Rally Italia-Sardegna / Rally review
The remote service in Budduso’s grandstand provided ample viewing opportunities for the fans.
24/44
Since the rally originated on the Italian island of
Sardinia, the rally centre including central service
and rally HQ was based in the Mediterranean
port of Olbia in the east of the country. In it’s port
we could see the many ships connecting the island with mainland Italy. Apart from that the town
had an airport catering nicely for the extremely
well to do citizens of nearby Porto Vecchio. The
real action was central and southern part of the
island. Now the rally was moved 136 kilometres
to the west, (that is as far as you can go west if
you want to stay on the island. There Rally HQ
has been set up in Alghero. This town can also
boast on an airport, but this one far more caters
for tourists and their charter planes. The route
Kiwi Hayden Paddon made his debut for Hyundai in Sardinia.
(according to the organizers has been changed
for over 40 %. To start the event the drivers had
to go all the way south to a nice superspecial in
the city of Cagliari. For shakedown the competitors had to go east not very far from Alghero. On
the first proper day of rallying the whole circus
went to the east. All stages were in the direct vicinity of the remote service in Budduso. On the
second day the stages were not to far away from
the stages of day one, but this time the cars had
to travel back to Alghero for the midday service.
On the decisive (Sun-)day the all new stages
were north east of Alghero near the coast, with a
midday service in Alghero.
Teams and Drivers
Some 57 drivers came to the Italian island. Among
the manufacturer’s teams there were hardly any
surprises. Hyundai had a three car entry again,
with, of course, Neuville, supported by regular teammate Hänninen. New to the team was
Hayden Paddon making his debut for Hyundai.
Khalid Al Qassimi was back again at Citroën and
another welcome addition to the field is Henning
Solberg who is expected to drive all European
WRC rounds this year. For the second time this
year Jaroslav Melicharek sat behind the wheel
of his Fiesta WRC from the Slovak National Rallyteam. In Monte Carlo he had a relatively good
result by finishing in 8th position.