Saturday Tree Impact, Sunday History: Inside Granados-Martí's Improbable Comeback at Rally Italia Sardegna

The Sardinian earth was dry, abrasive, and treacherous. On Friday evening, as the timer read 1:36:42.5, a name was already forming on the garage canvas: Granados. Beside him, co-driver Martí. Inside the cabin of the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, this Mexican-Spanish pairing didn't yet know that the next 48 hours would deliver the most brutal test of their careers.

I was standing beside that particular stage in Sardinia, where the roadside trees are so close that a wrong pacenote means only destruction. That afternoon, the news came—a tree impact. A four-minute lead. If Saturday's hit had carried into Sunday's pace, history would have been written differently today.

In the final round of the season, the equation facing Granados-Martí was brutally simple: with 104 points they sat second, while championship leader Keferböck had 119. The gap was 15 points. In Rally2 history, there is only one path to the title from such a position in the final round—winning the category. No second place, no points-collection calculation. This was win-or-nothing.

Sardinian roads give nothing away. Here, pace and patience share an inexorable relationship. Those who can attack early are the ones who survive to the end. Granados-Martí knew there was only one way to pressure Keferböck—take the lead from Thursday.

In Thursday's opening stages, the growl of the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2's engine seemed to deliver a message—we didn't come here for points, we came to fight. When Friday ended and 4:09.2 seconds of lead appeared on the timing screen, the strategy for the remaining two days had already shifted. Attack over, now defense.

I've seen many times in rallying how this early lead can sometimes become a curse. If a customer car like the Fabia RS Rally2 stays mechanically flawless, then a 4-minute lead means a safe margin. But on Sardinian gravel, a puncture, a wrong braking point—anything can overturn the calculation.

Saturday. What shouldn't have happened, happened. Tree. Some will say driver error, some will say a misread pacenote. Where I stood in that moment, nothing could be seen beyond dust and branches. But one thing was clear—if Friday's 4-minute cushion hadn't existed, that tree impact would have been the final word.

In the evening, word came—technicians from G2 Racing Team and VP Garage were repairing the car through the night. Bodywork, suspension, everything on the Fabia RS Rally2. I've seen many all-night mechanics in my career. But restoring a crashed rally car to full pace in the middle of the night during a championship-deciding round—that's not just technical skill, that's a culture.

When Granados-Martí got back into that Škoda cabin on Sunday morning, not even a trace of Saturday's damage remained. Some will say this is just mechanical success. I say it's a message—we won't abandon this fight.

In Sunday's stages, there was a different tone in Granados's driving. None of Friday's aggression, but rather a cold, calculating mindset. Every corner, every pacenote—all seemingly a game of millimeter accuracy. The reason was obvious: no margin for another error. To become champion in the final round, the car and driver had to be preserved until the final stage.

When the Škoda stopped at the finish line, the timing screen showed—Granados-Martí had won the category. And in the championship table? World champions for the second time. Bicampeones.

Why did this become possible? Pace alone? No. The reason goes deeper. This championship was won by a combination of three things: Friday's audacious attack, Saturday night's mechanical culture, and Sunday's restrained strategy.

If I had to choose one of those three, I'd say—Friday's 4:09.2-second lead. Because that lead allowed Saturday's impact to remain an incident, not become a catastrophe.

Rally Italia Sardegna has seen many times how championship leaders lose their advantage in the final round. This experience isn't new for Keferböck. But what needs thinking about at this moment—does losing a 15-point lead mean just losing a championship? Or does it signal a weakness in the team structure?

Keferböck's final result isn't clear at this moment. Did his car suffer mechanical problems, or did he make a strategic error—that needs to be known. But what is known is that Granados-Martí didn't rely on Keferböck's collapse. They won on their own pace. That's far more significant.

I've seen big title deciders in my career, where the team that became champion was already the team that deserved to be champion. But here they had to go against the current to win. A 14-point gap, the final round—it's like a fairy tale. But fairy tales don't have tree impacts, don't have mechanics staying up all night.

Now the question is—next year? Can Granados-Martí maintain the same dynasty for a third time? Will this partnership between G2 Racing Team and VP Garage grow stronger, or will it break under the pressure of budget and sponsorship?

I know that in the Rally2 category's privateer system, budget secrecy isn't like football's transfer market. Here sponsors pay, cars are built, but the accounts stay in the dark. Granados-Martí's win is a big commercial signal too—privateer teams can beat factory teams.

But after becoming bicampeones, the biggest pressure comes in contract renewals and sponsorship negotiations. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2's success has already established a strong position in the customer rally market. This title will reinforce that further.

I was sitting in the hotel lobby having coffee with Spanish colleagues, thinking—whose story is this really? The driver's? The co-driver's? Or those mechanics who didn't sleep on Saturday night?

Rallying isn't like football. Here there are no transfer windows. But an inexorable rule operates here too: the best technical support, the most correct strategy, and the most patient driver—the combination of these three creates a champion.

Granados-Martí's victory will perhaps give more privateer teams the belief next season—beating factory teams isn't impossible. And that's the real victory for this sport.