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| Sunday, June 14 |
| Ogier - Ingrassia (Volkswagen) win Rally Italia Sardegna for the third time in a row |
| In the sixth round of the World Rally Championship, on a Polo R WRC French crew leads Kiwi Paddon and Belgian Neuville, second and third on the podium with the Hyundai i20. Ukrainian Protasov first in WRC2, ahead of Italian Andreucci, and Finn Suninen in WRC3. |
| Alghero (Italy), June 14, 2015. Sebastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia won Rally Italia Sardegna on a Volkswagen Polo R WRC. Sixth in the 2015 calendar, Italian round of the World Rally Championship has just crossed the finish line in the seafront of Alghero, north-west of the Mediterranean island, after four days and three very tough legs on Sardinia's gravel roads. Several thousands of spectators crowded Alghero city center and filled the artificial grandstands of Cagliari, which hosted opening super special stage on Thursday evening, and the natural ones of the roads throughout Sardinia. French reigning world champion crew, who further incresed their leadership in the 2015 WRC standings, won Italian rally for the third time in a row. Ogier took the lead of the race on Saturday's afternoon in SS17. In total he was fastest in seventh (six plus the final Cala Flumini Power Stage) of the 23 special stage run. Overall podium was completed by two Hyundai i20 WRC. Second are Hyden Paddon and co-driver Jhon Kennard. After Martin Prokop exploit in Cagliari, Kiwi crew won four stages and led the way from Friday's SS2 but dropped to second on Saturday when he had to slow down for a spun and some transmission issues after hitting a rock. Third on podium with one SS win is Belgian Thierry Neuville. Co-driven by Nicolas Gilsoul, in the opening Sunday's test he passed Mads Ostberg who won two stages but lost third position on a Citroen DS 3 WRC when he lost an earplug going wide in a corner and off the road, finishing Rally Italia Sardegna in fifth, later ovetaken by M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC of Elfyn Evans also. After experiencing several issue with punctures and dumpers on a Polo R WRC, sixth is Jari-Matti Latvala, who showed a great pace during the whole rally (he won seven special stage as the winner) and helped Volkaswagen to make 1-2-3 in the final Power Stage, following teammate Ogier and ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen. WRC2 went to Ukrainian Yurii Protasov on a Ford Fiesta RRC after a very thrilling fight with multiple Italian champion Paolo Andreucci, second in the category on a Peugeot 208 T16 R5. Finn Teemu Suninen won WRC3 on a Citroen DS 3 R3T ahead of ACI Italia Team drivers Andrea Crugnola (Renault Clio R3T) and Fabio Andolfi (Peugeot 208 R2), while Gianluca Linari is first in the Production Cup on a Subaru Impreza N14. Top Ten Rally Italia Sardegna: Ogier 4h25´54"3; 2. Paddon + 3´05"4; 3. Neuville +4´22"5 ; 4. Evans + 5´34"8; 5 Otsberg +7´50"1; Latvala +8´6"7; 7. Protasov + 14´57"7; 8. Andreucci + 15´03"3; 9. Kopecky + 17´41"7; 10. Al-Qassimi +19´12"0. |