Sebastien Ogier claimed a record-breaking sixth Rally Portugal victory last time out, but it was Thierry Neuville who left the weekend with the biggest laugh.
Third place for the Hyundai driver extended his championship lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans to 24 points, as he only finished sixth which was the worst result of his 2024 season so far.
It means Neuville is looking well on course for a maiden world title in 2024, as Ogier and reigning two-time champion Kalle Rovanpera are only competing part-time this season.
Next up is Rally Sardinia, which will be trialling a new sprint format meaning the event is compacted into a 48-hour window.
So, drivers will tackle a 16-stage, 165.4 miles route of the Italian island as opposed to 19 stages of 199.4 miles spread across four days like last year.
Ogier will be gunning for a third consecutive victory, but it is his team-mate Evans who really needs a solid weekend to reignite his title challenge.
If not, he may be overtaken by 2019 champion Ott Tanak who sits just seven points behind as the Hyundai driver finished second in Portugal - but scored the highest tally due to the new system for 2024.
And then another eight points behind in fourth is Adrien Fourmaux, who is the highest placed M-Sport driver with the 29-year-old having a surprise year as he’s never finished above 10th in the championship.
It means M-Sport is bottom of the manufacturers' standings though, 105 points behind Toyota while only four points separate the Japanese squad and leaders Hyundai with eight rounds left.
When is Rally Sardinia?
• Date: 31 May - 2 June
• Start time: 12:30pm BST/1:30pm local time on Friday 31 May
The 2024 Rally Sardinia begins on Friday 31 May at 12:30pm in the United Kingdom and 1:30pm local time. That is only for the ceremonial start though, as the first official stage does not get underway until approximately one hour later at 1:33pm in the UK and 2:33pm in Sardinia.
Often the ceremonial start will take place a day before the first stage, but the sprint format is bringing it all on the same afternoon. This is also impacting shakedown, which is due to start that Friday morning at 7am in the UK and 8am local time to give drivers the chance to test various car set-ups prior to the weekend.
|
Date
|
Leg
|
Leg total
|
Start time
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Shakedown
|
1.29 miles
|
7am BST/8am local time
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Ceremonial start
|
N/A
|
12:30pm BST/1:30pm local time
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Stage 1 - Stage 2
|
24.18 miles
|
1:33pm BST/2:33pm local time
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Stage 3 - Stage 4
|
24.18 miles
|
4:33pm BST/5:33pm local time
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 5 - Stage 6
|
21.52 miles
|
6:41am BST/7:41am local time
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 7 - Stage 8
|
21.52 miles
|
9:41am BST/10:41am local time
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 9 - Stage 10
|
24.77 miles
|
1:05pm BST/2:05pm local time
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 11 - Stage 12
|
24.77 miles
|
4:05pm BST/5:05pm local time
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 13
|
7.80 miles
|
7am BST/8am local time
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 14
|
4.41 miles
|
8:05am BST/9:05am local time
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 15
|
7.80 miles
|
10am BST/11am local time
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 16 (Power Stage)
|
4.41 miles
|
11:15am BST/12:15pm local time
|
How can I watch the WRC?
TNT Sports is the official broadcast home of the WRC having held the rights in the UK since 2014, when it was known as BT Sport. This means TNT will live televise every round of the 2024 season, which results in fans needing a subscription to watch the series.
Currently, TNT Sports is available for £20 per month as part of a deal that includes all four sport channels, Eurosport 1 and 2, as well as live streaming platform Discovery+.
Rally.tv is another destination to watch the WRC and it also broadcasts the European Rally Championship and World Rallycross Championship. Rally.tv is available for £12.99 per month or £119.99 a year.
How can I watch Rally Sardinia?
TNT Sports will begin its Rally Sardinia coverage with Friday’s stage one at 1:15pm, meaning it will not broadcast shakedown or the ceremonial start. Friday’s action is available via TNT Sports 3, while TNT Sports 4 will broadcast Saturday’s stages beginning at 6:30am. There is another early start on Sunday with TNT beginning its coverage at 6:45am on either TNT Sports 4 or TNT Sports Extra 1.
The rally’s schedule also means TNT will be on and off with its coverage, as it depends on the start time for each stage. Rally.tv will use a similar format but, unlike TNT, it will also broadcast shakedown with coverage beginning at 7am on Friday.
|
Date
|
Leg
|
Channel
|
Coverage from
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Stage 1 - Stage 2
|
TNT Sports 3
|
1:15pm BST
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Stage 3 - Stage 4
|
TNT Sports 3
|
4:30pm BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 5 - Stage 6
|
TNT Sports 4
|
6:30am BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 7 - Stage 8
|
TNT Sports 4
|
9:30am BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 9 - Stage 12
|
TNT Sports 4
|
12:30pm BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 13 - Stage 14
|
TNT Sports 4/TNT Sports Extra 1
|
6:45am BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 15 - Stage 16 (Power Stage)
|
TNT Sports 4/TNT Sports Extra 1
|
10am BST
|
|
Date
|
Leg
|
Channel
|
Coverage from
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Shakedown
|
Rally.tv
|
7am BST
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Stage 1 - Stage 2
|
Rally.tv
|
1:15pm BST
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Stage 3 - Stage 4
|
Rally.tv
|
4:30pm BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 5 - Stage 6
|
Rally.tv
|
6:30am BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 7 - Stage 8
|
Rally.tv
|
9:30am BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Stage 9 - Stage 12
|
Rally.tv
|
12:30pm BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 13 - Stage 14
|
Rally.tv
|
6:45am BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 15
|
Rally.tv
|
10am BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Stage 16 (Power Stage)
|
Rally.tv
|
11am BST
|
When can I watch Rally Sardinia highlights?
TNT Sports will run various 30-minute highlight programmes on Friday (10:30pm and 11:30pm), Saturday (10:30pm and 11:30pm) and Sunday (8:15pm) night, showing that day’s action from Rally Sardinia. Red Bull TV will do something similar by broadcasting a highlights programme at 9pm on those nights.
ITV4 will show highlights by running a one-hour programme on Tuesday 4 June starting at 8pm. Autosport also broadcast daily highlights, while the official WRC YouTube channel will upload short clips throughout the weekend.
|
Date
|
Channel
|
Time
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
Red Bull TV
|
9pm BST
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
TNT Sports 4
|
10:30pm BST
|
|
Friday 31 May
|
TNT Sports 1
|
11:30pm BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
Red Bull TV
|
9pm BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
TNT Sports 2
|
10:30pm BST
|
|
Saturday 1 June
|
TNT Sports 4
|
11:30pm BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
TNT Sports 3
|
8:15pm BST
|
|
Sunday 2 June
|
Red Bull TV
|
9pm BST
|
|
Tuesday 4 June
|
ITV4
|
8pm BST
|
What is the route for Rally Sardinia?
Rally Sardinia will consist of 16 special stages covering a total competitive distance of 165.4 miles on a gravel surface. The event starts with its biggest stage of 15.94 miles around Osilo, before heading east for 8.24 miles of Sedini - a route that will be repeated for stages three and four that evening.
Saturday then features a more traditional loop comprising eight stages. But, similar to Friday, drivers tackle a pair of stages twice to make up the loop. It begins in the early morning with 7.5 miles of Tempio Pausania as drivers head south for 14.05 miles of Tula.
Drivers will repeat said route later that morning, before twice tackling Monte Lerno (15.74 miles) and Coiluna (9.03 miles) in the afternoon. Just four stages finish the rally on Sunday, beginning with Cala Flumini (7.8 miles) ahead of a short run in the city of Sassari (4.41 miles).
Both stages are then repeated later in the day with Sassari serving as the weekend-closing Power Stage, where bonus points are on offer to the five quickest drivers.
Rally1 entry list for Rally Sardinia
Watch: Rally Italia Sardegna Trailer
