In the typically lush Italian hills, temperatures are expected to be upwards of 20 degrees Celsius, but routes can quickly become dampened by the ever-present chance of unexpected storms.
The stages are very flowing and technical, meaning it is vital that crews get into a good rhythm from the outset in order to attack fully. Crews running first on the road will clean the loose surface to the benefit of those behind them, but as the roads deteriorate and become rutted by the second passes, it will actually favour the front-runners.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Mikko Hirvonen re-took the lead in the race for the 2008 drivers’ title following his victory on the Jordan Rally at the end of last month.
Sebastien Loeb meanwhile dropped back down to second, after failing to score after
that incident on day 2 with
Conrad Rautenbach.
Chris Atkinson remained third, although he is now just 2 points adrift of the Frenchman and 7 off Hirvonen.
In the Manufacturers' championship the
BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT remains top, having increased its tally to 57 points and extended the gap to the
Citroen Total WRT, from 3 points to 7.
There have been a number of developments since the last round, with the
Stobart team confirming that
Francois Duval will return to the fold for the asphalt events in Germany, Spain and France. It has also been reported by
Autosport that Citroen may quit the sport at the end of 2009, while
Suzuki is rumoured to be considering a sabbatical at the end of this year.
News from the Manufacturers' teams:
Citroen Total WRT:
[
Sebastien Loeb, car #1 and
Daniel Sordo, car #2]
Loeb out to bridge gap.
Sebastien Loeb will be determined to get a top result on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna after failing to score on the last event. Loeb was leading by over 30 seconds on day two in Jordan, when he was forced out following a head-on collision with Conrad Rautenbach's similar C4 WRC car on a road section leading to and from SS11.
