McErlean and Treacy hoping to return to event Saturday after dramatic stage two at Rally Italia Sardegna
MOTORS: Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy Eoin (Ford Puma Rally1) return to the second leg of Rally Italia Sardegna under Super Rally rules. Pic: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.
A dramatic and incident filled second stage of Rally Italia Sardegna, round six of the World Rally Championship, claimed the Irish crew of Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy along with their M-Sport Ford team mates Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka and Martins Sesks/Renars Francis leaving Jourdan Serderidis as the sole Ford competitor, but the Greek driver reported a broken suspension damper at the stage end.
Meanwhile, French driver Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) leads overnight 2.1s ahead of compatriot Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai i20 Rally1) with his Hyundai team mate Ott Tanak 5.2s further behind in third.
It had begun well for Kilrea's McErlean and Killeagh's Treacy, who followed up their strong performance in the shakedown to post the sixth fastest time on SS1 - 5.4s behind rally leader Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1). "It was okay. I don't think I took much out of the road, it cleaned a lot, I saw Ogier's time before the stage and do that third on the road is incredible. Still a lot more to go."
Unfortunately, the "more" only lasted about 8.5km into the Telti-Calangianus-Berchidda 18.43 km stage when McErlean's Puma clipped a tree. "Small mistakes have big consequences, after a positive start we ran wide and damaged the rear suspension and couldn't continue." Aware of his team mates, he added, "Not a great stage for M-Sport. We knew it would be tough, but this is brutal."
The Irish duo are hoping to return to the event today (Saturday) under Super Rally where they will have the extra challenge of sweeping the road.
Meanwhile, Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux topped the time sheets after the opening loop of three stages 2.9s ahead of his team mate and reigning WR champion Thierry Neuville with Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) seeking a record breaking fifth win on the event, 5.2s further behind in third. Championship leader Elfyn Evans (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) was down in eighth place and 41.2s off the lead, principally due to the fact that he was running first on the road.
On the repeat loop, Neuville regained the lead on SS4 only to retire on the next stage following an impact that damaged the suspension. Fourmaux was back in front once more followed by team mate Tanak - 1.2s behind with Ogier third before setting the best time on SS6 to lead overnight. There are six stages today and four on Sunday.
: 1. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h. 10m. 33.1s; 2. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+2.1s; 3. O. Tanak Ott/M. Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+7.3s; 4. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+16.8s; 5. K. Rovanpera/J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+22.8s; 6. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+1m. 09.8s; 7. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+2m. 27.9s.
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