Sebastien Ogier has revealed that a puncture contributed to his final stage roll at the Acropolis Rally that has “put ourselves in a bad position” in the World Rally Championship title battle.

The eight-time world champion appeared on course to finish second behind eventual winner and title rival Thierry Neuville before crashing out on the rally-ending Power Stage that halted any hopes of claiming Super Sunday points.

Ogier managed to repair damaged suspension incurred to his GR Yaris in the accident and was able to eventually nurse the car home to claim 13 points after ending Saturday sitting in third position.

When asked to explain what happened on the final stage, he said: “There were rocks everywhere in this one, and I knew it and this one I hit is a place where you have to go in the cut which is full of rocks and it is matter of centimetres if you hit the right one or not.

“The time that I realised I had a puncture at the next braking I didn’t anticipate it enough and it is quite a high speed section per a crest. I couldn’t brake and I understeered and I ended up rolling.

“Luckily I managed to fix the car because it was not looking so good and one wheel was nearly off and I was not confident I could fix it. But it worked so I could recover what I could for the team.

“At the end I have no problem to take the responsibility of this crash after the puncture and not being able to react quickly enough and stop and change this puncture.”

Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Ogier had led the rally heading into stage five when a turbo failure cost him more than two-and-a-half minutes, ending his victory hopes. The part-time driver, who wasn’t expected to fight for the title, was Neuville’s nearest rival in the championship [27 points adrift], but now finds himself 38 points in arrears.

“It [the title hopes] wasn’t looking really good before now and it is not going in the right direction that is for sure,” he said.

“That is not a big deal for me, it was something that popped up and I said ‘let’s see what happens this weekend’, which would be a weekend where the luck factor would play a big role.”

He added: “Obviously the last two events have been hard on the team, especially on Sunday, which these days is crucial, which means we lost ground and put ourselves in a bad position for the championship.”

Ogier fined €30,000 for stage end comments

Following the conclusion of the rally, the stewards have issued Ogier with a €30,000 fine suspended for two years for comments made on television at the end of Friday’s opening test.

Ogier was frustrated by hanging dust due still around in the three minute gaps between the Rally1 cars. The Toyota driver was not the only competitor to complain about the matter and from the next stage four minutes gaps were introduced by the event organisers.

“It is annoying to see that the sport never learns. We ask, we know that we are going to have dust. There is hanging dust. Oh, they say no. What do you have in your head? Nothing. It’s crazy,” said Ogier at the end of stage one.

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

The stewards report states that Ogier explained the comments in the “heat of the moment because [it] was related to a safety issue” and that he apologised for his choice of words that were not “addressed to anyone specifically”.

“Mr Kaj Lindstrom [Toyota sporting director] asked the Stewards to take in consideration that Mr. Ogier made another statement on Rally.tv at the end of SS2, thanking for increasing the gap between P1 competing cars from SS2,” the stewards report stated.

“Furthermore, he added that he had asked, before the start of the rally and through the main Officials, for the possibility to have a four-minute gap instead of three.

“The Stewards considered that Mr. Ogier’s statement, even if it was not addressed to anyone in particular, is directly prejudicial to the FIA and its officials, as well as the local officials and hundreds of volunteers who are working on the rally, all in the interest of safety of spectators, competitors and officials.

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“Motorsport events are organised with a very well-known structure to support teams and drivers. The way how to address their requests or issues or claims is well defined by clear procedures.

“Even if Mr. Ogier made a statement related to a safety issue, this cannot be taken into consideration as a mitigating circumstance.

“All people are free to express their thoughts, but they must always be careful not to incur in general offences or deeds contrary to the interest of the sport. All statements made through live TV and/or social media in general, are shown to millions of spectators around the world.”

Thierry Neuville clinched victory in the toughest Acropolis Rally in recent years to boost his World Rally Championship title hopes after rival Sebastien Ogier rolled on the final stage.

WRC points leaders Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe claimed a second win of the season by 1m36.8s from team-mate Dani Sordo, with Ott Tanak third [+2m57.3s] to complete a surprise Hyundai 1-2-3. Neuville’s main title rival Ogier appeared on course to finish second before rolling his Toyota GR Yaris in the drama-filled final stage.

Eight of the nine Rally1 crews hit serious trouble across the three days of competition as the event left a significant mark on the title race.

Neuville’s run to victory, starting first on the road, wasn’t without problems after his i20 N was reduced to three cylinders for Friday’s opening three stages, before ending Friday 45.2s adrift in third position.

Title rival and part-time driver Ogier lit up the timing screens and was clearly the fastest driver on Friday. The eight-time world champion led Tanak by 11.7s before a turbo failure emerged at the end of stage five. The Frenchman dropped more than two and half minutes, effectively curtailing his victory bid.

This handed Tanak the lead, that he had briefly held after stage two, heading into Saturday, but the 2019 world champion became the next driver to hit trouble on the rough travel roads. Tanak was forced to stop and change a wheel twice after suffering punctures on stage seven that cost him more than four minutes, dropping him to fourth overall — picking up 10 Saturday points.

Team-mate Sordo inherited the rally lead before he hit a rock causing puncture in stage nine. His right-rear tyre delaminated ripping a hole in the bodywork on the rear quarter of his i20 N.

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Neuville picked up the baton to become the rally’s fourth different leader. The Belgian managed to avoid issues through a Saturday, without a service, to head in to the final three stages with a 53.7s lead over Sordo, who took 15 points, as Neuville claimed the provisional 18 points in the process. Ogier pushed on to close the gap to 1m20.9s to secure 13 points.

Ogier once again proved his speed on the tricky tests topping the Sunday standings comfortably before his rally unravelled in spectacular fashion when he misjudged left-hander and rolled.

Incredibly, Ogier was able to bring the car to the finish after a lengthy delay to salvage his 13 Saturday points that he only picks up for finishing the rally.

The accident came after the 18.29km Power Stage was interrupted due to a spectator medical issue that required an ambulance.

Not wanting to risk losing his Saturday points with an issue on Sunday’s damp and muddy stages, Neuville managed to not overstep the mark to clinch the win and 24 points.

The points haul means Neuville’s lead over Ogier in the title race has extended to 34 points over Tanak, who moved to second in the standings.

Tanak came through to finish third overall despite a slow left-front puncture but managed to add three extra points following Ogier’s exit. He added 11 Sunday points to his total after finishing first in the Sunday rankings and second on the Power Stage.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Such was the attrition of the event, Sami Pajari winner of the WRC2 class finished fourth overall. The victory came in dramatic circumstances as a left-front puncture on the final stage left the Finn and his rival Robert Virves on identical overall times. Pajari took the win virtue of his more superior performance compared to Virves on the first stage. Virves was only competing in Greece following a successful crowd funding campaign.

Toyota title contender Elfyn Evans saw his championship hopes suffer a significant blow on the opening stage when he hit a rock and punctured a tyre. A turbo failure, similar to Ogier’s, on Friday dropped the Welshman almost 10 minutes adrift. Evans clipped a rut in stage 11 which resulted in a slow roll which ended his day prematurely.

Evans rejoined the rally on Sunday to salvage eight points after finishing third on both the Power Stage and in the Sunday rankings.

His Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta ran as high as second after winning stage two before an impact on stage three resulted in the Japanese driver retiring on Friday. Katsuta rejoined on Saturday but spun and picked up a puncture on the final stage.

It proved to be a difficult weekend for M-Sport-Ford that began in promising fashion as Adrien Fourmaux reached Friday midday service trailing then leader Ogier by 5.9s. However, the Frenchman hit a small rock on stage four breaking his Puma’s steering and he was unable to successfully make repairs.

Fourmaux left Greece with 11 points after winning the Power Stage and finished second in the Sunday standings.

Stablemate Gregoire Munster produced arguably his best showing of the season to sit fifth, before he ran into a ditch on stage nine and damaged his Puma’s roll cage.

Thierry Neuville is refusing to get carried away with his Acropolis Rally lead ahead of what is expected to be the roughest stage of the World Rally Championship event on Sunday.

This year’s edition of the Acropolis Rally has proved to be among the toughest in recent years with all five drivers mathematically in the title fight finding trouble.

Neuville managed to avoid trouble through Saturday’s six stages to move into a 54.9s lead to compete a recovery after his i20 N was reduced to three cylinders in Friday’s opening three stages.

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Punctures for team-mates Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo helped Neuville into the lead to claim 18 provisional points for ending Saturday on top of the timesheets — three more than main title rival Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier.

However, the Belgian says “nothing is done yet” with Sunday’s three stages, featuring two passes of the roughest stage of the rally, Eleftherohori, which will host the Power Stage. Neuville is also unsure how to tackle Sunday’s stages that will offer a maximum of 12 points.

“It has been a good day but nothing is done yet and we have to keep that in mind tomorrow is a challenging day, the Power Stage is super tricky, nothing is done,” Neuville told Motorsport.com.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“A lot of things have happened and somehow we have all had some issues nevertheless we are here despite doing three stages with troubles. We have lost less time than the others and we have had a constant run today which has given us the lead.

“We need to find the right balance. I don’t know yet [how to play it]. We need to follow our objectives but we know there are a lot of points to take tomorrow.”

Neuville, who has opted not to react to Ogier’s critical comments directed toward him on Friday night admitted that a good weekend for him would be to leave Greece with his 27-point championship lead over Ogier intact.

“I think if this is a good weekend for me I need to take at least the same amount of points as Seb,” he added.

Ogier shared Neuville’s thoughts on the challenge that will face the crews on Sunday, hinting that there is still a high chance for more drama.

“I think there is always satisfaction when you finish a day here in Greece, it has been a challenging weekend and the three stages tomorrow are far from easy,” Ogier told Motorsport.com.

“I would describe the Power Stage which we have to drive twice as the roughest stage of the weekend. I think we might not have seen all of the action and obviously an important day for both of the championships.

“It is the toughest Greece I have done, but I expect tomorrow to be the worst day”

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville has inherited the Acropolis Rally lead after team-mate Dani Sordo became the latest World Rally Championship Rally1 driver to hit trouble.

Sordo had moved into the lead of the rally on the opening stage of the day when team-mate and overnight leader Ott Tanak suffered two punctures in separate incidents.

He started the afternoon’s stages with a 10.3s advantage over Neuville but his time in the lead was short-lived as drama struck in stage nine [Aghii Theodori 1, 25.87km], held in extreme heat.

The right rear tyre on his i20 N let go during the stage after hitting a rock causing damage to the rear bodywork of his car, which allowed dust to come inside the cabin. Sordo pressed on on three tyres and reached the stage end ceding 51.3s.

The time loss handed Neuville the lead of the rally for the first time this weekend where he will stand to collect 18 provisional points should the Belgian end the day in the lead.

Speaking at the stage end before Sordo suffered this tyre failure, Neuville said: “My goals are very simple, get through the day without a problem, especially without a puncture.

“I’m fighting a bit with the rear, tricky conditions in there, lots of loose gravel I am trying to avoid.

 

“The second pass will be tough. There are already lots of the sharp stones and anything can happen here in the second pass. Hopefully, we get through, have that little bit of luck we need, everything feels good in the car.”

While Neuville claimed the rally lead, the stage was won by Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, who took 5.7s out of the former’s advantage.

With the gap to leader Neuville standing at 1m21.5s, Ogier felt the margin to the championship leader was too large to recover.

“The gaps are too big! We keep doing our job as best as we can, we’ll see,” said Ogier.

”Without service in Greece it is a big challenge, so far we are happy and we will try to finish the day.”

Tanak successfully managed to pass through what he declared “the roughest” test of the rally to date, to maintain fourth overall, but behind there was drama for fifth-placed Gregor Munster.

The M-Sport-Ford driver went off the road with his Puma becoming stuck in a ditch at the side of the road. Munster’s exit handed fifth to WRC2 class leader Sami Pajari ahead of Robert Virves.

The crews will tackle two more stages this afternoon before a super special stage near Athens tonight.