Pontus Tidemand steered clear of drama to lead WRC 2 after a gruelling opening leg at Rally Italia Sardegna on Friday. Driving a Skoda Fabia Rally2, Tidemand quickly found his rhythm on the tight and twisty Sardinian stages to open up a hefty 31.9sec advantage over Adrien Fourmaux. The Frenchman claimed three impressive stage victories over the course of the day, but a puncture in the Sedini – Castelsardo speed test slowed his progress. The Norwegian was forced to limp through the opening four stages with his Citroën C3 R5 stuck in rear-wheel-drive and he dropped over five minutes. He was forced to stop after picking up a double puncture on the penultimate stage, but will restart the event on Saturday morning.

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