Sébastien Ogier was very close to taking home his fifth victory at the Rally Italia Sardegna, which would have made him the most successful driver in the history of the island’s competition. Instead, having arrived at the Power Stage with a 6″6 advantage over Ott Tanak, the 8-time world champion found himself losing the race by just 2 tenths.
A bitter joke, especially after realizing that he had to fight with a puncture during the last kilometers of the Sassari – Argentiera 2. Ogier did not hide his disappointment in the moments immediately following the finish line of the test, but he then had the opportunity to see the damage to the wheel which led him to lose all the advantage he had started with in the Power Stage.
“There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders, clearly. It was difficult to accept something like that, but I have to be honest: the puncture wasn’t Pirelli’s fault. I have to say that,” Ogier told Dirtfish.
Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo credit: Toyota Racing
The loss of pressure in the Pirelli tire was not caused by damage to the tyre, but rather by the failure of a part of the rim which, by bending and puncturing itself inside, deflated the tire just enough to force Ogier not to use all the potential of his GR Yaris Rally1.
“It was a wheel failure. It’s too damaged and also slightly bent on the inside. I didn’t even feel the impact, if I’m honest. I was in the line of fire and then a small hole was created inside the wheel. wheel and then the tire started to slowly lose pressure.”
The most important aspect, however, is that what happened to Ogier in Sardinia has already happened during the season. A symptom that Toyota will have to take action and find a solution to ensure that problems like these no longer occur during the season, especially in rallies as tough as Sardinia (just think of the Acropolis scheduled for September).
“I’m sure it’s something the team needs to investigate because, I have to be honest, Pirelli has done a good job in the last few months and has improved its tyres. I think they are at a good level now, and the problem was generated by And it’s something that has already happened a couple of times and we absolutely need to improve it”, concluded Ogier.
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