A rare error Sébastien Ogier gave direction to Central European Rally has Ott Tanakof Hyundaiwhile the debutant in the highest category of the WRC It overturned on Sunday morning.
Ogier started the final day of the rally 5.2 seconds ahead of Tanak, but stalled approaching a left turn at the start of SS15 (In Hochwald 12.17km), dry but dirty, it was expensive.
He Toyota GR Yaris The eight-time world champion, the last to start the stage, left the road and found himself on the grass before rejoining the stage, which cost him a few precious seconds.
Ogier reached the end of the stage 7.1 seconds slower than Tanak, giving way to the rally lead by 1.9s.
“We blocked and went straight. Everything is fine, that's how it is,” Ogier said when asked about the incident.
The stage proved particularly difficult for the last riders at the start, as gravel and dirt had been washed to the surface after several anti-shear devices were removed.
Tanak described the stage as a test with “dirty surprises” and “very difficult”, and ultimately finished it 3.8 seconds slower than the pace set by the rider. M-Sport-Ford Adrien Fourmauxwho resumed the competition and who was the first to hit the road.
Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Evans set the second-fastest time on the stage to maintain third place overall. Your teammate in ToyotaTakamoto Katsutawas fourth, while Neuville was 0.2 seconds ahead of his rival Tanak, although clearly frustrated by the lack of anti-slash devices.
“Given the conditions there, I don’t want to push too much, there are a lot of surprises,” Neuville said.
“I skidded a lot just after starting. All the anti-cuts moved and some were removed, it's not pleasant. They moved very little and the road is dirty.”
The difficult conditions of the stage were undoubtedly suffered by Pajari, who capsized while in sixth position overall.
The Finn, in his third participation in the Rally1 and the first on the asphalttook a medium left turn and ended up in a ditch which caused him GR Yaris would capsize. The car ended up on its wheels, but with damage to the front and rear, ending its rally prematurely.
“It was so fast that I don't really know what happened. It's clear that we went a little wide on a corner and drove quite gently. The damage is not that bad on the car, then maybe we could continue.” , but we don't want to cause more damage,” Pajari said.
“It's a shame because it was quite a gentle turnaround, but I don't know why it happened, because in my opinion everything was fine and there was nothing really surprising about that turn, so I I don’t know why.”
The drivers will face three more stages this Sunday before the end of the rally.
