it's the same for everybody but we did what we could, that's the only thing we could do. It felt quite okay but with the rain you never know."
"It is [challenging]. It was raining so much at one point that you can't see more than five metres ahead. It was just a clean run through for us, nothing special. It was a bit more rough than I was expecting and I was also stuggling a bit with understeer."
Power issue before finish line after watersplash
"We were just nursing the car through, but the water splash at the end, there's no way to get a rally car through there."
"We didn't have fuel pressure. The car started after we managed to put the second pump on."
Power issue before finish line after watersplash
Stopped for few seconds after engine stalled
SS12
Stopped
"It was an easy stage - now the interesting ones are coming. Let's see what the weather will bring. I am full on it, I can tell you. It doesn't look like it, but I am!"
"I think it's just to have a bit more tyres because we have to re-use the softs quite a lot so there is a lot of kilometres on the soft tyres. It's just to have something fresh on the car."
"My tyres are not too bad. We are managing all weekend already, with only twelve soft tyres for three days. My package looks good, we have to see what the others do. Some went all in, some might have more tyres for tomorrow. With the weather it's uncertain, and anything can happen."
"I don't know. I took it easy but still the engine died. I have to go."
"I am sure it will clean a lot in the stage. I am satisfied with the car but I was really careful with the tyres. It's quite aggressive for the tyres, this stage."
"I could see Dani's lines sometimes, looks like he was struggling a bit to stay in the ruts. It was fine for us. A bit dry for our tyres but we're obviously geared up for what's about to come."
Lost power after watersplash
SS11
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Puncture - no spare left -> retired
"We just went a bit to wide on a short left corner. Okay, we managed to come through and we will try to get back to service."
Off road - broken rear right wheel
"It's very technical, very narrow. I have no tyres left so it's impossible. I cannot stop the car from sliding. It is a shame we got a puncture on a good tyre but that's how it is."
"It's very narrow and hard to take full risks."
"It was a good run but I was missing a bit of traction in there. It was quite humid and I would have liked to have had a bit more grip. Obviously we got a big hit in the previous stage by Sébastien, so we need to see what the strategy will be for the afternoon."
"I tried to change some set-ups on the car because on the previous one I was struggling so much with understeer in the low-speed and narrow sections. We changed something and the feeling was better but we are still not pushing because we don't really have much to gain."
"Still issues with damage from previous stage. Obviously we had to just get through after what happened in the last one. We're just getting through."
"It was a little bit tricky. Very narrow and slippery in places, fast in the middle. I think I lost some time at the beginning - I was not really on the pace."
SS10
Retired
Second retirement
Second retirement
Puncture
"It happened close to the finish, but it went empty immediately. It was disturbing quite a lot at the end but still, I am sure we were more than 10sec behind on the splits anyway. That's the speed in these narrow and slippy conditions - I cannot go any faster."
"I wasn't expecting it to be as bad in watersplash. I just hit it and exploded the front end..."
"It seems that it's getting a bit more messy on the narrow parts. I hate this kind of stage."
"I had a good stage, the same as the other stages. I don't know, I am surprised."
"It's a difficult one, so of course when the difficulty is there it's always a chance to make difference. I fought and gave everything and the time is good."
"I don't know, I just drive! I know the stage so it's a little easier to drive and it was a little bit wet, so maybe better grip. I don't want to take any risks. I am in the middle of nothing - it's difficult to drive like this."
Mechanical issue
Engine
SS9
Puncture
Mechanical
Mechanical
"No issue at all. We had a clean stage but it looks like we lost a bit of time."
"That doesn't really matter at the moment. We're just trying to come through the stages with the speed that we have. There were so many rocks - I managed to avoid most of them but a few I had to drive over. That could cause problems."
"It was okay. I feel more comfortable in the car and I can give it a bit more rhythm. Lots of new pace notes in there and it was not bad, but maybe I lost a few seconds here and there."
"Not fully happy, it could have been a bit better. It was quite slippy in places and I couldn't really feel comfortable or trust the car in the fast places."
"The car is working pretty well but I'm not sure about the driver to be honest! I'm not building confidence at the moment, that's for sure. Everything is fine but it's just not quite happening at the moment."
"Just got some water... just a little bit."
"It's a nice stage but really loose. A lot of gravel on the top so it was really slippery. This stage will clean a lot."
SS8
Puncture
Rolled but continued
"For sure, we need to drive fast. With EP there is no gap at all and Thierry is now only 17sec behind. We need to drive as fast as possible."
"I don't know if I can really push any harder but it was a clean stage. For sure you can drive a bit faster but there are still some muddy places which you don't know, so you need to keep some gap."
"Front of the car is damaged after watersplash. We need to fix the car now..."
"Of course you always want to see yourself higher on the standings but I don't know if that's possible and it's not really my goal. I just want to have as good a morning as possible and see where we end up."
"It's a bit of cleaning conditions in the new sections but the rest is quite sandy and straightforward. I tried to be careful and gentle with my used tyres because the loop is quite long and we want to manage it through the loop."
"I don't know. At the beginning of the stage it started to move a little bit and after that I didn't push too hard. It's okay, no drama."
"The guys had plenty of jobs last night and the car is working fine. It's quite a lot more damp so it's probably a bit better. We are like we are."
"Everything's working fine with the car. I'm sure there's a bit more time left in there, but all okay."
SS7
Broken suspension
Two wheels moment
Off road
"I am so tired! This stage was never-ending. We worked hard in the service park to try and fix the car and I want to say thanks to the mechanics. They did an amazing job."
"Of course it's quite tricky conditions but the grip was actuallty quite okay. I was not able to push because maybe I was not too confident, but we are here."
"There was no need to push harder, one tenth is enough!" he giggles. "Glad to be at the finish, that was quite a tricky stage and we got a left rear puncture as well, so that started to disturb a bit. But we are here, everything is okay and we are looking forward to tomorrow."
"The problem is still there so the confidence wasn't too good but the balance of the car was okay in these conditions. The grip was so and so - I think the conditions are changing a lot between the cars so it's hard to say."
"Front right pincture with seven kilometres to go. What can you do? That's how it is."
"We are happy to be here. We lost the water pump quite early in the beginning and we were cooking the end. In some bumps it came back but then we had no water pressure and no power in the engine."
"Let's see. It's difficult conditions, honestly. I'm happy to finish again - we didn't take too many risks on that and I wanted to have a safe drive."
"Straight away when we got the weather and mud I tried to push. Not easy, a lot of standing water for us. It's not getting worse for the others when we are opening the water but I really tried to push. I don't know why but always when it's raining I feel at home."
SS6
Accident
"It has not been a nice day for us after we made the mistake this morning. The next stage will be difficult."
"It's not so challenging, just muddy. It's quite okay but pretty rough to be honest."
"I am happy with the drive but we still have the same problem as the previoius stage. The handbrake is sometimes not working and sometimes it is, it's difficult to rely on it."
"It's really rough and muddy. Everything seems to be good."
"There are some lines for us now, but also some places that are a bit more rough. Definitely not so easy for the car and tyres but we had a clean run through."
"A bit of a better stage than the previous ones. I just can't get the car working like I'd wish to, to start pushing. That's everything at the moment."
"Really difficult and very rough also. I am glad we are safely through that stage."
"Pretty rough in there to be honest, I struggled a bit - clearly. It's a bit crazy now, you need a four-wheel drive pickup in there I think! It's like Dakar."
SS5
Retired
Retired
"Quite rough - the bumps are really bad and I don't like this stage at all."
"Yeah, pretty good. A clean stage with no drama and no mistakes."
"We are carrying a small problem. I hope it's going to stay like this until the end of the loop without getting worse."
"Quite okay but it's pretty hard work for the car. Pretty rough - I was trying to use my head a little bit but it's hard to find the balance. You get knocked sometimes when you're least expecting it."
"It's a big challenge still because the weather is unpredictable and here it was quite rough like expected. We are happy to be through."
Can't change gear and start the stage. Wasn't allowed to start once the issue was fixed.
"A bit of cleaning in the first uphill, lots of loose gravel. Then at the top and on the downhill it's pretty rough conditions to be honest."
"Definitely better on the second loop now, a bit improved. Not really on the limit but we are better."
SS4
Retired
First retirement
Retired
"We lost the engine in all watersplashes. Bit disappointed about that, but it's been a big stage."
"We went straight and hit a big rock.. luckily we survived."
"No grip with the hard tyres in the front. So difficult, big mistake to put the tyres. "
Off road 1km before the finish, continued
"No grip. I did my best, I was driving on the limit very often and once over also, we went a bit wide. This one was bad with the grip level. I guess it's a bit slippy for everyone, except the Toyotas."
"I have zero grip. Obviously I put the hard tyre in the front and it's undriveable."
"It was pretty safe. We knew that was the objective coming into a weekend like this but, still, it''s quite a lot of time that Seb's taken off us already."
"I like the long challenge, always a chance to make a difference. Not easy, some sections are still slippery. Specially the last section."
"It is a challenge. A massive struggle and a massive loss. Like driving a tow truck, such inertia in the rear."
"A lot of cleaning, in the beginning we hit a cow and we had to go off road. Luckily the car is okay. Proper challenge."
Off road moment
SS3
Retired
Radiator damage
"I don't know! It just.. I braked into a tight left and before the corner it collapsed. Didn't hit anything! I felt fantastic in the car, super easy, no push at all. The times are coming and then this."
Mechanical, broken suspension
"It was okay. Not the perfect drive, at the beginning I was a bit too careful, but after that it was fine."
"The beginning of the stage is quite nice but at the end there's a horrible section. Massive understeer in the mud and it feels like you are doing the Safari!"
"We were waiting for quite a lot of time at the start line but the only way to be in the fight is to take risks. It was a nice stage - I am happy with the car's performance."
"For sure, in some sections it's getting cleaner but the end is getting much worse."
"There are some rough sections, especially at the end. I tried to be as safe as I could and it was an okay stage."
"The start of it was pretty nice to be honest but the contrast to the end was pretty extreme. All okay."
"Obviously we know this stage a bit more, so I trust a bit better the car. When it gets a bit rutted I have much more confidence but when it's a harder surface I struggle. I am not 100 per cent confident yet."
"Not too bad. Quite consistent but it's definitely much more loose than the last one."
"It was okay but I think on this stage it will be much harder to match the pace of the others. The grip is quite okay for us but it will be getting much better for the others."
SS2
First retirement
"It was okay. Quite tough, it feels that it's quite rough already in the first pass. It was a clean run for us, nothing crazy."
"Not too bad at all, actually - not so much mud. Quite nice conditions but it's very narrow, so not so easy to fit the car in there!"
"Even over a whole day it's difficult to make this kind of gap! I had a good stage but I thought the end was difficult with so many bumps."
"It's that type of stage. If you're willing to go with a high rhythm and take a few risks then for sure the time reward can be massive. We were just trying to keep the car in the middle of the road."
"Not a really good stage to be honest. It's much bumpier than I expected and I expected to go fast over the bumps. Once I got kicked around a bit I reduced the speed too much."
"I have no idea about the front bumper damage. There are a lot of compressions and maybe in a bump it was touching the road or something. It's a good start."
"It was a nice stage. I took it a little bit carefully as it was very narrow and the car was moving a bit from the rear because we have two different tyres. I am happy at the moment."
"Quite slippy in the beginning and then the last section is getting quite rough. Some loose rocks were coming and I had to be careful to avoid them."
"After the water splash unfortunately we lost the engine power for one or two kilometres."
SS1
"The car feels soft, but here you need to compensate for gravel or for tarmac. I took some nice jumps and I think it was good."
"I think tomorrow is a long day. We need to do the maximum and we will see what happens."
"It was okay on this one, felt like no grip on the gravel at all. Hopefully tomorrow it's not the same. Big challenge tomorrow for us. We will start the day and see what we can do. We will push for a clean day."
"We did a good job inbetween, it was necessary after Portugal. We shouldn't be very confident at the moment, but we are for sure better than we were in Portugal. Let's see how much it helped us."
Puncture alarm
"Tricky stages, tricky weather. It's gonna be a challenge. We are looking forward to it."
"Let's wait and see. It's gonna be a tough day for everyone. Will try to get through without problems. At the same time we are here to compete and be in the fight, it's about striking that balance."
"We are missing a couple of wins. A challenging weekend ahead, we will try to give it our best. A bit of a lottery out there with the weather."
"This is fun! You have enough space, you can play with the car. On gravel, you throw it sideways and go full throttle."
"It's a tricky stage for the rally we have in front. Tomorrow will be very demanding, a long day."
"A lot of people. Mainly I was quite surprised how slippy the gravel is. Tomorrow will be a big day."
"I hope to do a good, clean race."
"I just drove, enjoyed jumping! Great fun, great atmosphere. Great passion here!"
"Really slippy! Now is not the time to use the softs, need to save them for the weekend."
"It is quite slippery, but that means long slides and noone objects to that."
"I normally jump well with the Fiesta, that was a big one actually. I had to wake up really quick. A lot of sweeping, slippery on the gravel."
"It's good fun. For sure it's a lot of cleaning. I hope the spectators also liked it."
"Super slippy! Never seen such slippy dry gravel. It was fun!"