[WRC] Rally Italia Sardegna 2021

[Oliverk]

impossible to avoid the stone,just right at his line,and with the speed he had definetely he hadnt had time to react.
https://twitter.com/OfficialWRC/stat...62162906537984

That "fan" with a green shirt next to the Tänak stone. Must be vey happy now, for not removing it. I have moved 30 kg boulders in my local rallyes 10-s of times.

[Rallyper]

So FIA tries to make Citroen leave the circus completely?

This sub frame weighting more...? 30 000 Euros!!!

And dashboard is controlled...? What were they looking for? Are all cars been scrutinered that dissected?

[AnttiL]

https://twitter.com/TakamotoKatsuta/...38956304646145

I must say huge thanks to my co-driver Dan.
I know it was impossible to keep concentrating but you did it for the team and for me... I hoping quick recovery and see you soon!Winking faceFolded hands

??

[Jarek Z]

I don't remember the greats like Mikkola, Röhrl, Vatanen, Kankkunen, Salonen, Auriol, Sainz, Loeb etc. showing their "big balls" through excessive swearing in interviews.

I think that there was no live broadcast from the stages at that time.

[mknight]

I think that there was no live broadcast from the stages at that time.

Since at least 1997 there have been reporters at almost every stopline with camera and mic right into drivers face.

[JRecords]

https://youtu.be/h_A5ZVGiA0Q
My video with Rally Sardegna in 0:04 amazing Katsuta jump...

[AnttiL]

I think that there was no live broadcast from the stages at that time.

Yes there was, even in the 80’s

[Jarek Z]

Yes there was, even in the 80’s

Thanks for the info. I was too young in the eighties. Plus - in Poland we didn't have access to western TV channels at those dark times

[tommeke_B]

My resume from our Rally Italia Sardegna. After the travel restrictions eased a few weeks ago, we booked for the rally, quite last-minute. Went from Thursday night until Sunday night, so no shakedown, and no powerstage (as we had to catch the plane back). Thanks to the easy itinerary with different stages in the morning and the afternoon, we managed to see 10 stages.

First stage on Friday was the reversed Monte Lerno (ignoring the name they used), a fast righthander only 3km after the start. Not that much special to see, apart from Suninen who went really wide despite not going so fast compared to others. Later that stage we heard he went off, nobody was surprised... Then we went to SS4, Terranova, to some fast section with some bump that hadn't been used since 2008, a place found on an onboard with Loeb. Not sure if it's down to the evolution of the suspension, or the shape of the road having changed, but from that big bump little was left. In 2008 the car hit the ground, now they barely had an impact. Anyway, still a very nice spot where you had a long view. Then off to SS6 and SS8. SS6 the famous 2 jumps near a windmill. Lots of spectators and a lot of remote cameras on spot, so no photos. What I'll remember is that it was less spectacular than other years, and very hot. SS8 some technical section after the start, not much special to see, the road was getting very rutted.

Saturday we started on SS9 with a fast section of corners between the cork trees. Always spectacular to see the cars slide from one corner into the other on those roads which seem to be made just around the trees. After that we went to SS12, on some extremely fast section (roughly 160kph), it's a long left hander some kind of drop in the middle. Very spectacular to see the cars slide full throttle and then fly for a few tenths of a section before proceeding their high-speed drift. Especially Evans and Neuville were crazy to see. Ogier was clean but looked at least as fast, and so was his stage-time. Then we went to the finish of SS13, a new stage. Great views. Some km before the finish I found some Safari-like section, where they drove on the grass, there was some right hander with a sharp jump in it. Most drivers took it easy, and it didn't take long before the stage was neutralized. We ended the day on SS16 Castelsardo, the sharp downhill section with all the jumps, which most people who watched WRC+ will recognize. Very interesting to see how much some were pushing there, especially regarding there's little time to be won there and for many the rally was pretty much over.

Sunday we did SS17 and 19, arrived at the last junction before the finish, without much preparation. Luckily there was a nice spot just after the junction, where you could see the junction, a lefthander with a watersplash in it, into a medium right. Interesting to see, lots of different lines, and also fun to watch the later runners. On the second loop I chose a fast lefthander over a sharp crest between rocks, nearly 200m before that junction. Despite looking like a really nice place, I expected it to be boring, as it's the last stage before the powerstage. However it was nice, both Neuville and Sordo went quite wide. Then for the R5 cars (sorry, rally2..) we waited until Linnamäe before leaving, he was spectacular every time we saw him... And he had a huge crash there, one of the biggest ones I've seen in my life. He arrived way too fast, completely sideways, went wide and hit the bank, after that the nose went over, and he rolled front-to-end. The impacts were very brutal and it seemed like he kept rolling. After the corner it was sharp downhill, the car stopped some 150m after the corner, the road was littered with dampers, wheels and pieces from the cars, sump guard laying in front of the car, gearbox sitting loose underneath it... I opened the co-drivers door and asked if they were ok, but they seemed to be dizzy from the crash. Fortunately at the junction just after, the paramedics were there, so it didn't take long for them to be looked after. Also the car started smoking but that was shut quickly. I hope someone can confirm both are OK now.

So we ended the rally with a bang... All in all great event. It was my 8th Rally Sardinia, and apart from one place, everything was new for me. The organizers are really blessed with Sardinia as a location. There are a lot of roads to choose from so they can keep innovating their rally, making almost every edition different from the others. Only downside is how rough the stages are, resulting in a lot of retirements, but also that is part of the sport. Without SuperRally, it would be a disaster on sunday.

A few photos:


Neuville pushing it on SS12.


Huttunen in the watersplash on SS17.


Linnamäe on SS19 where it went wrong.


Ogier on SS 13.


Ingram on SS9.

Some more photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...52183768126792

[tommeke_B]

So FIA tries to make Citroen leave the circus completely?

This sub frame weighting more...? 30 000 Euros!!!

And dashboard is controlled...? What were they looking for? Are all cars been scrutinered that dissected?

Making the sub frame stronger for a rough event like Sardinia could be a serious advantage to the car... If you homologate a part, it should be the same for every event, not lighter or heavier. If they allow that, all teams can make their parts stronger/heavier for Safari only.