Reigning World Champion Sebastien Ogier has urged his Toyota Gazoo Racing team to find more speed for next week’s Rally Italia Sardinia after a difficult weekend in Portugal.
Despite finishing third overall, it was a difficult weekend for the Frenchman who swept the road on Friday’s opening stages by virtue of being championship leader. Ogier held onto this lead by just two points as the three Power Stage bonus points he secured kept him ahead of team mate and overall Rallye de Portugal winner Elfyn Evans.
The Yaris WRC was fitted with an newly upgraded engine for Portugal, but both Toyota drivers admitted to not being the quickest crews over the weekend, but took advantage of the misfortune that befell the two Hyundai’s of Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak, as they both retired at the end of days one and two respectively. Early on Friday it was looking like a incredibly strong event for Hyundai as their cars fulfilled all the podium positions.
Returning under Rally2 regulations both Neuville and Tanak showed impressive pace with Tanak claiming the Power Stage win and it was this speed that Ogier is keen for his team to close the gap on.
“Not being in the fight for the best times is not pleasant,” Ogier said. “This was partly due to the road sweeping, but also to the fact that I didn’t feel 100 per cent in the car.
“Maybe that’s linked to our as yet limited acquaintance with the Pirelli tyres and to the fact that our pre-event test was in the rain and so didn’t allow us to get to know them in the kind of conditions we raced in. I think it hasn’t been performance-wise my strongest weekend ever. Even if I would have done a perfect job I don’t believe I could have made better than third at the end, but we need to keep working as speed hasn’t been good enough this weekend.
“Anyhow, we’ll have a lot of work to do on this week’s day of testing, when we hope to make a step forward in terms of performance.”
By holding onto the championship lead Ogier will once again have to sweep the stages as the opening car on Friday in Sardinia, but given the Frenchman’s previous success, this is a position he is more than used to. Stating that this approach has served him well in the past, he never considered backing off on the Power Stage to avoid collecting the extra bonus points.
“I think every point is important to take,” he said. “No one wants to open the road in Sardinia but you never know what happens. My strategy has always been to collect as much as I can and I keep this strategy. I think it has been proved quite right in the past. Another reason is because this year the Power Stage points also counts for the manufacturers’ championship and so it’s our responsibility to score as many as possible.”
Rally Italia Sardinia takes place on 3 – 6 June.
