The FIA World Rally Championship makes a later-than-usual visit to Sardinia for the sixth round of the 2020 season, Rally Italia Sardegna, on October 8-11.

The Mediterranean island has hosted Italy’s round of the FIA WRC since 2004, featuring fast but narrow stages lined with rocks and bushes. Usually this is combined with the intense heat of June, but the event will be held at an autumn date for the first time since 2012 following its postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A greater chance of rain could therefore be added to the mix this time around.

Whatever the weather, the battle for the championship’s title promises to be hot as the conclusion of the season approaches. With his victory in Turkey, Elfyn Evans sits at the top of the drivers’ standings with an 18-point advantage over his Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier – a three-time winner in Sardinia. Nine points further back is reigning champion Ott Tänak of Hyundai, level on points with Toyota’s rookie driver Kalle Rovanperä, who recently celebrated his 20th birthday. Thierry Neuville, Sardinia winner in 2016 and 2018 with Hyundai, is looking to close a 32-point deficit to the leader.

Dani Sordo, who claimed the second win of his WRC career on the very last stage in Sardinia in 2019, completes the Hyundai Motorsport line-up for this event. M-Sport once again fields three Ford Fiestas with Esapekka Lappi, Teemu Suninen and Gus Greensmith. Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet continues his campaign in a Hyundai entered by 2C Competition, with Takamoto Katsuta back in action in a fourth Toyota Yaris.

Petter Solberg, the 2003 FIA WRC World Champion, also features on the entry list with Andreas Mikkelsen as his co-driver. The Norwegian pair will tackle the event Shakedown and rally-ending Power Stage in a Citroën C3 fitted with the new Pirelli tyres developed for the 2021 season.

Pontus Tidemand leads the FIA WRC2 field to Sardinia in his Toksport-entered Škoda Rally2, with competition from team-mate Eyvind Brynildsen, PH Sport Citroën driver Mads Østberg, M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux and the Hyundai pairing of Nikolay Gryazin and Ole Christian Veiby.

A 16-car FIA WRC3 field features the top seven in the championship, led by Marco Bulacia. The contingent includes Finland’s Jari Huttunen, Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowiscz and Sweden’s Oliver Solberg, who are expected to challenge at the front, as well as local favourites Umberto Scandola and “Pedro”.

The Junior WRC returns to action for its third round of the year with Latvian driver Mārtiņš Sesks at the head of the standings, followed by the Scandinavians Sami Pajari and Tom Kristensson, second and third in the category standings respectively.

THE 2020 ROUTE

Following Shakedown on Thursday, Rally Italia Sardegna begins on Friday with a full day of action. Two runs over the Tempio Pausania and Erula-Tula stages are followed by service in Alghero and then a pair of stages to finish the day: Sedini – Castelsardo and Tergu-Osilo.

Saturday runs to a similar format, with the Monte Lerno and Coiluna-Loelle tests each run twice before service precedes a return to Sedini-Castelsardo and Tergu-Osilo. The Sunday is the same as in 2019 with the Cala Flumini and Sassari – Argentiera tests both run twice, the latter serving as the rally-ending Power Stage.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

Media accreditation and attendance is strictly managed with modified terms under COVID-19 regulations. Media packages must be collected personally by accredited Pass Holders at the Accreditation Desk located at Lu Qualté (Largo Lo Quarter), Alghero.

The opening hours are:

Tuesday, October 6:      14:00 - 18:00

Wednesday, October 7: 08:00 - 20:00

Thursday, October 8:     08:00 - 18:00

Friday, October 9:          06:30 - 14:00

2020 WRC RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Wednesday, October 7

Mandatory media safety briefing via video conference (details TBC)                                                                                                                                             17:00 hrs

Thursday, October 8

Mandatory Shakedown for P1 and invited drivers, Olmedo                                     12:00 - 13:30 hrs

Shakedown for P1, P2, P3 and P4 drivers, Olmedo                                                    13:30 – 15:30

Shakedown for all drivers, Olmedo                                                                               15:30 - 17:30 hrs

FIA Press Conference, via video conference (details TBC)                                                                                                                                                                 16:00 hrs

- FIA Junior WRC                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        16:00 hrs

- FIA WRC2 and FIA WRC3                                                                                                                                                                                                                       16:10 hrs

- FIA WRC and invited drivers                                                                                                                                                                                                                  16:20 hrs

Friday, October 9

Start of Section 1, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                                                                                  05:45 hrs

First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                       13:43 hrs

First car arrives for regroup, media zone & flexi service, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                               18:20 hrs

Saturday, October 10

Start of Section 4, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                                                                                  05:45 hrs

First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                       13:47 hrs

First car arrives for regroup, media zone & flexi service, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                               18:17 hrs

Sunday, October 11

Start of Section 7, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                                                                                  07:15 hrs

First car arrives for regroup, media zone & service, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                       13:25 hrs

Rally Finish, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                                                                                            13:35 hrs

Podium Ceremony & Price Giving, Alghero SP                                                                                                                                                                                     15:00 hrs

FIA Press Conference, via video conference (details TBC)                                                                                                                                                                 16:00 hrs

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday, October 8                    FIA Junior WRC

                                                         Ruairi Bell (GBR)

Marco Pollara (ITA)

                                                         FIA WRC3

                                                        Marco Bulacia (BOL)

Umberto Scandolla (ITA)

                                                        FIA WRC2

                                                        Pontus Tidemand (SWE), Toksport WRT

Ole Christian Veiby (NOR), Hyundai Motorsport N

                                                        FIA WRC

                                                        Elfyn Evans (GBR), Toyota Gazoo Racing

Dani Sordo (ESP), Hyundai Shell Mobis

Esapekka Lappi (FIN), M-Sport Ford

Guests: Petter Solberg (NOR) and Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR), Sainteloc Junior Team

Sunday, October 11                     Winning FIA Junior WRC Championship driver

                                                         Winning FIA WRC2 Championship driver

                                                         Winning FIA WRC3 Championship driver

                                                         Top three drivers in the overall classification

                                                         Representative of the winning manufacturer

MANUFACTURER WRC ENTRIES, 2020 WRC RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT          Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (#33)

                                                         Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#17)

                                                         Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (#69)

Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT           Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (#8)

                                                         Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (#11)

                                                         Dani Sordo / Carlos Del Barrio (#18)                                             

M-Sport Ford WRT                       Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (#4)

                                                         Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen (#3)

                                                         Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmonson (#44)

2020 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships is available on the following link:

https://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2020/standings