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.
