WRC 2018 7 2018-06-07 2018-06-07 https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/thumb/uf9uy61527702906.jpg https://r2.thesportsdb.com/images/media/event/poster/6kloqg1527702886.jpg The Rally Italia Sardegna (until 2010 Rally d'Italia Sardegna) is a rally competition in Sardinia, Italy, which has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). The rally is held on narrow, twisty, sandy and bumpy mountain roads around the town of Alghero. The Italian round of the World Rally Championship was previously the Rallye Sanremo, held first as a mixed surface event and later on asphalt roads around the resort of Sanremo, but Rally d'Italia Sardegna replaced it in the WRC schedule from the 2004 season. Rugged and sun-baked gravel tracks ensure tough times amid stunning scenery in the north of the Mediterranean holiday island. Exciting super special stage at the former Ittiri motocross track near host town Alghero kicks off the action on Thursday evening. Friday features four stages to the north-east that are driven twice for a total of 122.86km. All are familiar and include an extended version of the Tula test. Saturday is the longest with almost 150km of competition over a tightly-clustered group of three stages in the Monte Acuto region. A revised Ittiri test divides the two identical loops. Sunday’s finale is unchanged from 2017, featuring two repeated stages covering 42.04km on the coast north of Alghero. Thierry Neuville grabs a thrilling Rally Italia Sardegna victory after edging WRC title rival Sébastien Ogier during an electrifying shootout in the final speed test. He trailed Sébastien Ogier by 0.8s ahead of the final 6.96km test, but Thierry Neuville delivered a daredevil drive in his Hyundai i20 to overhaul the Frenchman and claim his third win of the season at Rally Italia Sardegna by just 0.7s. In the process, Neuville extended his championship lead over Ogier to 27 points. Neuville's margin of victory was the third smallest in the WRC's 45-year history, matching his dramatic success in Argentina last year, when he performed a similar snatch and grab on Elfyn Evans. 574079