The shakedown for Rally Sardinia was temporarily halted after Sami Pajari completed his first run. Thick dust was the main cause, but not the only one. The incident occurred amid a tight battle for the world championship.
Pajari, who started after Elfyn Evans, was severely hampered by the dust cloud kicked up by his fellow Toyota driver. As a result, he finished 7.2 seconds slower than Evans. "I hope it won't be this bad in the rally, otherwise I will have no chance. It is going to be a very exciting rally. We will do the best we can. We still have some chances in the title race," Pajari said.
Meanwhile, Evans will also have to sweep the road on Friday's stages. The Toyota star, who leads the WRC standings, is likely to suffer from running first on the road. "This is a flavour of what is to come. It is so loose. It will be tough from that side, but we will have to manage it as well as we can," said Evans, who holds a 17-point championship lead over Pajari.
It is understood that dust was not the only reason for the shakedown being halted, as there were apparently also problems with spectators standing in dangerous places. The stage eventually resumed after a delay of around 50 minutes.
In the shakedown, Takamoto Katsuta of Toyota was fastest with a time of 2:36.8. Thierry Neuville of Hyundai was 0.5 seconds behind in second, followed by Oliver Solberg of Toyota 0.7 seconds adrift. Adrien Fourmaux of Hyundai was fourth (+1.6 seconds), followed by Evans in fifth (+2.4), Sebastien Ogier of Toyota sixth (+2.9), and Pajari seventh (+9.6).
With only three drivers in close contention for the title, Rally Sardinia is decisive. Evans, who leads the standings, must be cautious as the road opener, while Pajari and Solberg look to capitalize. The dusty conditions and undisciplined spectators add to the challenge.
This shakedown provided a glimpse of how tough the rally in Sardinia will be. The drivers must overcome dust, starting position, and championship pressure. Will Evans maintain his lead, or will Pajari and Solberg overtake? We await their performance on the actual stages.
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