TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team aims to rise to another tough gravel challenge when Rally Italia Sardegna hosts round six of the 2024 season from May 31 to June 2
After victories in the last three events in Kenya
TGR-WRT will once more target a strong result on the Italian island of Sardinia as it looks to fight back in the championship – with just four points separating it from the lead in the manufacturers’ standings
Sébastien Ogier will contend for a third win from as many rounds in Sardinia
where he has triumphed four times previously – most recently with TGR-WRT in 2021
who finished second to his team-mate on that occasion
who has placed as high as fourth on the event previously
Twenty years since Sardinia first hosted Italy’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship
it will debut a new more condensed format that will pack the competitive action – totalling 266.12 kilometres – into just 48 hours
it should remain just as demanding: the fast but narrow and technical stages leave little margin for error
while the sandy surface is swept away by each passing car to expose a rocky and abrasive base
This can combine with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees centigrade to punish cars and tyres
The service park switches back from Olbia to the historic city of Alghero on the island’s northwest coast and
after shakedown takes place on Friday morning at the nearby Ittiri rallycross circuit
the rally starts in the afternoon with two stages to be driven twice on the northern coast
Saturday heads further east and features over half of the competitive distance
with 149 km to be driven without mid-day service
Two stages will be run twice in the morning
before a tyre-fitting zone and another two stages are tackled twice in the afternoon
On Sunday there’s a return to two repeated stages along the northwest coast
Fresh from its maiden WRC2 victory in Portugal
the GR Yaris Rally2 will again be well-represented in Sardinia with seven drivers competing: Sami Pajari (Printsport)
Hikaru Kogure (both TGR-WRT Next Generation) and Jean-Michel Raoux (ERACE WRT)
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC 2024 Official Partners