Ott Tänak has won Rally Italia Sardegna 2022, the fifth round of the 2022 WRC season, in dominant fashion to jump to third in the championship standings.
It’s Tänak’s first win since last year’s Arctic Rally Finland. The victory marks Hyundai’s and Tänak’s first hybrid-powered win in the WRC.
It means that now all manufacturers have won a rally since the introduction of the new Rally1 regulations.
Tänak was second after Friday’s stages as he was battling for the lead with Toyota driver Esapekka Lappi, the difference being just 0.7 seconds.
Lappi went off the road on the opening stage of Saturday, allowing Tänak to take over the lead. A dominant day followed for Tänak in which he won six of the seven stages.
Sunday was a formality for the Hyundai driver as he defended a 46-second lead. His lead wouldn’t come in danger and he took his first rally win of the season.
Craig Breen and Dani Sordo complete the podium in Italy. Pierre-Louis Loubet finished fourth overall, his career-best finish in the WRC.
Championship leader Kalle Rovanperä finished fifth and extends his lead over his closest rival in the WRC standings to 55 points. See the full updated championship standings below.
The top ten was completed by Takamoto Katsuta, Gus Greensmith, WRC2 winner Nikolay Gryazin, Jan Solans and Jari Huttunen.
Neuville takes Power Stage win
Thierry Neuville took the Power Stage win and takes the five bonus points to keep his second place in the championship standings. Rovanperä, Evans, Lappi and Katsuta were the other (bonus) points scoring drivers in the final stage of the event.
Rovanperä keeps a commanding lead in the championship after Rally Italia Sardegna. In fact, he extended the points gap with his closest rival Neuville to 55 points. Tänak moves up to P3 in the standings, just 3 points behind his Belgian team-mate. Breen moves up one place to fourth on 52 points, 10 points behind Tänak and 5 points ahead of Katsuta who drops from third to fifth.
Next up on the 2022 WRC calendar is the legendary Safari Rally Kenya on 23 – 26 June!
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WRC Rally Italia Sardegna 2022 – Final Results
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | 3:10:59.1 |
| 2. | Breen / Nagle | Ford Puma Rally1 | +1:03.2 |
| 3. | Sordo / Carrera | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +1:33.0 |
| 4. | Loubet / Landais | Ford Puma Rally1 | +2:09.4 |
| 5. | Rovanperä / Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +3:02.8 |
| 6. | Katsuta / Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +4:02.6 |
| 7. | Greensmith / Andersson | Ford Puma Rally1 | +5:23.6 |
| 8. | Gryazin / Aleksandrov | Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo | +7:37.7 |
| 9. | Solans / De Sanjuan | Citroën C3 Rally2 | +8:05.7 |
| 10. | Huttunen / Lukka | Ford Fiesta Rally2 | +8:10.8 |
WRC 2022 Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 5/13 [Top 10]
| # | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kalle Rovanperä | 120 |
| 2. | Thierry Neuville | 65 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | 62 |
| 4. | Craig Breen | 52 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | 47 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans | 39 |
| 7. | Dani Sordo | 34 |
| 8. | Sébastien Loeb | 27 |
| 9. | Gus Greensmith | 26 |
| 9. | Sébastien Ogier | 19 |
WRC 2022 Manufacturers’ Championship standings after Round 5/13
| # | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 200 |
| 2. | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 161 |
| 3. | M-Sport Ford WRT | 120 |
| 4. | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG | 53 |
Photo: Hyundai Motorsport