Sebastien Ogier’s World Rally Championship title hopes have suffered a blow after retiring from Rally Chile on stage eight.
The eight-time world champion hit a rock with the front-right wheel of his GR Yaris, 400 metres from the finish of stage eight (Lota, 25.6km).
Ogier hit the rock on the entry to a slow left-hander but the impact seemingly broke something on his Yaris, which then slowly careered wide into a bank on the exit of the corner.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais quickly leapt out of the car to assess the damage but it appeared their day was over.
M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux was the first driver to come across Ogier’s stricken Toyota.
“He hit a rock on the inside of a braking, it was a really big rock,” said Fourmaux.
“It’s really a shame for him, definitely not his rally and we are really sorry for him.”
Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Ogier entered the event sitting 38 points behind championship leader Neuville, and was holding ninth overall in the rally standings after losing almost two minutes on Friday to a puncture caused by a run-in with a bank on stage three.
Neuville was unperturbed when asked about seeing his rival on the side of the road.
“I didn’t think about [Ogier], he was anyhow behind — we think about ourselves,” said Neuville.
Ogier had started Saturday by opting for a tyre gamble, taking four softs and two hards for the morning’s abrasive gravel stages.
The Frenchman posted a blistering second fastest time on the day’s opening stage despite starting second on the road.
Rally leader and team-mate Elfyn Evans was the only driver to surpass the time as the Welshman won the stage to extend his rally lead to 7.1s over Hyundai’s Ott Tanak.
Evans managed to hang onto the rally lead at the end of stage eight but his margin was cut to 1.8s over Kalle Rovanpera, who won the test to leap from third to second overall.
Tanak dropped from second to third, 8.1s adrift, after suffering a half spin in the test.