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Toyota team boss: WRC chances “as good as gone” after Ogier roll

Sotd Editor

Sebastien Ogier picks up a penalty following the Acropolis Rally, Toyota no longer looking at the WRC: licking wounds after Greece fiasco

A puncture was the reason for Sebastien Ogier’s role on the Power Stage of the 2024 Acropolis Rally. The rollover cost the eight-time world champion all his points for Sunday, but he still took 13 points from Saturday because he finished

The drama began one corner earlier, as he explains: “I knew there were stones everywhere, but you just have to cut at this point. And this hole was teeming with stones. It’s a matter of centimeters, whether you hit them right or not.”

Ogier, who wanted to go on the attack after two stage wins on Sunday and set the third fastest time, slashed a tire on his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. “I only noticed that during the next braking maneuver. I just didn’t look far enough ahead.”

“It’s a pretty fast passage over a crest. I couldn’t brake and got understeer, which led to the rollover. Fortunately, I was able to repair the car, because it didn’t look good. One wheel was almost completely gone, I wasn’t very confident. But the repair was successful and I was able to salvage what I could for the team.”

Ogier drove the stage to the end, but the repair took more than 20 minutes. Of course, this meant that all the “Super Sunday” points were gone, not to mention the points for the Power Stage. “I have no problem taking responsibility for this accident,” he says. “I didn’t stop fast enough after the puncture to change the tire. “

Toyota writes off both world championship titles

Team boss Jari-Matti Latvala admits that the chances in both world championships are so slim with three rallies to go that the approach will change from now on.

“It’s nice that he saved the points from Saturday, but the reality is that our points for Sunday and the Power Stage are gone.”

“With the current points system, Hyundai can defend the lead in the last three rallies without taking any big risks. So they won’t be taking any more big risks. Our title chances are as good as gone, so we have to change our goal and try to win individual rallies from now on. “

“We have to forget about both championships for a while. We can’t force it anymore. Our only chance is for something to go wrong at Hyundai. At the moment, the championship points have to move to the back of our minds.”

Ogier, who actually only wanted to take part in the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC) on a part-time basis but was nominated by Toyota for the remaining rallies after Elfyn Evans’ mistake in Finland, is taking the setback lightly: “It wasn’t looking so good before the rally [in terms of WRC chances] and now it certainly hasn’t gone in the right direction,” he says.

“It’s not a big deal for me because [the chances] came out of nowhere anyway. – I said to myself: ‘Let’s see what happens this weekend’, because I knew that the luck factor plays a big role here. It was obviously tough for the team, especially on Sunday, which is so important these days. We’ve put ourselves in a bad position in the championship. “

It would be easy to blame Ogier – especially after a similar mishap on the Power Stage in Spain in 2015 – but the reason he went on the attack in the first place was that his car had let him down on Friday. Like Evans before him, he had problems with the turbocharger while in the lead.

Latvala speaks of a “black Friday” for Toyota in Greece: “It was going in the wrong direction right from the start, and from then on it only went downhill more steeply. But that’s life. There are good times and bad times, not everything can go perfectly every year. We’ve had three incredible seasons, so it’s clear that the bad moments will come at some point, and we have them now.”

That’s why he also defends Ogier: “We had no choice, Seb had to go out there and go full throttle, because we needed these points for Sunday and the Power Stage. With these points, we could have maintained a promising position in the championship. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out and we paid the price. “

30,000 euro fine – on probation

As if that wasn’t annoying enough, Ogier was also handed a penalty on Friday. The stewards sentenced the Frenchman to a suspended fine of 30,000 euros for insulting the organizers. He is not allowed to commit any further offenses in this regard for two years, otherwise the fine will become due.

After the first special stage, Ogier had complained about clouds of dust from the vehicles in front – a long-standing problem at the Acropolis Rally. Following vehement complaints from the drivers, the gaps between the cars were extended from three to four minutes from the second special stage onwards.

Ogier was furious after the first stage: “It annoys me that nobody in this sport is capable of learning. We asked for [the intervals to be extended] because we saw the dust plumes. But they just say: ‘Nope. Have you got nothing in your head? Crazy!”

Toyota team boss Kaj Lindström then had to smooth things over. He asked the stewards to take into account that Ogier had praised the decision to extend the intervals after the second stage.

Ogier also apologized and said that he had not meant anyone specifically, but had made a comment on a safety-related aspect in the heat of the moment. However, the stewards did not accept this as an extenuating circumstance.

“The stewards conclude that Mr. Ogier’s statement, even if not addressed personally to anyone, is biased against the FIA and its officials, as well as the local officials and the hundreds of volunteers involved in the rally.”

“The organizational structure of motorsport events is well known to everyone. There are clear procedures for requests or demands. Everyone is free to express their opinion, but not in the form of general hostility or actions against the interests of the sport. Any comments made on television and/or social media are heard by millions of viewers worldwide.”

Ogier is still the best Toyota driver in the championship standings, but is now 38 points behind championship leader Thierry Neuville. Due to this year’s points system, it is particularly difficult to make up large gaps.

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