Round 5 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship emerged from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia as an unexpected result for some but a total disaster in contrast for others. The rally produced a number of turning points, with Leg 2 on the Saturday becoming the most eventful.
The Hyundai World Rally Team started off the day (Saturday) in a strong position, Estonian Ott Tänak in the rally lead with his teammate Dani Sordo behind in second. The signs were that the Korean automobile brand was going to continue on in their history of success on the Italian island once again.
Round 6 of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Championships returned to Azerbaijan for the Baku City Street Circuit.
Charles Leclerc got away in 1st from pole with Lewis Hamilton 2nd and Max Verstappen 3rd. Sergio Perez made up ground from sixth to fourth, taking advantage of the battle between Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gaslys and then passing the AlphaTauri into turn 3.
Saturday morning in Sardinia offered a fresh day for some, but a continued battle for others, overnight rain had dampened the stages and the sky was overcast. With just under 130km over a further 8 stages, some well-known stages were to feature on the route and with reversed road orders, Saturday in Sardinia would deliver carnage out on the stages.
Round 5 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship returned to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, for Rally Italia Sardegna, a rally where Hyundai has been strong in recent years.
Their driver Thierry Neuville posted the fastest time in his i20 Coupe WRC on the new 2.9km shakedown test, Loiri Porto San Paolo on Thursday morning, but the Belgian was unable to carry that speed into the opening leg of the rally of Friday morning.
Sam Moffett and Keith Moriarty winners of the 2021 British Rally Championship opener at Oulton Park.
The Motorsport Vision Racing Circuit in the Cheshire countryside is perhaps one of the more picturesque race circuits in the UK and has been hosting rounds of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championships in the form of the Neil Howard Stages for a number of years.
Following the cancellation of the whole British Rally Championships season last year due to COVID, the Championships was itching to get going again this year. Up steps, the Neil Howard Stages
The FIA World Rally Championship first visited the stunningly beautiful Mediterranean island of Sardinia back in 2004, where the Subaru Impreza of Petter Solberg battled with the Citreon Xsara of Sebastian Loeb. Petter triumphed to go down in the WRC history books as the first winner of a World Rally on the sun-kissed Italian island.
Whizz forward to 2021 and Petters son Oliver was due to compete for his second outing in a full-blown Hyundai i20 WRC; however, since the last round of the championship in Portugal, Petter had contracted COVID, which has unfortunately forced the young Olivers hands.
Rosberg X Racing go back-to-back with second Extreme E victory after red flagged final.
Molly Taylor avoided first lap chaos before Johan Kristoffersson brought the car home to win the Senegal Ocean X-Prix for Rosberg X Racing. They were followed by Veloce Racing, the only other car to come out unscathed after incidents down the beach straight towards Turn 2.
JBXE Racing claimed the final podium position by virtue of travelling a few hundred yards further than Team X44, after both teams had to retire their cars. The result means RXR mark themselves as the team to beat, after winning both of the first two races of Extreme E.
Extreme E Ocean X-Prix Saturday Round-Up: Team X44 set early pace and take Top Qualifier. Sebastian Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez adapted best to the sand dunes of Senegal, seeing them take the top spot in qualifying by nearly 30 seconds.
They were the only team to post sub-11-minute times in both qualifying sessions, with a 10:47.3 in Q1, followed by a 10:57.6 in Q2.
They will be joined in Semi-Final 1 tomorrow by Rosberg X Racing (+27.6) and ABT Cupra (+36.0).
After sitting out of the calendar last year due to COVID, Round 4 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championships, the 54th Vodafone Rally de Portugal not only sees a return for one of the original legendary World Rallies but also sees the return to gravel rallying for the first of four full gravel events this year.
The opening leg of the rally proved a challenging one, with limited numbers of allocated tyres and a total of 122km over 8 stages there was no service, so making it back to the end of day service park in one piece was going to be important.
For the fourth stop on the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship tour, it’s a return to a European favourite, The Vodafone Rally De Portugal who has been hosting top-level rallying since 1973. With its Porto base in the North of the country, Rally Portugal also sees a welcomed return to gravel rallying, some 221 days since the previous gravel event in Sardinia last year. Featuring 20 stages over 337km, rally Portugal will prove a tough one to predict a winner. From the past 5 World Rallies in Portugal, there has been 5 different winners and 5 different teams.
