Toyota had already tasted the taste of a hat-trick at the 2022 Acropolis Rally, exactly 2 years ago, but after having inflicted so many on Hyundai that it would make anyone pale. The one that arrived last weekend, again on Greek dirt, has instead a much more bitter taste.
A real bile, a punch that brings you back down to earth. Or rather, maybe even lower. A weekend in which Toyota lost its two regular drivers between Friday and Saturday, not to mention the unusual mistake by Sébastien Ogier in the Power Stage, with which he threw away one of the last chances to stay in contention for the Drivers’ title.
A rare and unique event: Ogier’s last mistake in a Power Stage dates back to the 2015 Rally Catalunya, when he ended up destroying the front of his Volkswagen Polo WRC against a guard rail, handing the first career victory (the first of three in total) to Andreas Mikkelsen.
Hyundai, on the other hand, won with Thierry Neuville, who extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship, and completed the podium with Dani Sordo in second place and Ott Tanak in third. The standings, with 3 rallies left in the season, see the Belgian leading with 192 points against Ott Tanak’s 158 and Sébastien Ogier’s 154. Hyundai, on the other hand, has a 35-point lead over Toyota in the Manufacturers’ Championship.
Winner Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1, Dani Sordo, Candido Carrera, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1, Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on the podium
Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport
“The weekend started going badly from Friday and continued to go in the wrong direction. But that’s how things go sometimes. In life there are good moments and bad moments, you can’t have everything perfect every year. We’ve had three amazing seasons, so for sure at some point the bad moments come, and now we are experiencing them,” Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala told Motorsport.com.
“With Séb we couldn’t do anything else, he had to go at his best to try to get as many points as possible both in the Super Sunday and in the Power Stage. With those points we would have been able to stay in touch in the World Championship”.
“It’s good that Séb still managed to take the points given on Saturday, but the reality is that we lose the points from Sunday and those from the Power Stage for both championships, which are now practically lost.”
“Hyundai has started to get into a position where, under the current points system, they can maintain their lead for the last three remaining events, so they are not in danger of losing these titles.”
“For us, the chances of winning the title are practically over and we have to change our objectives to try to win the individual rallies from now on. We have to forget about the two world championships for a while. We found ourselves in a situation where we tried to force it and we can’t do it anymore.”
“We can only do that by driving well and winning events without any pressure on the drivers. That’s the only way and if something goes wrong at Hyundai, then it could be a huge bonus for us.”
“But in the end we have to forget about the goals and try to relax the drivers. And if something great were to happen, then it would be a Cinderella story. But at the moment we have to forget about thinking about the points for the World Championship.”
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