A first day to forget for Ogier and M-Sport

Sébastien Ogier addressed the Rally d’Australie sans pression, le Français ayant décroché son cinquième titre mondial consécutif au Wales Rally GB alors que son équipe M-Sport s’est assuré dans le même temps le sacre chez les Constructeurs.

By opening the road in the first stage, Sébastien Ogier suffered and let his opponents shine. The five-time world champion was also slowed down by gearbox problems. The French driver returned to the service park in eighth position, almost half a minute from the provisional podium completed by Kris Meeke (Citroën).

“It's not the ideal start to the event, but we knew we were going to be at a disadvantage this weekend, recognizes Sébastien Ogier. We had a gear selector problem all day which didn't help. We will not have a good position on the road tomorrow either (the order of departures for the second stage being reversed compared to the classification among the WRC) while the sweeping phenomenon should strengthen, but we will still try to take advantage of it. We are still far from a good result at the moment and it will not be easy, but there is still a way to go until the finish. »

His teammate Ott Tänak s’en est un peu mieux sorti. L’Estonien ne pointe qu’au sixième rang mais n’accuse que trois secondes de retard sur la quatrième place occupée par Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). Le vainqueur du Rallye de Sardaigne et du Rallye d’Allemagne a été gêné par la perte de son diffuseur arrière.

“It’s not the start to the rally that we were hoping for and it wasn’t easy with our position on the road, confirms Ott Tänak. Thierry (Neuville, who started in front of the Estonian) really did a good job and so we can't complain too much, but we had damage which disrupted the aero on two occasions at the start of the passages, which further complicated the things. »

“It remains very close and the podium is not too far away, insists Ott Tänak. It will clearly be difficult with the sweep tomorrow, but we still have two long stages ahead of us. If you can find a little performance by attacking hard, anything is possible. »

Elfyn Evans, recent winner at Wales Rally GB, is in more difficulty on this terrain which is less suited to his Dmack tires.

“We knew that the conditions would not suit us this weekend, admits the Welshman. It’s about gaining experience and updating notes. The second pass went a little better, but we are focusing on our preparation. »

The second stage of Rally Australia will begin at 21:18 p.m. with the 48,89km Nambucca17.