A costly error has seen New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon give up the lead at Rally Italia Sardegna and put Ott Tanak in the box seat with one day remaining on the WRC event.
The Estonian, who is chasing his first WRC victory, takes a 24.3sec advantage over Jari-Matti Latvala into the final leg.
After taking the lead on the first full day of competition, Paddon was 10sec clear of Tanak in the afternoon when he hit a bank in the afternoon’s opening stage and wrecked the rear right of his Hyundai i20.
He limped to the finish with the wheel hanging loose and flames billowing from the wheel arch; retirement was instant.
“I am devastated. It was such a schoolboy error, which caused us to break the rear wheel,” said Paddon.
“I turned in too early and clipped a bank. That was that. There is no one to blame but myself, and I am hugely sorry for the team and all of our supporters.
“It’s important that I learn from this and do all I can to put things right at the next event. Things were going so well and we were maintaining our lead, which makes it even more frustrating.”
Tanak pressed home his advantage, claiming two stage wins to add to one from the morning. His gamble to carry just one spare wheel as a precaution against punctures on the rocky roads improved the balance of his Ford Fiesta.
“It’s been a big fight all rally and I’ve really enjoyed it. Some guys have been dropping out, but we’ve been doing a good job and all we need to do now is keep going and continue exactly as we have been,” said Tanak.
“I think we had a good strategy for this weekend. Sardinia is a very special event and it needs a very special approach. You always need to keep that margin and that is what we have done and what we plan to continue doing.
“A massive thanks to the team as the car has been perfect this afternoon. They’ve been working flat-out all hours of the day – literally – and we wouldn’t be sitting here in the first position if it weren’t for them.
“There’s still 40 kilometres of very demanding stages left to come, but there’s a good gap now and we just need to finish the job.”
Latvala climbed from fourth to second in his Toyota Yaris, the Finn’s only problem when he was slowed by dust kicked up by a delayed Mads Ostberg. His team has requested rally officials credit the lost time to Latvala.
Thierry Neuville was 37.9sec behind in third in another i20. The Belgian was team-mate Paddon’s closest challenger when brake failure cost a minute in this morning’s final stage.
Esapekka Lappi was fourth on only his second outing in a World Rally Car. Brake problems hampered the Finn but he overhauled Yaris team-mate Juho Hanninen in the final stage, when Hanninen spun and his power steering failed.
Championship leader Sebastien Ogier was sixth, ahead of Mads Ostberg and Andreas Mikkelsen. All three conceded more than two minutes when they punctured in this morning’s Monte Lerno test and stopped to fit replacement rubber.
WRC 2 leader Jan Kopecky and Eric Camilli completed the leaderboard.
Sunday’s finale is the shortest of the weekend and is based on the coast north of Alghero. Competitors face two identical loops of two stages covering 42.04km, with bonus points available to the fastest five drivers in the last live TV Power Stage.
POSITIONS: Leg 2 – Rally Italia Sardegna
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
| 1 | O. Tanak | Ford Fiesta WRC | 2:56:37.3 |
| 2 | J.M Latvala | Toyota Yaris WRC | +0:24.3 |
| 3 | T. Neuville | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | +1:02.2 |
| 4 | E. Lappi | Toyota Yaris WRC | +2:10.8 |
| 5 | J. Hänninen | Toyota Yaris WRC | +2:42.1 |
| 6 | S. Ogier | Ford Fiesta WRC | +3:26.1 |
| 7 | M. Ostberg | Ford Fiesta WRC | +3:56.0 |
| 8 | A. Mikkelsen | Citroen C3 WRC | +7:47.6 |
VIDEO: Morning Stages
VIDEO: Afternoon Stages
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