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The World Rally Championship (WRC) title race took another dramatic twist with Thierry Neuville retiring from Rally Italia Sardegna. Running in second place, the Belgian was forced to stop after sustaining rear-end damage to his Hyundai just one kilometre into the second pass of the Lerno stage. His retirement promoted every driver behind rally leader Oliver Solberg up one position.
The 2024 world champion had claimed the rally lead on Friday evening before losing it to Solberg on SS10—a crucial swing for the overall standings, with victory awarding eight points more than second place.
Solberg had initially reduced the virtual deficit to championship leader Elfyn Evans to just four points. However, Neuville's exit handed direct championship rivals Evans and Sami Pajari a one-place promotion each, giving both an additional two points compared to when the Belgian sat in second.
Ahead of Sunday's bonus points allocation, Evans is projected to reach 240 points. Solberg would move to 234 points should he hold on to the rally lead, while Pajari is on 225 points courtesy of his rise to fourth.
Sébastien Ogier was elevated to second position, 36.6 seconds adrift of Solberg. The Frenchman must now hold off the sole remaining Hyundai of Adrien Fourmaux, who trails the reigning world champion by 19.1 seconds.
Fourmaux overtook Pajari earlier in the day, leaving the Finn 24.4 seconds adrift of the final podium spot. Evans faces an uphill battle to gain further ground on merit, with the gap to Pajari widening to 52.5 seconds.
There was also disappointment for Mārtiņš Sesks, who retired on the road section ahead of SS10 with steering issues, losing tenth position overall.
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