Thierry Neuville retired from the rally while holding the lead, and as the afternoon progressed, both Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux saw their pace drop slightly. By the end of the day, Toyota had once again taken command of the rally.
Sébastien Ogier leads going into the overnight break, holding a 2.1-second advantage over Fourmaux and a 7.3-second gap to Tänak.
Tänak’s day was a mixed bag. The Estonian also had to contend with a damaged damper that hampered his progress.
“It actually started well. The first stage was working well – obviously more grip and the hard tyre was working. Then on the middle one, I struggled already. I couldn’t understand what it was,” Tänak recapped.
“And then basically we found out we had a broken damper. We had to get through the last one. Obviously it was quite fast but rough at the same time, so it was quite punishing for the car like this. We just lost quite a lot of time,” Tänak said in frustration.
According to Tänak, driving with one broken damper makes a major difference in how the car behaves.
“With broken dampers, everything is just on the springs,” he explained.
Adrien Fourmaux has had an excellent rally so far in Sardinia. Still, the Frenchman admitted that losing the lead to Ogier stung.
“I’m a bit of a bad loser, so for sure I’m a bit frustrated not to be leading tonight,” Fourmaux admitted.
“But I’m happy with the day and, to be fair, to be between Seb and my other idol. They were my two idols when I was younger – and still are. Anyway, it’s a really good fight. I was enjoying it, and I expect a good fight also for tomorrow.”
Hyundai is still searching for its first win of the season, and this weekend presents a golden opportunity to change that.
“I think we have to see what happens during the rally, because it’s still a long game. We’re going to have to do our own job and see where we are tomorrow (Saturday) night. That’s the main point. Things can happen. The gaps are so small. Everything is possible. Even when you stall, you can lose the lead,” Fourmaux predicted.
Tänak was far more reserved when speaking about Saturday. But his message was clear.
“Everything is still possible tomorrow,” the Estonian stated.
