Usually, there is a four-week break in between World Rally Championship events. The traveling circus that is global motorsport does not come together quickly or easily. Logistics managers need time to disassemble and then reassemble the workspace which is then taken over by mechanics and drivers as they prep for the weekends racing. This weekend is different as the fleet of WRC teams have little prep time ahead of their arrival in Sardinia.
Rally Portugal came to a close just two weeks ago and now drivers and support crews need to readjust and ready themselves for what will be a relatively similar challenge.
The gravel surfaces will be the order of the day when racing begins tonight in Olbia at ten past five Irish time with an exciting Super Special Stage to bring the action in front of Italy’s passionate fans before moving closer to its base in Alghero for the remainder of the rally.
M-Sport Ford fields a four-strong hybrid-powered Puma Rally1 entry led by Craig Breen who sits sixth in the drivers' standings.
Young chargers Gus Greensmith, Adrien Fourmaux, and Pierre-Louis Loubet will each bid for their maiden WRC podiums.
After Thursday night’s start, competitors face 21 speed tests covering 307.91km.
Ambient air temperatures often exceed 30 degrees during Rally d’Italia which make for tough conditions for the crews. The challenge of Rally d’Italia is further compounded by a continually developing surface as the soft and sandy top surface covers a very hard and immovable bedrock. It results in an unstable surface that is ravaged by the powerful Rally1 cars digging up ruts and rocks – particularly on the second pass of each stage.Crews are usually faced with two options for their rally strategy: an intense pace to stretch out a comfortable advantage which runs the risk of not finishing the rally or drive to the limits of the road and make up ground stage by stage. The winning strategy is usually a good balance between the two, by way of identifying the right areas to push and not push throughout the rally.
Breen, said: “Really looking forward to Sardinia, it hasn’t been very long since the rally in Portugal but I’m happy with what we learned there, I think we’ve learned a lot during the weekend and it’s given us food for thought. I’m hoping that we can put that into practice already early on in Sardinia, we have a better road position starting on Friday, so let’s try to make the biggest advantage we can of that. “It’s a rally I haven’t done for a few years, but the stages are a mix of old and new, but I like what I’ve seen from the onboards, and I think it’ll be a rally that’ll suit us. Let’s attack it as best we can, we obviously want to get ourselves back on track again and gain some good points, and start making some more inroads into our championship progress.”
