Ogier leads the event by 4.5 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tänak. In the final stage of Friday, Ogier lost some time overtaking M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, who had retired from the rally.
“It’s good, we lost a bit of time passing Fourmaux. Friday has been demanding for the tyres,” Ogier said.
“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,” Tänak commented.
In third place is Hyundai’s Dani Sordo, 33.2 seconds behind the leader. In fourth is Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who trailed Sordo by only 1.3 seconds on Friday.
“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,” Sordo lamented, referring to a mistake made by the service crew.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who leads the WRC standings, is fifth in the rally, 36.6 seconds behind the leader. Despite starting first, Neuville was the fastest on the final stage of Friday.
“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,” Neuville summed up.
In sixth place is Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster.
Rally Sardinia standings after SS4/16:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 53:43.1 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +4.5 |
| 3. | Dani Sordo | Hyundai | +33.2 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +34.5 |
| 5. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +36.6 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +57.3 |
| 8. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:09.2 |
| 9. | Sami Pajari | Skoda | +1:34.6 |
| 10. | P-L Loubet | Skoda | +1:52.9 |
| 11. | Jan Solans | Toyota | +2:03.2 |
Itinerary for Rally Sardinia (CET):
Friday 31.5. 08.01 Shakedown: Ittiri (2,08 km) 14.33 SS1: Osilo - Tergu 1 (25,65 km) 15.33 SS2: Sedini - Castelsardo 1 (13,26 km) 17.33 SS3: Osilo - Tergu 2 (25,65 km) 18.35 SS4: Sedini - Castelsardo 2 (13,26 km) Saturday 1.6. 07.41 SS5: Tempio Pausania 1 (12,03 km) 08.49 SS6: Tula 1 (22,61 km) 10.41 SS7: Tempio Pausania 2 (12,03 km) 11.49 SS8: Tula 2 (22,61 km) 14.05 SS9: Monte Lerno - Monti di Ala 1 (25,33 km) 15.05 SS10: Coiluna - Loelle 1 (14,53 km) 17.05 SS11: Monte Lerno - Monti di Ala 2 (25,33 km) 18.05 SS12: Coiluna - Loelle 2 (14,53 km) Sunday 2.6. 08.00 SS13: Cala Flumini 1 (12,55 km) 09.05 SS14: Sassari - Argentiera 1 (7,10 km) 11.00 SS15: Cala Flumini 2 (12,55 km) 12.15 SS16: Sassari - Argentiera 2 (7,10 km) *Power Stage
