Sébastien Ogier: “we knew the rally would be difficult”

They exchanged roles with Ott Tanak. Brilliant at Monte-Carlo last January, Sébastien Ogier did not exist, or almost, in this Arctic Rally. The reigning world champion had already lost a lot of time during the first two stages of the rally Friday, being forced to sweep the track for his opponents.

His mistake during the final Saturday stage then prevented him from scoring big points.

“Overall, it’s a difficult weekend,” he admits. We tried everything we could but we knew that coming here as championship leaders was going to be a difficult rally for us. We still fought but this little mistake yesterday in the last stage of the day was obviously very costly and took us out of the fight.”

Restait alors la Power Stage, que le pilote Toyota a également mal vécue. «There was still too much sweeping, so it wouldn't be enough to have a good time, but I couldn't do more, I was at the limit. It's like that ! he reacted upon arrival. But his time still allowed him to scrape the point of fifth place. “I couldn't do more there was still too much snow, but it was good to score at least one point. »

Arriving as leader after his success in the principality, Sébastien Ogier leaves Finland with third place in the championship, eight points behind the new leader, his teammate Kalle Rovanpera.