That said, rubber has been the defining headache of this championship. As Autosport reports, the FIA has stepped in once more ahead of the World Rally Championship title decider in Sardinia, bumping up the tyre allocation and rolling out more exchange zones specifically to keep failures at bay. It is a necessary intervention following a brutal stretch of punctures that plagued Rally Paraguay and bit hard in Chile, where championship leader Elfyn Evans suffered a devastating blow on the penultimate stage.
Now, the stakes are staggeringly high on the gravel stages of Sardinia. Toyota driver Sami Pajari heads into this final round trailing championship leader Elfyn Evans by 17 points, with a maximum of 35 points still on the table. And if that battle wasn't tight enough, Toyota team-mate Oliver Solberg sits right in the mix for a maiden world title too, just four points behind the Finn in what is only Pajari's second full-time season in Rally1.
“We are well in the fight, [but] it is not the best position. We are many points still behind Elfyn and of course the road position is tricky, but it's another thing. We are all very close to each other fighting for the win,” said Pajari. He wants the crown settled by pace alone, free from the mechanical lottery that gravel rallies so often hand out. “I hope we can have a good race and hopefully not too many issues for any one of us. Hopefully we can decide the winner by pure driving but you never know.”
To give the rubber a fighting chance, the governing body has drafted a heavily revised rulebook for the weekend. Following the bump from 28 to 36 tyres seen in Chile, Rally1 crews will now have 40 tyres—shakedown included—at their disposal in Sardinia, while Rally2 competitors see their limit raised to 30.
Tyre exchange zones return with strict protocols attached. Crews can swap two tyres at refuel zones 2.5, 7, and 10 during the loops on Friday and Saturday, while Sunday unlocks the ability to change all four tyres at refuel zone 13 ahead of the final two stages. Logistics in these zones are tightly policed: just four personnel are permitted per Rally1 manufacturer and two for everyone else. Team vehicles can only enter 15 minutes before the rally car's arrival, mechanics are strictly limited to supplying rubber, and any tools, spare parts, or extra assistance are banned entirely. Let us see if pure driving finally wins out.
