Now, that is how you finish a rally. Roope Korhonen barely clung onto victory at Rally Italia Sardegna, holding off a charging Robert Virves by a breathtaking 0.7sec in WRC2.
Driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, Korhonen and co-driver Anssi Viinikka started Sunday sitting pretty with a 19.6sec advantage over Gus Greensmith, having grabbed the lead from the Briton on Saturday. Virves, meanwhile, began the final day buried down in fifth and 1min 56.5sec adrift after a puncture-plagued opening two days in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
What followed was an absolute masterclass in recovery. Virves immediately clawed 23.0sec back on the first Osilo – Tergu test and sliced another 7.5sec off on Sassari – Argentiera. Even with those warning shots, Korhonen still possessed a seemingly comfortable 1min 26.0sec cushion with two stages left. But the gravel came back to bite hard on the second pass through the 23.71km Osilo – Tergu. Virves hammered through the test in 16min 45.9sec while Korhonen suffered a puncture, hemorrhaging 1min 19.2sec and shrinking the lead down to a terrifying 6.8sec ahead of the Wolf Power Stage.
Virves threw everything at the final Sassari – Argentiera run, stopping the clock at 5min 18.9sec. Korhonen simply needed to stay within 6.8sec of that time, and he just barely pulled it off. His 5min 25.0sec effort surrendered 6.1sec to his rival, leaving the Toyota driver ahead by a microscopic seven tenths at the checkered flag. It marks Korhonen's second WRC2 win of the season, backing up his earlier triumph at Rally Sweden.
While Virves had to settle for second, his Sunday demolition job capped off a championship-winning campaign in which he had already secured the WRC2 crown before even arriving in Sardinia. Behind them, Gus Greensmith rounded out the podium, finishing 51.8sec behind the winner after holding the lead on Friday before getting swallowed up by the gaps on Sunday. Kajetan Kajetanowicz brought another Toyota home in fourth, 1min 23.5sec adrift, while defending Sardinia WRC2 winner Roberto Daprà took fifth in his Škoda following a weekend marred by punctures and a small off. Teemu Suninen wrapped up the top six, 4min 03.5sec back, after a chaotic rally where he led much of Friday, lost over two minutes changing a damaged tyre, fought back to third on Saturday, and ultimately saw his podium dreams evaporate due to a one-minute stewards’ penalty and further tyre woes on Sunday.
Over in WRC3, Eric Royère and co-driver Maxime Andernack closed out their season by taking victory in a Ford Fiesta Rally3. It stands as Royère's second category win of 2026, adding another trophy to the cabinet alongside his season-opening success at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
%2FGettyImages-2298485803.webp&w=800)