“I managed to bring home the points.” With his usual sobriety, Ott Tänak won the Central European Rally this Sunday, keeping him alive for the title of world champion, which he is competing for with his Belgian teammate Thierry Neuville, 3rd in the race. The latter 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 others on Sunday.. “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 constructors’ 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 pointed out.
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 this by winning a special stage and finishing 5th in the final special stage, the “Power Stage” which also earned additional points for the top five.
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