WRC 3
Fontana seals maiden WRC3 win in Sardinia thriller
Matteo Fontana overcame a heart-stopping scare to claim his first-ever WRC3 victory at Rally Italia Sardegna, capping off a breakthrough season on home soil.
Fontana and co-driver Alessandro Arnaboldi had already secured two podium finishes earlier this year but finally climbed to the top step with a composed drive across the rugged Mediterranean stages—despite a Sunday drama that nearly cost them everything.
The HMI Motorsport crew dropped over two minutes on SS14 after suspecting a puncture. They stopped to check the tyres but, finding nothing wrong, carried out further inspections before rejoining the stage - costing valuable time and throwing the win into doubt.
But with others hitting trouble, Fontana held firm to reach the Olbia finish with a 24.5sec buffer over Bolivia’s Nataniel Bruun, who delivered a career-best result in second. Bruun, whose only previous WRC3 podium came at ORLEN Rally Poland in 2024, drove a clean and consistent rally to stay in the fight throughout.
"It's fantastic," Fontana said. "Winning here is really important for me. It feels really good and I want to say thank you to all my team - they have done an incredible job the whole rally, and also to the guys at the workshop who have done everything for this rally."
There was a late twist in the battle for third. Frenchman Matteo Chatillon had been on course for the final podium spot before breaking his rear-right suspension on the penultimate stage. That mishap opened the door for Peru’s André Martinez, who pounced to secure his first-ever WRC3 top-three finish - despite incurring a 20-second penalty earlier in the event.
Germany’s Timo Weigert and Türkiye’s Kerem Kazaz rounded out the top five.
