Estonian Ott Tänak won the Central European Rally this Sunday and can still take the title from Belgian Thierry Neuville.
Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai) won the Central European Rally, the penultimate round of the WRC world championship, and remains in contention for the world title against his Belgian teammate Thierry Neuville, 3rd on Sunday.
Tänak now has 200 championship points compared to 225 at Neuville. Knowing that a maximum of 30 points can be scored in an event, the title will therefore be played out between the two Hyundai drivers in Japan from November 21 to 24. “I managed to bring home the points”declared the winner with his usual sobriety.
Neuville missed the opportunity to win his first WRC world title by accumulating errors on Saturday, losing the lead in the rally and falling back in the standings. “We can always make mistakes”estimated the Belgian driver on Sunday, emphasizing that he would however arrive in Japan with a significant advantage over Tänak.
In his misfortune, he also took advantage of those of the French Sébastien Ogier who unexpectedly offered him the third step on the podium in this Central European rally contested between the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. The eight-time world champion started Sunday by shooting straight into a corner, earning him a short escape into a field, without damage to his car but costing him the lead of the race for the benefit of Tänak.
Ogier in the trees
But the worst was yet to come. While chasing the Estonian, he left the road at high speed in the penultimate special and found himself forced to retire. He thus lost all the benefit of his points acquired until Saturday and the possibility of scoring other Sundays.
“I came out of a corner too fast and hit some trees and then a telegraph pole. I’m angry with myself and sad for my team. It was really my goal to help them win the constructor’s title.”regretted Ogier. This abandonment does not help matters for Toyota, which remains 15 points behind Hyundai in the manufacturers’ championship before the last round.
Cyril Abiteboul, the head of the Hyundai team after having been that of Renault in F1, now also knows that the driver’s title cannot escape one of his own. “Our goal was to finish this rally with 30 points more than the closest Toyota driver and that’s the case”he stressed.
2nd place ultimately went to Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota). He thus takes provisional 3rd place in the championship at Ogier but can no longer fight with the Hyundai drivers for the title, although final 2nd place remains within his reach if Tänak were to experience setbacks in Japan. Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport/Ford), who had to retire on Saturday with steering problems, was however able to restart on Sunday to score points in the championship. He did it by winning a special and finishing 5th in the final special, the «Power Stage» which also earns extra points for the top five.
