Eventful Sardegna Wrapped Up With a Podium
The second gravel rally of the 2021 season brought lots of drama. While mostly extremely rough and rocky, the stages also surprised with numerous water splashes. Overall, the conditions demanded clever tactics from the crews. Marco Bulacia/Marcelo Der Ohannesian finished third in WRC2. But the rally was a bit eventful for them as they rolled during the last leg but recovered rapidly. “It was a very fast roll. Just one time and we continued immediately,” he explained after amazingly losing as little as 4.9 seconds to the category’s winning time in stage 18; Aglientu – Santa Teresa. Without any major damage to their car, Bulacia/Der Ohannesian tackled the remaining stages and still managed to finish third in WRC2.
Unfortunately for Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene, the rally was over on the opening day after four stages. After getting their rolled car back onto four wheels with the help from spectators, the Norwegians made it back to service. But closer inspection revealed structural damage to the car’s rollcage. For safety reasons, the car was withdrawn. Despite this setback, Andreas Mikkelsen still leads the WRC2 drivers’ standings overall.
Our WRC 3 crew Fabrizio Zaldivar/Carlos del Barrio finished in fourth position, making up five positions coming from the ninth place. Emilio Fernández/Ruben Garcia in fifth, climbing from tenth place. Maurizio Morato/Enrico Gallinaro made it to the finish line without any issues, but with a win on the 19th stage.
Next up on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar, is the infamous Safari Rally Kenya (24 – 27 June 2021). The epic East African event makes a WRC comeback after nearly 20 years. But this will be an event we will be skipping, so see you in Estonia on 15th of July.
