P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Sébastien Ogier stretched his Rally Italia Sardegna lead on Saturday morning as Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Ott Tänak both ran into problems in the punishing island stages. Ogier’s 2.1 second overnight lead stretched to 7.4 seconds after winning Saturday’s opening stage, beating this Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Kalle Rovanperä by 3.1 seconds, while Hyundai’s Ott […]
Sébastien Ogier increased his lead in Rally Italia Sardegna on Saturday morning as Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Ott Tänak encountered difficulties in the challenging stages on the island.
Ogier extended his lead from 2.1 seconds to 7.4 seconds after winning the first stage of the day, with his teammate Kalle Rovanperä finishing second, followed by Tänak and Fourmaux.
Tänak managed to close the gap to Ogier to 4.5 seconds after stage eight, while Fourmaux fell off the podium due to a puncture.
In the overall standings, Tänak and Rovanperä moved up to the provisional podium positions, with Sami Pajari in a strong fourth place, ahead of Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.
Ogier dominated the final stage of the morning loop, taking a 15-second advantage into the afternoon, while Tänak continued to chase with a deflating tire.
Tänak narrowed the gap to Ogier to 10.7 seconds after stage 11, with one stage left to challenge for the win.
Evans climbed to fourth place overall, Rovanperä held firm in third, and Pajari slipped down the order after stage 11, with Nikolay Gryazin leading WRC2.
With four stages left on Sunday, the top ten included Rovanperä, Evans, Pajari, Gryazin, Katsuta, Solberg, Lindholm, and Joona.
