“Me starting the last 4 rallies to win the title? That wouldn’t be my priority… but, at this point, do I have a choice?”. Sébastien Ogier said this at the end of Rally Finland, which he won just over a week ago and thus rose to second place in the Drivers’ World Championship.
This morning came confirmation of his presence at the Acropolis Rally, the tenth round of the 2024 WRC scheduled from 5 to 8 September on the dirt roads of Greece.
The eight-time world champion has been included by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the official line-up of the Greek event on the third GR Yaris Rally1 and will be navigated by the usual Vincent Landais, to try to come back against Thierry Neuville, leader of the World Championship.
The Belgian, after the Rally Finland, has a 27-point advantage over Ogier. 168 points against Ogier’s 141, Ott Tanak’s 137 and Elfyn Evans’ 132 with 4 rallies to go, two of which on gravel, where he will start at a disadvantage compared to those chasing him.
Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Ogier, thanks to his success in Finland, is now second in the World Championship and will not have many advantages over Neuville. He will be forced to enter the test second and will not have much chance of doing better than those who enter the test after him, but at this point in the season Toyota has bet on him to try to bring home at least one world title after the Finnish debacle.
Alongside Ogier and Landais there will be the other two regular crews, those formed by Elfyn Evans – Scott Martin and Takamoto Katsuta – Aaron Johnston. Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen will be out: Toyota has decided not to field other GR Yaris Rally1 after the great effort made in the rallies held on fast gravel, therefore Poland, Latvia and Finland.
It is clear that both Evans and Katsuta will now race to help Ogier in his pursuit of the ninth world title. We will see if Hyundai will do the same, putting Tanak and the third crew at Neuville’s service. In the meantime, Toyota will also try to recover the 20 points that separate it from Hyundai in the Constructors’ Championship: the Korean manufacturer has 395 points total against 375.
#WRC #Ogier #chase #title #Acropolis #Rally
