Sardegna Rally Race: the first day in the labyrinth

The first special stage of Sardegna Rally Race was divided into two sections. In the quad category, Sebastien Souday was the fastest twice. He has now slightly over 10 minutes of advantage over Rafał Sonik and Kamil Wiśniewski.

‘They say that the Qatar Rally is the most difficult race in terms of navigation. In the Qatar Rally, we have a GPS navigation device at our disposal, which “opens a waypoint” from time to time and an arrow appears. Here, in a labyrinth of mountainous, well-trodden and almost identical paths, there are no waypoints, so it’s very easy to make a mistake,’ commented Rafał Sonik while at the stage’s finish line.

Sonik, who won three times at Sardegna in the past, did not escape mistakes – just like his rivals. He got an opportunity to make up for some of the losses… ‘I found a short-cut, by accident, which would allow me to make up five, or even six minutes. I turned around, because I believe that if there are no waypoints in a rally, we should follow the roadbook step by step. Just like the organizers planned,’ he emphasized.

Kamil Wiśniewski was also satisfied after the first day of the race. ‘There were many turns today, and if you weren’t careful, it would be easy to end the race there and then. I’m here for the third time, but I’ve already raced a lot in Spain and Portugal, on a similar terrain. It’s hard, but I love such races and racing along narrow, mountainous paths!’

On Monday, the participants will face a loop to the south from Arborea that is 230 km long.

Results of the first stage:
First section:

1. Sebastien Souday (FRA) 50.51
2. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) +3.31
3. Rafał Sonik (POL) +4.02

Second section:
1. Sebastien Souday (FRA) 1:36.02
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) +6.44
3. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) +7.22

General classification:
1. Sebastien Souday (FRA) 02:26.53
2. Rafał Sonik (POL) +10.47
3. Kamil Wiśniewski (POL) +10.54