The team will be leaning on its winning experience on the island

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team is in pursuit of a win as it returns to one of its most successful events, Rally Italia Sardegna (June 5-8), the sixth round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).

Sardinia plays host to one of the sport’s most exciting spectacles, with fans lining the rough gravel roads across the Italian island. The terrain poses myriad risks that can end crews’ hunt for glory, with large stones, deep ruts and technical corners being regular features throughout the weekend. High temperatures will continue to be a factor in tyre wear, as well as impacting how all three crews manage their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars.

Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville have plenty of winning experience in Sardinia. Tänak famously claimed a dramatic victory at last year’s edition, snatching the win on the Power Stage by just 0.2 seconds — the joint-smallest margin in WRC history. Neuville, meanwhile, secured a landmark win in 2018, edging out Sébastien Ogier by 0.7 seconds in another thrilling final-day showdown. With six victories between them on the island’s punishing stages, both drivers return with eyes firmly on the top step once again.

After demonstrating front-running pace on Friday in Portugal, Adrien Fourmaux will be aiming for a consistent push on Sardinia’s demanding gravel, where he will be chasing his first podium finish at the event.

Rally Italia Sardegna will return to Olbia for 2025, having been based in Alghero last year. While many of the stages tread familiar territory, most feature revised routes; in addition, this year’s Power Stage, Porto San Paolo, has never before featured on the WRC itinerary.

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team has already demonstrated its strong potential on gravel so far this season, with a double podium secured in Kenya and a second-place finish for Tänak in Portugal. It now looks to build on that foundation on the fast and narrow roads of Sardinia with its first win of the 2025 season.

Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said:

“Rally de Portugal was a big step forward for us. We had pace from the start, but reliability setbacks cost us a stronger result and remain a factor that can still hurt performance. Even so, there’s clear momentum we’ll take into Sardinia. This is our second consecutive rough gravel event, and we know how to win here. We need a strong team result, and I know all three of our crews will be pushing for that. We know the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 should have front-running pace in Sardinia, as demonstrated in Portugal, and the top step is our goal.”

Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Crew has scored three wins and four podiums in Sardinia
• Estonians looking to better second place finish in Portugal

Tänak said: “Sardegna is another super punishing event. At first, it can look smooth and sandy, but roads normally develop quickly. We can suddenly find solid rocks sticking out from the ground, which will make life hard for both the car and tyres. This year we will have many new stages, but we know these are often quite low grip, which makes driving very challenging on these narrow roads. We know our car is not easy to find good setup for different surfaces, but in the past we have done well in Sardegna. Hopefully, we have done our homework and we are going to be on the pace from the start!”

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#1 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Belgian crew targeting return to the podium
• Neuville has eight podiums and three victories from previous editions

Neuville said: “Rally Italia Sardegna is an event we’ve always been competitive at. The roads play to our strengths, particularly on the second pass, so we’re really looking forward to it. We learned some things about how the car behaves on this surface in Portugal, so we’ll be taking that knowledge with us to testing. We need to be consistently fast, and there’s no room for mistakes, so we will be pushing across every stage. I want to be fighting for the win, so I need to finish ahead of my main championship rivals.”

Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)

• Frenchmen on a mission for a solid result
• Crew targeting first top-three finish in Sardinia

Fourmaux said: “We had really good pace on Friday morning in Portugal, but we all know that Rally Italia Sardegna can be a bit different. We got an understanding of how well the tyres are working in the dry conditions; we can push hard and tyre wear is not so bad. The surface in Sardinia is a bit sandier, and there are some super narrow passes. It’s challenging because you want to commit fully, but there’s not much margin for error. We need to have a clean rally and score some good points for the team – this is crucial for our fight at the moment.”

Weekend at a Glance

• Cars take to the stages for the first time with the Olbia Cabu Abbas Shakedown (2.19km) on Thursday afternoon
• Friday’s itinerary features six stages: Arzachena (SS1/4, 13.97km), Telti-Calangianus-Berchidda (SS2/5, 18.43km) and Sa Conchedda (SS3/6, 27.95km)
• Saturday’s six stages are set to cover 121.60km: Coiluna-Loelle (SS7/10, 21.18km), Lerno-Su Filigosu (SS8/11, 24.34km) and Tula-Erula (SS9/12, 15.28km)
• Competition concludes on Sunday with four stages: San Giacomo-Plebi (SS13/15, 25.19km) and Porto San Paolo (SS14/16, 13.70km).