Our joy in a well. Hopes for Dani Sordo to achieve a new victory are over at the Rally d’Italia this weekend. The Spaniard suffered an accident that has left him without options and in Sardinia they are Esapekka Lappi and Sebastien Ogier those who play the victory to the tenth. Literally, the Finn leads the standings with only a tenth of an advantage over the French.
The Sordo incident occurred on the endless stretch of Monte Lernoof 50 kilometres, when he was only 7.5 seconds behind the leader: “With two kilometers from the end we went long in a curve and we stayed in some bushes”, explains the Cantabrian. “We tried to get out through what looked like a parking lot, but there was a very big hole and we suffered a big impact although we were able to continue to lose a lot of time. There was no grip on the hard tyres. It was a big mistake to put hard tires.” He lost more than three minutes, but he reached service and after his car was fixed he was able to continue.
The day began with clear skies and dry ground, although with some puddles from the rains that fell during the week. Ogier and Esapekka Lappi exchanged the lead until in the martyrdom de Monte Lerno, the Frenchman made it clear why he is eight times world champion, separating himself from his rivals, who were following him closely. But Lappi did not give up, and continued to attack in the afternoon, that it started to rain. in the end the photo finish it gave him the lead with just a tenth over the Frenchman, despite a puncture in the final stage.
Thierry Neuville, You’ve had a day full of ups and downs, don’t is far, 18 seconds away, while Kalle Rovanpera He has paid the toll to open the track and has dropped to 46 seconds. There are still two days to go, the second the longest of the rally, in which the treacherous roads of Sardinia can still deliver many surprises.
Classification
1. Lappi-Ferm (Fin/Hyundai), 1h 31m 48.8s
2. Ogier-Landais (Fra/Toyota), at 0.1
3. Neuville-Wydaeghe (Bel/Hyundai), at 18.6
4. Rovanpera-Halttunen (Fin/Toyota), at 46.1
5. Katsuta-Johnston (Japan/Toyota), at 47.4