Sebastien Ogier says the pursuit of a ninth World Rally Championship title was behind a few gambles undertaken on his approach to claiming a shocking Rally Paraguay victory.
The Toyota driver managed to struggle again from dropping to eighth after a stage-two puncture to energy to a fourth win of the season. The consequence left Ogier solely 9 factors adrift of championship chief Elfyn Evans with 4 rounds remaining, after sitting out three rounds.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais have been clearly the quickest pairing as Paraguay made its WRC debut, profitable 9 of the 19 gravel phases, however the victory didn’t come with out some risk-taking.
After struggling the puncture, Ogier was with no spare wheel for the remaining two phases of the loop however threw warning to the wind, leading to a stage win on the subsequent check.
Ogier additionally opted to take just one spare wheel whereas his rivals took two for the Saturday afternoon loop. The gamble paid off as Ogier received two of the three phases and emerged with the rally lead after rival and long-time chief Kalle Rovanpera misplaced two minutes to a stage 14 puncture.
When requested concerning the gambles after the puncture, Ogier stated: “From this [after stage two] second, we needed to go for it to maintain going in any other case it was going to be a tough weekend.
“We’re right here to try to win the championship, it’s true, however I need to do it by profitable rallies and never by simply cruising round.
Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Picture by: Toyota Racing
“I feel we have been closing in and shutting in, and we knew on Saturday afternoon we may maintain strain on the lead and that’s what we did. Usually, we have been clearly the quickest this weekend and that’s very constructive and the one damaging is that this unhealthy luck within the Energy Stage, which price us numerous factors really.”
He added: “In fact, [for] profitable a championship if you end up not competing in all of the races, we want the celebs to align loads for me, and this weekend they weren’t fully aligned, however on my aspect I did every part I may.”
Whereas pleased with his efficiency, Ogier was initially annoyed when he crossed the end line as a sudden heavy rain bathe erased any alternative of maximising his Tremendous Sunday factors haul. In the long run, Ogier left with one bonus level.
“That [the win] is the primary factor however in fact the competitor that I’m crossing the end line and seeing that we misplaced numerous factors as a consequence of 5 minutes of rain that got here primarily for us and in addition price Adrien a podium,” he stated.
“In fact, within the second it’s irritating as you might be near an ideal weekend and on our aspect we gave every part we may and didn’t get rewarded, so I wanted a little bit of time.
“Crucial factor is that we received the rally and we have now been clearly the quickest of the weekend and that’s very constructive for the mission we have now now for the remainder of the season.”
Ogier is predicted to contest at the very least three of the 4 remaining WRC rounds of the season.
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