Rally Italia Sardegna: Škoda crews chase more WRC2 championship points

› Former WRC2 champion Emil Lindholm and co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) are among the favourites for a WRC2 podium at the season’s sixth event
› Their Toksport WRT teammates Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) aim to finish in a points scoring position
› Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 drivers Roberto Daprà and Fabrizio Zaldivar want to improve their ranks in the WRC2 overall standings

Mladá Boleslav, 4 June 2025 – After Rally de Portugal, the FIA World Rally Championship heads to another rough gravel event: Sixth round of the 2025 season is Rally Italia Sardegna (5-8 June) on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. 33 crews are entered into WRC2, 15 of them compete for points with a Škoda Fabia.

Team Toksport WRT runs Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 for three drivers with hopes for a top position: Emil Lindholm and co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen from Finland, Robert Virves and navigator Jakko Viilo from Estonia and Fabrizio Zaldivar from Paraguay, who listens to Italian co-driver Marcelo Der Ohannesian. “Although I have not had much luck in this rally in past years, I am confident. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 has proved enough its competitiveness on rough gravel stages,” says Lindholm, the 2022 WRC2 champion.

Robert Virves is also preparing for his second WRC2 points-scoring event of the season. As the top runners in the WRC2 overall standings have already scored in two or three events, Lindholm and Virves are currently not listed in the top 10. Fabrizio Zaldivar so far has collected 23 points from two events and holds seventh position in the WRC2 drivers’ standings.

Other Škoda crews are travelling to Sardinia include Mikko Heikkilä/Kristian Temonen (TGS Worldwide) and Lauri Joona/Samu Vaaleri (MS Munaretto) from Finland as well as Roberto Daprà/Luca Guglielmetti from Italy (Delta Rally Team). Martin Prokop, who runs his own team, and co-driver Michal Ernst will be representing the Czech Republic. Nikolay Gryazin (Delta Rally Team) is not chasing WRC2 points but is targeting a podium position in the RC2 class. Gus Greensmith, highest-placed Škoda driver in the current WRC2 overall standings, is not competing at all.

42 crews have entered Rally Italia Sardegna with RC2 cars, 33 of them are eligible to score WRC2 points. Among this group, Škoda is the strongest brand with 15 crews.

Rally Italia Sardegna, which is based in the coastal town of Olbia, features 16 special stages covering 320.24 kilometres. After the shakedown on Thursday (5 June), the Friday leg consists of six stages over 120.70 special kilometres. Saturday follows with another six stages totalling 121.60 kilometres of island tracks. Sunday wraps up the FIA World Rally Championship’s sixth round with four more stages covering 77.94 kilometres. The podium ceremony is scheduled for 4 pm CEST.

Did you know, that…
…Italy already hosted a round of the world championship in its inaugural year 1973 and this event was run until 2003 as Rallye Sanremo on the mainland?

…the iconic Sardinia stage “Lerno – Su Filigosu” features the spectacular “Micky’s jump”, named after Michele Carta aka Micky, who designed the stage?

…the rally centre and service park for this year’s event returns from Alghero on the west coast of Sardinia to Olbia on the island’s east coast?

Standings WRC2/Drivers (after 5 of 14 events)
1 Yohan Rossel (FRA), Citroën, 67 points (from 3 of 7 scoring events)
2 Oliver Solberg (SWE), Toyota 60 points (from 3 of 7 scoring events)
3 Gus Greensmith (GBR), Škoda, 40 points (from 2 of 7 scoring events)
. . .
6 Roberto Daprà (ITA), Škoda, 24 points (from 3 of 7 scoring events)
7 Fabrizio Zaldivar (PRY), Škoda, 23 points (from 3 of 7 scoring events)
8 Mikko Heikkilä (FIN), Škoda, 19 points (from 2 of 7 scoring events)

Standings WRC2 Teams (after 5 of 14 events)
1 PH Sport, Citroën, 109 points
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG, Toyota, 79 points
3 Sarrazin Motorsport – Iron Lynx, Citroën, 39 points
4 Toksport WRT, Škoda, 32 points

2025 FIA World Rally Championship

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