News in Brief: Italy
A selection of stories that are making the news in the WRC ahead of Rally Italia Sardegna
Injury update: Mads Ostberg is confident his right thumb that was injured at Rally Argentina will cause no problems. This morning’s shakedown was his first time in a rally car since doctors diagnosed a small fracture after his thumb was caught by a spinning steering wheel.
“It is definitely working again. It’s not back to normal, but driving today in the shakedown was no problem. I’m glad we had the long break after Argentina so we can be ready,” said the Norwegian.
Ogier opens up: Sébastien Ogier admits he will struggle tomorrow when he opens the road. As championship leader, the Frenchman starts first in his Volkswagen Polo R and must sweep the sandy gravel to leave cleaner and faster conditions for his rivals behind.
“Obviously it will be a tough job to open the road on day one, that’s for sure. I expect to lose time because it’s quite bad to be first on the road. I don’t want to complain because the rules are like that but it’s a real fact that it’s a big disadvantage,” said Ogier.
Happy Hayden: Hyundai debutant Hayden Paddon was pleasantly surprised after seeing the Sardinian stages for the first time during the recce.
“They’re not as bad as I thought. I was expecting a lot more twisty sections from videos I’ve seen but there are some fast places, which is quite nice. But there are narrow sections as well with rocks on the side of the road, so there’s not a lot of room for error,” he said.
Rendina’s troubles: Production Cup leader Max Rendina parked his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X in this morning’s Putifigari shakedown stage with broken front left suspension. The Italian’s car was returned to the Alghero service park on a truck.
