The Sardinian gravel rally is tough on its own, and for the WRC2 drivers, it seemed to unfold fairly straightforwardly for most of the event. 2022 WRC2 World Champion Emil Lindholm built a solid lead early on. Although the positions behind him kept changing, there was no indication of the heart-stopping drama that would unfold in the final stages of this category.
But then came special stage 14 out of 16 — and things started to happen. Lindholm and his co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen missed their braking point after a crest, sending their Fabia RS Rally2 off into the bushes. The damage to the car was minimal, but they couldn’t get back on the track under their own power. Their rally ended prematurely, retiring from the lead. It could have been their first WRC2 win in over a year.
The lead was taken over by the Finnish crew of Lauri Joona and Samu Vaaleri, also driving a Fabia RS Rally2. Meanwhile, this stage marked a breakthrough for Italian driver Daprà — he managed to edge ahead of Czech contender Martin Prokop by a few seconds and suddenly found himself in third place.
But the drama wasn’t over yet. On stage 15, both Joona and second-placed Kajetanowicz suffered punctures. That opened the door for Daprà and his co-driver Luca Guglielmetti, who surged into the lead. Kajetanowicz managed to hold onto second, but Joona dropped to fourth. Prokop, on the other hand, moved up to third — just seven-tenths of a second off second place behind his rival.
The final Power Stage promised an epic showdown for the podium. Daprà’s lead was a slim 4.1 seconds — and in the opening kilometres, he did a full spin and lost time, putting his lead in jeopardy. But then came a truly heroic drive to the finish, and he clinched the win by 5.8 seconds over the Polish rival. Prokop also delivered a solid final push but was slightly off the pace compared to the two ahead and brought his Fabia RS Rally2 home in third place.
Škoda drivers thus claimed first, third, sixth (Joona), seventh (Robert Virves), and ninth (local driver Giovanni Trentin) places in Sardinia — meaning five Fabia RS Rally2s finished in the top ten. Also worth noting is the twelfth place in WRC2 for veteran Miguel Granados, who won the WRC Masters Cup — a class for drivers over 50 years of age.
