The World Rally Championship is the top tier of international competition in rallying, which the FIA governs and organizes. In 2021, a team championship has been added to the mix. The schedule this year includes 12 events, which take place on snow and ice, or gravel and tarmac, depending on the site. Each rally is generally divided into between 15 and 25 stages, in which drivers race on closed roads against the clock. Today we will look at the Rally Italia Sardegna, set to start on June 3 and run through June 6.
Let’s check out the current rally standings, as well as our WRC betting insights on the rally.
World Rally Championship News: Rally Italia Sardegna Preview
WRC Standings (after three races)
| Racer | Points |
| Sebastien Ogier | 79 |
| Elfyn Evans | 77 |
| Thierry Neuville | 57 |
| Kalle Rovanpera | 41 |
| Takamoto Katsuta | 36 |
| Dani Sordo | 29 |
| Craig Breen | 24 |
| Gus Greensmith | 22 |
| Adrien Fourmaux | 20 |
| Teemu Suninen | 9 |
| Esapekka Lappi | 7 |
| Andreas Mikkelsen | 6 |
| Oliver Solberg | 6 |
| Mads Ostberg | 4 |
| Nikolay Gryazin | 1 |
| Eric Camilli | 1 |
Ninety-nine cars have entered the Rally Italia Sardegna for Thursday’s shakedown, which is the last test. All of the cars will be configured for the rally. Of those 99, 55 will take part in the WRC race, and 44 will race for the Italian Rally Junior and the Italian Gravel Trophy. The shakedown will take place along the 2.89-kilometer Loiri-Porto San Paolo road. The starting ceremony will send the drivers off, and they will stop on the seashore for the night, going out the next morning for the first of eight tests.
Dani Sordo looks to make it a three-peat at Sardegna. This is just his third start in a FIA WRC race in 2021, but he does extremely well on gravel roads like this, which explains his recent dominance here. His teammate, Thierry Neuville, won here in 2016 and 2018, so Hyundai has controlled this race with four wins in five years. Sordo also came in second two weeks ago at the last WRC round in Portugal, so he has momentum coming in. His affinity for this course dates all the way back to 2005, when he picked up his first Junior WRC victory, starting a roll that would lead him to the Junior WRC title. He will start in seventh position for the opening leg on Friday, which is actually an advantage over those ahead of them, as they start in loose gravel; as they move on, their tires spin loose stones away, giving better grip to those in the back.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has the top two drivers in the point standings — Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans, just two points apart. They will start at the front, which means they will face that initial disadvantage of having to clean the road for those who come behind them. Kalle Rovanpera drives the third car for Toyota and is looking to recover from a disappointing finish in Portugal, as he had to retire.
Gus Greensmith, racing for M-Sport Ford, will have a new co-driver again. He started with Elliott Edmondson, but then had to switch to Chris Patterson, so now he will have a third co-driver in four 2021 rallies. Teemu Suninen is the other M-Sport Ford driver, and this week he will run in place of Adrien Fourmaux, who follows up two top-tier rallies by dropping back down to the WRC2 support group.
Temperatures are expected to be high, and so combined with the fact that tracks grow in abrasiveness and rocky terrain during the second pass through the special stages, this will be a grueling event for everyone — and for the tires as well. Full coverage will be accessible on WRC+ All Live.
WRC Betting Odds
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