Toyota holds a 1-2-3 lead in the World Rally Championship standings ahead of this weekend’s gravel event in Sardinia, with Elfyn Evans heading the table in front of Kalle Rovanperä and Sébastien Ogier. The Toyota trio took to Thursday’s shakedown in the same order – and the same running order will apply on Friday’s opening day of competitive stages.
Evans struggled noticeably from first on the road on the shakedown stage, which is located just outside the rally’s base in Olbia. The Welshman was the slowest of the Rally1 regulars on the first pass.
It was Toyota’s experienced Frenchman Ogier who topped the times on the first run, edging out his Japanese team-mate Takamoto Katsuta by 0.1 seconds. Rovanperä was third, 0.3 seconds down on Ogier.
Ahead of Rally Sardinia, Rovanperä has been repeating the same message as in previous years – and the Finn offered a typically blunt verdict after his first shakedown run.
“This is the hardest rally on the calendar for me. I don’t like it at all,” said Rovanperä.
“If we can get a good result and good points here, I will be really happy. The main thing is to stay close to Elfyn,” the Finn added, referring to his Toyota team-mate who currently leads the championship.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville set the fourth fastest time on his first run, finishing 1.1 seconds off the pace. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Ott Tänak, M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean, and Toyota’s Sami Pajari completed the top positions.
At the time of publishing, the Rally Sardinia shakedown stage was still ongoing. The gravel event gets fully underway on Friday with six stages on the schedule.
Rally Sardinia shakedown stage, first run times:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 1:43.7 |
| 2. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +0.1 |
| 3. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +0.3 |
| 4. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1.1 |
| 5. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +1.4 |
| 6. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2.0 |
| 7. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +2.1 |
| 7. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +2.1 |
| 9. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +2.7 |
| 10. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +3.5 |
| 10. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +3.5 |
