Ogier wins by a breath in Croatia

“It won’t be enough unfortunately.” At the arrival of the Power Stage, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) admitted to being well and truly defeated in this Rally from Croatia. It is true that victory was promised to his teammate Elfyn Evans but that was not without counting on the magic of sport capable of turning an event upside down in the snap of a finger.

With a delay of 3 seconds on his teammate at the start of SS9, the Gapençais had to attack. A mission that he succeeded as he temporarily took the lead in the special while waiting for Elfyn Evans, last on the road, to pass.

Behind Sébastien Ogier's time, the Welshman only had to ensure to achieve the 4th success of his career. Something he did perfectly until the penultimate corner of SS20. A little too aggressive, or perhaps nervous, Elfyn Evans went wide, losing a few seconds and consequently the victory in Croatia.

Hit by a car in Zagreb traffic this Sunday morning, falling to 2nd overall, Sébastien Ogier seemed cursed but luck finally turned in his favor for him to win the first Croatian Rally by only 6 tenths!

This is the 3rd closest finish in history after Jordan in 2011 (0″2 between Ogier and Latvala) and New Zealand in 2007 (0″3 between Gronhölm and Loeb).

BREAKING: @SebOgier  has pipped @TGR_WRC team mate @ElfynEvans by 0.6 seconds to win @croatia_rally@thierryneuville has finished third for @HMSGOfficial#CroatiaRally | #WRC

— WRC – FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) April 25, 2021

Leader after the first day of the event, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) termine sur la troisième place du podium et peut regretter le mauvais choix stratégique de son équipe samedi.

Left behind since the second day of racing, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) was content to maintain its 4th position overall in order to secure a few points for the drivers' classification.

On the side of M-Sport, la satisfaction a été Adrien fourmaux. Starting for the first time in the WRC, the Frenchman made a strong impression. Very comfortable for his debut with the big boys, he outperformed his teammate Gus Greensmith and took a good 5th place overall. Very encouraging for the rest of his career.

In the drivers' standings, Sébastien Ogier once again takes the lead with 61 points, 8 more than his runner-up Thierry Neuville. Unfortunately defeated, Elfyn Evans is 3rd, 10 points behind the Habs.

Pilote carries out a very good operation thanks to the drivers' double in Croatia. The Japanese manufacturer is in the lead with 27 lengths ahead of Hyundai.

In WRC2, Mads Østberg (TRT World Rally Team) has been making his return to competition. For his first event of the year, the Norwegian won ahead of Teemu Suninen (M-Sport) and Marco Bulacia (Toksport WRT).

In WRC3 and JWRC victory went to Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jon Armstrong respectively.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Croatian Rally, produced by our special correspondent in Zagreb, in issue 2309 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.