Friday morning in Sardinia brought pure chaos, and Adrien Fourmaux navigated it better than anyone to reach the lunchtime service holding a 4.6sec advantage over his teammate Thierry Neuville. Four reality checks later, Hyundai sits comfortably at the sharp end of the order, but the morning belonged to an absolute masterclass from the chasing pack.
That standout drive came from none other than Oliver Solberg. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver suffered tyre damage on the opening Tula – Erula test, but instead of folding, he bounced back in stunning fashion to win SS4 Monti di Alà – Sa Conchedda – Lerno by 0.8sec from Sébastien Ogier. Solberg was an astonishing 16.5sec faster than championship leader Elfyn Evans on that 23.18km stage, launching himself from fourth to third overall and landing just 8.1sec behind Fourmaux.
At least I’m faster than Elfyn, but I’m a bit worried that it’s not enough,
“After the puncture this morning I just tried to drive normally again,” Solberg said. “It was a clean run, nothing special, but I just try to drive as good as I can really.”
For the title fight, the stakes shifted massively. The Swede now sits 2.6sec ahead of second-placed championship challenger Sami Pajari and 16.8sec clear of Evans on the road. Fourmaux himself had opened Friday by setting the fastest time on SS2 despite thick hanging dust ruining visibility, then inherited the rally lead on the very next stage when Ogier hit trouble.
“We really tried to be smooth with the driving in some places to avoid the risk of puncture,” Fourmaux explained after SS3. “There were so many bad rocks, loose rocks in some places, so it’s not easy. I’m happy with my pace and how I’ve managed the tyres for now.”
Behind the leader, Neuville climbed into second following a stage win on Su Filigosu – Lerno to keep himself firmly in the hunt. Pajari found himself fourth, sitting 10.7sec from the lead after outpacing Evans across all three morning stages while making the most of his later road position. “At least I’m faster than Elfyn, but I’m a bit worried that it’s not enough,” Pajari admitted after SS4.
For Elfyn Evans, the morning was an outright disaster. Running first on the road meant the Welshman copped the worst of the loose gravel, tumbling to sixth overall at midday, 24.9sec back from Fourmaux. Ogier saw his early lead vanish when a front-right puncture on SS3 cost him more than 25sec, though a rapid second-fastest time on SS4 dragged him back to fifth overall, 23.0sec off the front.
Rocks and punctures tore through the field as the morning wore on. Takamoto Katsuta, Jon Armstrong, and Mārtiņš Sesks all had to pull over to change wheels on SS4, while Dani Sordo dropped roughly four minutes replacing a damaged tyre during SS3. Amidst the carnage, Josh McErlean kept his nose clean to grab seventh overall, while Teemu Suninen heads the WRC2 runners in eighth.
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