Sébastien Ogier visibly affected after the Rally of Portugal: "This puncture obviously hurts a lot."

Cruel. The scenario of this Rally Portugal, which was turbulent at all levels, should certainly have been rewarded Sébastien Ogier of his bravery, especially in the rain. However, it was during SS22, an unremarkable special stage and less arduous than many others before it, that the driver from Gap lost all hope of victory due to a puncture suffered in the final moments.

"That's the nature of motorsport. It takes a lot of things to win rallies. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on our side today with this puncture, which obviously hurts a lot and cost us a lot of points and a victory here." Sébastien Ogier commented, clearly impressed, to AUTOhebdo. "Being dropped straight to sixth place, considering the performance all week, hurts. That's how it is. We have to keep our heads up."

Imperial indeed, especially in SS17 which he won in a torrent of water, with more than 11 seconds ahead of everyone else, Sébastien Ogier prefers to look ahead so as not to dwell on the past. "With Vincent (Landais. Ed.) and the whole team, we did a good job. There's not much we could have done differently. We'll have to move on quickly and we'll go to Japan to compete for the win again."

Looking at the details of this SS22 however, it seems that beyond having driven over a protruding rock, bad luck still played a part in this huge loss of time. "There's not much to explain. We've reviewed the footage... It was a very narrow section at the beginning of the special stage," he explains to us"We're on tracks that have formed in the sand. At one point, there's a rock sticking out of the sand. It doesn't look that big, but unfortunately, we all go over it, but only two of us really pay the price: Sami (Pajari. Ed.) and me."

Having competed in the Rally Japan, Sébastien Ogier will nevertheless be able to bounce back, especially as it would be likely to see him participate in other events before the summer. "Now we're on to the next one, you'll see us again!"

Interview conducted by Pierre Barré, in Portugal.

ALSO READ > Thierry Neuville, winner of the Rally of Portugal: "The stress was very high for the last special stage"