Rallying-Ogier, Tanak take Sardinia battle of champions into final day
FILE PHOTO: Rallying - World Rally Championship - Safari Rally Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya - June 23, 2022 - French Toyota driver Sebastien Ogier and co-driver Benjamin Veillas in action during side-by-side super special racing stage at Kasarani. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File photo
Sebastien Ogier will be determined to avoid more Rally Italy heartache when he and Ott Tanak, who seized victory by a whisker last year, again duel in Sunday's final stages in Sardinia.
Toyota's eight-times world champion ended Saturday's penultimate leg 11.1 seconds clear of his Hyundai rival with four stages and a total of 77.7km remaining before the finish of the Olbia-based event.
Last year the Frenchman had a 17.1-second lead at the same point but ended up losing by 0.2 seconds to the Estonian 2019 champion after a puncture in the final stage -- the joint closest finish in world rally championship history.
Ogier started Saturday with a 2.1-second lead over Adrien Fourmaux but the Hyundai driver rolled out on the day's fifth of six stages over rocky and dusty roads in the north of the Mediterranean island.
"It's been a long day," said Ogier, who won three of the stages. "The afternoon was rough. But I'm happy so far. Good race management."
Toyota's double world champion Kalle Rovanpera moved up to third but 55.5 seconds off the lead, with championship-leading teammate Elfyn Evans fourth and Sami Pajari fifth -- four Toyotas in the top five.
Hyundai's world champion Thierry Neuville retired on Friday after hitting an earth bank and was 26th overall after returning on Saturday.
Evans led Rovanpera by 30 points going into the season's sixth round, with Ogier third and Tanak fourth. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
Memphis Depay, Denzel Dumfries earn Netherlands 2-0 World Cup qualifier win in Finland
HELSINKI - The Netherlands kicked off their World Cup qualification campaign with a comfortable victory as goals from Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries secured a 2-0 away win over Finland on June 7. Depay profited from a defensive error to give the Dutch the lead inside six minutes, and Dumfries added a second with a neat finish at the back post midway through the first half. The Netherlands moved third in Group G with three points, behind leaders Poland, who have won both their games, and Finland who have four points from three matches. The group winners advance to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, while the second-placed side will enter a 16-team playoff competition to decide four additional places at the finals. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
Depay, Dumfries earn Netherlands 2-0 win in Finland
Soccer Football - World Cup - European Qualifiers - Group G - Finland v Netherlands - Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland - June 7, 2025 Netherlands' Nathan Ake and Virgil van Dijk in action with Finland's Nikolai Alho MARKKU ULANDER/Lehtikuva via REUTERS HELSINKI - The Netherlands kicked off their World Cup qualification campaign with a comfortable victory as goals from Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries secured a 2-0 away win over Finland on Saturday. Depay profited from a defensive error to give the Dutch the lead inside six minutes, and Dumfries added a second with a neat finish at the back post midway through the first half. The Netherlands moved third in Group G with three points, behind leaders Poland, who have won both their games, and Finland who have four points from three matches. The group winners advance to next year's World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, while the second-placed side will enter a 16-team playoff competition to decide four additional places at the finals. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Granollers and Zeballos break duck with French Open men's doubles crown
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 7, 2025 Britain's Neal Skupski and Britain's Joe Salisbury in action during the men's doubles final against Argentina's Horacio Zeballos and Spain's Marcel Granollers REUTERS/Lisi Niesner Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 7, 2025 Argentina's Horacio Zeballos and Spain's Marcel Granollers in action during the men's doubles final against Britain's Neal Skupski and Britain's Joe Salisbury REUTERS/Lisi Niesner PARIS - Fifth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos bagged their maiden Grand Slam trophy as a pair by battling past British duo Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 6-0 6-7(5) 7-5 in the French Open men's doubles final on Saturday. Playing in a fourth Grand Slam final together, Granollers and Zeballos looked on track to quickly break their duck when they blanked their eighth-seeded opponents in the opening set before being dragged into a dogfight in the next. Salisbury and Skupski, who won the only previous tour-level encounter between the two teams in the Rome quarter-finals last month, edged the second set tiebreak and were close to building a 4-3 lead in the decider before a moment of magic. Zeballos hit the shot of the match to level at deuce in the next game, chasing down a dipping ball and squeezing it around the post at ground level to draw loud cheers from a small crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier. Salisbury and Skupski, who became the first British men's doubles finalists at Roland Garros since 1936, were in no mood to fade away on the historic occasion as they fought on before being caught off guard in the 12th game. Granollers and Zeballos broke to love to secure victory and fell to the ground in celebration. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
