After a thrilling Saturday, Sunday, the final day of the fourth Rally Sulcis Iglesiente, continues to provide excitement, spectacle, and surprises. Currently, after seven of the ten scheduled special stages, 18-year-old Valentino Ledda from Burgos, paired with Claudio Mele in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, is still in the lead. He holds a 2.8" lead over former WRC2 world champion Pontus Tidemand and an 8.5" lead over Marino Gessa.
After regrouping in San Giovanni Suergiu and entering the service park in Carbonia, the competitors set off again for the second lap on Santadi-Nuxis (7.49km) and Villaperuccio-Piscinas (8.01km), then the time control in Giba and the Perdaxius special stage (6.33km), the final test of the race before heading towards Iglesias where, at 4pm, the awards ceremony will begin in Piazza Sella.
The large turnout of the public at the trials and the many collateral events continue to testify to Sulcis Iglesiente's great love for the rally, now in its fourth edition and in the hearts of the people.
The driver from Arbus Gessa, with Salvatore Pusceddu co-driving (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), set the fastest time on today's first special, the Santadi-Nuxis, allowing him to reduce his 22.4-second lead from last night's leader to 5.7 seconds, taking advantage of two unexpected events that affected Tidemand and Ledda. The Swede received a 10-second penalty for arriving a minute late at the time check before the start, while Ledda lost over 16 seconds after being slowed by a plastic sheet that landed on the nose of the car, in front of the air vents, and was later removed by a marshal. Next up, all eyes will be on the new stage of the 2026 edition, the Villaperuccio-Piscinas 1, won by Tidemand-Bergsten by just one-tenth of a second over Ledda-Mele, who responded by winning the first pass on the Perdaxius, which determined the current standings.
Among all the other competitors, only the Piedmontese duo Ronzano and Andreis boast a gap of less than a minute over the leading trio (Skoda Fabia RS, at 47.5 seconds), while Dettori, Demontis and Siddi and Corda, both in the Skoda RS, have a gap of less than 2 minutes. Francesco Farci and Veronica Cottu finished seventh, ahead of Fabrizio Marrone and Francesco Fresu, eighth overall and first among the two-wheel drive cars in a Peugeot 208 Rally4.
Ruiu-Fratta, in a Peugeot 208, are 12th overall and first in their class in 208 R2/Rally4, ahead of Scurosu/Piccinnu, first in R3. Perazzona-Perazzona are 14th overall and first in their class in R1tn 4x4 in a Yaris Gr, ahead of Silvaggi/Guzzi, first in Rally5. Caddeo-Pinna, in 26th overall and first in Rs 1.6, ahead of Angius-Bechere, leading A0. Floris-Pirroni, first in Rstb 1.6, are 29th overall ahead of Piredda-Spanu, leaders of N3. Pinna-Pinna (31st) lead N2; Gaglio-Fresi (33rd) lead Rs 1.6 Plus; Perez-Porcu (37th) are first in Rstb 1.0 Plus; Schirru-Uccheddu (41st) are in charge of Rs1.15 Plus; Piredda-Sanna (44th) lead Rs 2.0; Murgia-Schirru (46th) represent Rsd2.0 Plus and Unali-Ordau (50th) the Rs1.4.
In the fourth Rally Sulcis Iglesiente Historic, the leaders are Marco Casalloni and Giovanni Figoni in a Peugeot 205 (36'08”9), ahead of Bernardo Morgan and Roberto Scilef (Renault 5 GT Turbo, at 35”3), Marc and Stephanie Laboisse (A112 Abarth, at 3'08”9), Ruiu-Alicicco at 7'24”8 and Zedda-Donato at 12'46”.
In the Classic, Ruggiu-Valdarchi were first, in an Opel Astra Gsi, in 45'04”.
The Sulcis Iglesiente Rally is the first round of the Zone 10 Rally Cup and the Aci Sport Sardinia Delegation Regional Championship. It also counts towards the Gr Yaris Rally Cup, the Michelin Trofeo Italia National, the Pirelli Accademia CRZ Trophy, and awards the Santa Barbara Mining Trail Trophy (first two-wheel drive crew) and the Tommy Rossi Memorial (last in the standings). The race is organized by Mistral Racing with the support of the Sardinia Region, the Province of Sulcis Iglesiente, the Aci Sport Sardinia Delegation, the Aci Cagliari, the Fondazione di Sardegna, the Santa Barbara Mining Trail Foundation, the Historical Environmental Geomining Park of Sardinia, and twelve municipalities: Iglesias, Carbonia, Giba, Gonnesa, Nuxis, Perdaxius, Piscinas, Portoscuso, San Giovanni Suergiu, Santadi, Tratalias, and Villaperuccio.
Top 10 Modern Rally Standings: 1) Ledda-Mele (Skoda Fabia Rs Rally2) in 30'04"4; 2) Tidemand-Bergsten (Skoda Fabia Rs Rally2) at 2"8; 3) Gessa-Pusceddu (Skoda Fabia Rs Rally2) at 8"5; 4) Ronzano-Andreis (Skoda Fabia Rs Rally2) at 47"5; 5) Dettori-Demontis (Skoda Fabia Rs Rally2) at 1'52"1; 6) Siddi-Corda (Skoda Fabia Rs Rally2) at 1'59"7; 7) Farci-Cottu (Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2) at 3'41"2; 8) Marrone-Fresu (Peugeot 208 Gt Line Rally4) at 4'12"8; 9) Locci-Musu (Skoda Fabia R5) at 4'17"9; 10) Contini-Tocco (Peugeot 208 Gt Line Rally4) at 4'35'6".
Historic Rally Standings: 1) Casalloni-Figoni (Peugeot 205 Rally) in 36'08"9; 2) Morgani-Scilef (Renault 5 GT Turbo) at 35"3; 3) Laboisse-Laboisse (Autobianchi A112 Abarth 70HP) at 3'08"9; 4) Ruiu-Alicicco (Alfa Romeo 33 1.7 ie 16v) at 7'24"8; 5) Zedda-Donato (Opel Corsa Gsi) at 12'46".
Classic Rally Standings: 1) Ruggiu-Valdarchi (Opel Astra Gsi) in 45'00"4.
Engines
Rally Sulcis Iglesiente: Ledda remains in the lead with three stages to go.
Tidemand is second, 2.8 seconds behind after a penalty, with Gessa third. The second lap begins, and the awards ceremony in Iglesias will be held at 4 p.m.