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Two key contenders at this year's Rally Sardinia, Oliver Solberg and Sébastien Ogier, suffered the day's first punctures during Friday's opening loop. The event marks the WRC season finale and will crown the new world champion, with all three title hopefuls driving for Toyota: Elfyn Evans, Sami Pajari, and Oliver Solberg.
Solberg left the morning service park carrying two spare tyres in his boot, while all other Rally1 crews opted for just one. That tactical call paid off immediately when Oliver picked up a puncture on the day's opening stage. Fortunately for him, the deflation occurred near the end of the test, limiting his time loss to just 13.5 seconds behind stage winner Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), posting the eighth-fastest time.
The drama escalated on the very next stage when rally leader Ogier was struck down by a front-right puncture. The setback stripped the Frenchman of his overall lead and cost him 26 seconds to stage winner Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). Setting only the 10th-fastest time on the test, Ogier plummeted to eighth overall, 23.6 seconds adrift of new rally leader Fourmaux.
"No comment," was Ogier's initial reaction at the stage-end stop control after finishing on the wheel rim, before adding: "It's a shame that the World Championship has to deal with things like this."
Hyundai's Dani Sordo also fell victim to a puncture on the same stage, electing to stop and change the wheel, which cost him four minutes and dropped him down the order.
The morning loop concluded with further puncture misery, as M-Sport Ford duo Jon Armstrong and Mārtiņš Sesks both suffered flat tyres on the final morning test, dropping over two minutes each.
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