The 2020 Rally Italia Sardegna (also known as the Rally Italia Sardegna 2020) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was scheduled to be held over four days between 4 and 7 June 2020, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was reset to hold between 8 and 11 October 2020 following the cancellation of 2020 Rallye Deutschland. It marked the seventeenth running of Rally Italia Sardegna and was the seventh round of the 2020 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. It was also set to be the third round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The 2020 event was based in Alghero in Sardinia and consisted of sixteen special stages. The rally covered a total competitive distance of .
Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio were the defending rally winners. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they would not defend their titles as they were promoted to the higher class. In the World Rally Championship-3 category, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais were the reigning rally winners, but they would not defend their titles neither as they were promoted to the sport's top category. Jan Solans and Mauro Barreiro were the defending winners in the Junior World Rally Championship.
Sordo and del Barrio successfully defended their titles, winning their third career victory. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. Pontus Tidemand and Patrick Barth were the winners in the WRC-2 category. Jari Huttunen and Mikko Lukka were the winners in the WRC-3 category. Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog won the junior class.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin entered the round with an eighteen-point lead over six-time world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Reigning world champions Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were third, a further nine points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a nine-point lead over defending manufacturers' champions Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, following by M-Sport Ford WRT.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Pontus Tidemand and Patrick Barth held a five-point lead ahead of Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with Adrien Fourmaux and Renaud Jamoul in third. In the manufacturer' championship, Toksport WRT led M-Sport Ford WRT by nineteen points. Hyundai Motorsport N sat in third, a slender four points behind.
In the World Rally Championship-3 standings, Marco Bulacia Wilkinson led Jari Huttunen by twelve points in the drivers' standing, with Kajetan Kajetanowicz in third. The co-drivers' standing was led by Mikko Lukka. Maciek Szczepaniak and Aaron Johnston held second and third respectively.
In the junior championship, Mārtiņš Sesks and Renars Francis led Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen by eight points. Tom Kristensson and Joakim Sjöberg were third, eleven points further back. In the Nations' championships, Latvia held a thirteen-point lead over Finland, with Estonia in third.
Entry list The following crews entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3, and Junior World Rally Championship and privateer entries that were not registered to score points in any championship. Sixty-four entries were received, with thirteen crews entered in World Rally Cars, six Group R5 cars entered in the World Rally Championship-2 and fifteen in the World Rally Championship-3. A further eight crews were entered in the Junior World Rally Championship in Ford Fiesta R2s.
No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre World Rally Championship entries 3 Teemu Suninen Jarmo Lehtinen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7 Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 17 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 18 Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 21 Petter Solberg Andreas Mikkelsen Saintéloc Junior Team Citroën C3 WRC 22 Martin Prokop Zdeněk Jůrka MP-Sports Ford Fiesta RS WRC 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 44 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 69 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC World Rally Championship-2 entries 23 Pontus Tidemand Patrik Barth Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 24 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen PH-Sport Citroën C3 R5 25 Adrien Fourmaux Renaud Jamoul M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 26 Nikolay Gryazin Konstantin Aleksandrov Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai NG i20 R5 27 Ole Christian Veiby Jonas Andersson Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai NG i20 R5 28 Eyvind Brynildsen Ilka Minor Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia R5 Evo World Rally Championship-3 entries 29 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Marcelo Der Ohannesian Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Citroën C3 R5 30 Jari Huttunen Mikko Lukka Jari Huttunen Hyundai NG i20 R5 31 Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 32 Oliver Solberg Aaron Johnston Oliver Solberg Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 34 Nicolas Ciamin Yannick Roche Nicolas Ciamin Citroën C3 R5 35 Eric Camilli François-Xavier Buresi Eric Camilli Citroën C3 R5 36 Emilio Fernández Ruben Garcia Emilio Fernández Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 37 Yohan Rossel Benoît Fulcrand PH-Sport Citroën C3 R5 38 Alberto Heller Marc Martí Alberto Heller Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 39 Jan Solans Mauro Barreiro Jan Solans Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 40 Umberto Scandola Guido D'Amore Umberto Scandola Hyundai NG i20 R5 41 "Pedro" Emmanuele Baldaccini "Pedro" Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II 42 Sean Johnston Alexander Kihurani Saintéloc Junior Team Citroën C3 R5 45 Alberto Battistolli Simone Scattolin Alberto Battistolli Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 46 Luciano Cobbe Fabio Turco Luciano Cobbe Škoda Fabia R5 Evo Junior World Rally Championship entries 47 Mārtiņš Sesks Renars Francis LMT Autosporta Akadēmija Ford Fiesta R2 48 Sami Pajari Marko Salminen Team Flying Finn Ford Fiesta R2 49 Tom Kristensson Joakim Sjöberg Tom Kristensson Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2 50 Ruairi Bell Darren Garrod Ruairi Bell Ford Fiesta R2 51 Fabrizio Zaldívar Fernando Mussano Fabrizio Zaldívar Ford Fiesta R2 52 Marco Pollara Maurizio Messina Marco Pollara Ford Fiesta R2 53 Enrico Oldrati Elia De Guio Enrico Oldrati Ford Fiesta R2 54 Fabio Andolfi Stefano Savoia Fabio Andolfi Ford Fiesta R2 Other Major Entries 43 Ulysses Bertholdo Gabriel Morales Motorsport Italia Škoda Fabia R5 56 Armin Kremer Ella Kremer Armin Kremer Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 Source:
Route Itinerary All dates and times are CEST (UTC+2). Date Time No. Stage name Distance 8 October 12:01 — Olmedo [Shakedown] 3.96 km Leg 1 — 95.25 km 9 October 07:50 SS1 Tempio Pausania 1 12.08 km 08:44 SS2 Erula — Tula 1 21.78 km 10:40 SS3 Tempio Pausania 2 12.08 km 11:34 SS4 Erula — Tula 2 21.78 km 16:14 SS5 Sedini — Castelsardo 1 14.72 km 16:59 SS6 Tergu — Osilo 1 12.81 km Leg 2 — 101.69 km 10 October 07:37 SS7 Monte Lerno 1 22.08 km 08:38 SS8 Coiluna — Loelle 1 15.00 km 10:07 SS9 Monte Lerno 2 22.08 km 11:08 SS10 Coiluna — Loelle 2 15.00 km 16:08 SS11 Sedini — Castelsardo 2 14.72 km 17:02 SS12 Tergu — Osilo 2 12.81 km Leg 3 — 41.90 km 11 October 08:15 SS13 Cala Flumini 1 14.06 km 09:08 SS14 Sassari — Argentiera 1 6.89 km 11:10 SS15 Cala Flumini 2 14.06 km 12:18 SS16 Sassari — Argentiera 2 [Power Stage] 6.89 km Source:
Report World Rally Cars Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio were the crew who set the benchmark, while a suspension issue created a back foot for Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja. Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen retired from the rally when they crashed out in the morning loop of the second leg. Sordo and del Barrio eventually won the rally for the second straight year. There was an epic battle for the runner-up spot between the crew of Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul and Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, with Neuville and Gilsoul ultimately came out on top.
Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Event Stage 1 1 6 Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:41:37.5 0.0 25 1 2 2 11 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:41:42.6 +5.1 18 4 3 3 17 Sebastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:41:42.6 +6.1 15 3 4 4 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:42:39.8 +1:02.3 12 2 5 5 3 Teemu Suninen Jarmo Lehtinen M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 2:43:11.4 +1:33.9 10 0 6 6 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:44:05.0 +2:27.5 8 5 7 7 7 Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:46:21.3 +4:43.8 6 0 15 8 22 Martin Prokop Zdeněk Jůrka MP-Sports Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2:54:22.3 +12:44.8 0 0 25 9 44 Gus Greensmith Elliott Edmondson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:14:44.6 +33:07.1 0 0 Excluded 21 Petter Solberg Andreas Mikkelsen Saintéloc Junior Team Citroën C3 WRC Shakedown and Power Stage only 0 0 Retired SS14 18 Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC Rolled 0 0 Retired SS8 69 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC Accident 0 0 Retired SS2 4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC Engine 0 0
Special stages Date No. Stage name Distance Winners Car Time Class leaders 8 October — Olmedo [Shakedown] 3.96 km Evans / MartinTänak / Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRCHyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:13.6 9 October SS1 Tempio Pausania 1 12.08 km Suninen / Lehtinen Ford Fiesta WRC 9:59.8 Suninen / Lehtinen SS2 Erula — Tula 1 21.78 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 16:50.0 SS3 Tempio Pausania 2 12.08 km Evans / Martin Toyota Yaris WRC 9:49.0 SS4 Erula — Tula 2 21.78 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 16:33.1 Sordo / del Barrio SS5 Sedini — Castelsardo 1 14.72 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 10:56.7 SS6 Tergu — Osilo 1 12.81 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:16.5 10 October SS7 Monte Lerno 1 22.08 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 12:46.9 SS8 Coiluna — Loelle 1 15.00 km Sordo / del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:52.5 SS9 Monte Lerno 2 22.08 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 12:29.6 SS10 Coiluna — Loelle 2 15.00 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:42.9 SS11 Sedini — Castelsardo 2 14.72 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 10:39.3 SS12 Tergu — Osilo 2 12.81 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 8:03.4 11 October SS13 Cala Flumini 1 14.06 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 8:35.5 SS14 Sassari — Argentiera 1 6.89 km Neuville / Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4:51.3 SS15 Cala Flumini 2 14.06 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 8:23.2 SS16 Sassari — Argentiera 2 [Power Stage] 6.89 km Tänak / Järveoja Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 4:45.7
Championship standings Drivers' championships Co-drivers' championships Manufacturers' championshipsMoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPointsMoveManufacturerPoints 1 Elfyn Evans 111 Scott Martin 111 1 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 208 2 Sébastien Ogier 97 Julien Ingrassia 97 1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 201 3 2 Thierry Neuville 87 2 Nicolas Gilsoul 87 M-Sport Ford WRT 117 4 1 Ott Tänak 83 1 Martin Järveoja 83 Hyundai 2C Competition 8 5 1 Kalle Rovanperä 70 1 Jonne Halttunen 70
World Rally Championship-2