Heikkilä seeking redemption in Sardinia

Mikko Heikkilä continues his World Rally Championship season with his third event of the year in Sardegna. The Škoda driver aims to score valuable WRC2 points, drawing from the lessons learned in the previous event in Portugal.

Mikko Heikkilä and his co-driver Kristian Temonen will resume their WRC2 campaign this coming weekend on the Italian island of Sardegna. This marks the third event of the season for Heikkilä and continues his streak of gravel rallies held in Europe. Having previously enjoyed competing in Italy, Heikkilä heads into the event with the wake of a challenging rally in Portugal. However, work has been done during the break between races, and both driver and TGS Motorsport-prepared car are in good shape for the mountain roads of Sardinia.

“It definitely took some time to get back on my feet – it was really frustrating after Portugal. However, it led to major changes in the car’s setup, and it’s now quite different compared to before. Hopefully the adjustments we made to the suspension and drivetrain will work. I guess we’ll find out on Friday”, Heikkilä said.

Although Heikkilä competed in part of last season’s Italian gravel rally championship, of which he scored two wins, this will be his first time the Finn tackles the special stages on the island of Sardegna. Despite that, the Finnish driver is enthusiastic about the challenge ahead.

“Based on the reconnaissance, the route looks great and very diverse. Some sections have better road surface and are quite fast, while others are slower, with very rough patches thrown in. The rough sections are still a bit of a mystery in terms of how aggressively we can attack them.”

“Unfortunately, we had to skip the Italian series event held here last year, so this will be our first time on these roads. But we won’t let that slow us down,” Heikkilä concludes.

WRC Rally Italia Sardegna takes place from June 5th to 8th on the island of Sardegna, Italy. Mikko Heikkilä will compete with the competitor number 30. The rally is streamed live via Rally.tv streaming service.

Rally Italia Sardegna itinerary

Thursday 5.6.

13:01 Shakedown – Olbia Cabu Abbas (2.19km)

Friday 6.6.

09:01 SS1 – Arzachena 1 (13.97km)

10:16 SS2 – Telti - Calangianus - Berchidda 1 (18.43km)

11:31 SS3 – Sa Conchedda 1 (27.95km)

15:31 SS4 – Arzachena 2 (13.97km)

16:46 SS5 – Telti - Calangianus - Berchidda 2 (18.43km)

18:01 SS6 – Sa Conchedda 2 (27.95km)

Saturday 7.6.

09:05 SS7 – Coiluna - Loelle 1 (21.18km)

10:16 SS8 – Lerno - Su Filigosu 1 (24.34km)

11:31 SS9 – Tula - Erula 1 (15.28km)

15:05 SS10 – Coiluna - Loelle 2 (21.18km)

16:16 SS11 – Lerno - Su Filigosu 2 (24.34km)

17:31 SS12 – Tula - Erula 2 (15.28km)

Sunday 8.6.

07:25 SS13 – San Giacomo - Plebi 1 (25.19km)

08:35 SS14 – Porto San Paolo 1 (13.70km)

10:50 SS15 – San Giacomo - Plebi 2 (25.19km)

13:15 SS16 – Porto San Paolo 2 (13.70km)