Ogier sur Neuville: “It’s good to create a bit of atmosphere, otherwise we’d get bored!”

Everything happened in a fraction of a second during the Power Stage, the last special stage of this Rally from Greece. While Sébastien Ogier was heading towards the seven points of the Super Sunday and possibly the five points promised to the fastest driver of this final timed section, the Toyota Yaris Rally1 finished its race on its roof, having rolled after going a little wide from a left-hand bend that immediately required a right-hand turn. The Japanese car was put back on its wheels by spectators, but could not get back on the road immediately, and the spectre of a very costly retirement from the championship was looming.

Ogier was however able to repair a recalcitrant wheel and get back on the road to at least save the 13 points of his third place in the provisional classification of Saturday evening. Enough to remain 38 points behind the duo Hyundai Neuville/Wydaeghe, winner for the second time this season after their success in the first round, the Rallye Monte-Carlo. As the Frenchman explained to our colleagues at the RTBF, it was a puncture which precipitated the accident in this final special.

“It’s quite simple, we had a puncture and I didn’t manage to stop in time in the next corner. It’s my fault, I didn’t anticipate enough with the puncture, and it ended up on the roof. We should have stopped no matter what, but everything happens very quickly. You get a puncture, and three seconds later you’re out. I wasn’t quick enough to stop straight away and change the wheel. Behind all that there was perhaps a bit of frustration at having fought like lions all weekend to salvage what we could. We did a lot of great things this weekend but in motorsport, it’s no use if you don’t finish the job. I take responsibility for it without any problem, that’s life, you have to turn the page and we’ll do better in the next rally!”

The importance of bringing back points for Toyota…

After a difficult rally for his team-mates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, Sébastien Ogier knew he had the responsibility to bring points back for Toyota in the constructors' championship. Engaged in a fierce battle with Hyundai, the Japanese marque is already dealing with a major setback overall, with the South Korean manufacturer having completed the hat-trick at the end of this tenth round of the season.

"The only thing we tried to get back was the 13 points from the weekend. That's one of the small satisfactions of the weekend, the fact of having fought until the end, with a wheel half torn off. It didn't seem very good to finish the rally but I was able to repair it and bring the car back to service. We can be satisfied with having saved these points for the team, because on our side, we didn't expect much before the start, and the title seems even less achievable."

The eight-time world champion has in any case almost definitively drawn a line under a ninth title, for which he felt much less in the running than many observers: “Once again, it’s a bit like all of you [the journalists] trying to get me into this battle! It was never my goal this year, if it was possible to do it, why not, with great pleasure, but with the current points system, it already seemed complicated before the start. I knew that luck would play a role here, unfortunately we didn’t have much luck this weekend. The gap is increasing, that’s how it is, I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. We will be there despite everything on the last three rallies because I made the commitment with the team, and I’m not the type to let them down. We have to be realistic, the chances are minimal.”

…and the importance of setting the mood!

With his usual frankness, Ogier finally returned to his remarks against Thierry Neuville at the start of the rally, and which have caused a lot of talk: "Of course there is respect [between us], but it's always good to create a bit of atmosphere, otherwise we get bored!" Message well received...

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