Sebastien Ogier won Rally RACC in Spain with teammate Kalle Rovanpera in third behind Thierry Neuville as Toyota secured WRC title.
Friday:
Sébastien Ogier resisted the pressure of his Toyota Gazoo Racing colleague Kalle Rovanperä to hold a slender lead in a gripping opening to RallyRACC – Rally de España on Friday. It was a case of old champion versus new champion as Ogier – an eight-time titleist between 2013 and 2021 – and Rovanperä – winner of this year’s series with two rounds to spare – traded blows across eight pulsating asphalt speed tests in the Costa Daurada hills.
Rovanperä was initially imperious and led the way after two stages. He relinquished the top spot at Les Garrigues Altes 1, however, after dropping 8.2sec to his GR Yaris partner while fighting against understeer. Ogier surrendered his position to Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville just before the day’s midpoint but emerged from service fighting, immediately snatching back the lead.
Coming under increasing pressure from Rovanperä, who claimed back-to-back stage wins at SS6 and SS7, the Frenchman responded in the finale – edging the 21-year-old by 1.2sec to end the day 4.8sec clear. A dejected Neuville – twice a winner in Spain – completed the podium 7.7sec behind Rovanperä. He lacked the pace to threaten the leading pair in the afternoon and was hesitant to push too hard for fear of his i20 N sliding.
Neuville’s team-mate Ott Tänak ended 7.5sec further down in fourth overall ahead of Dani Sordo’s similar car. It was a fraught day for the pair, with Tänak forced to overcome hybrid unit faults and an alternator belt failure while Sordo punctured his front left tyre on SS7.
Sordo wasn’t the only one to suffer tyre drama. Elfyn Evans endured the same outcome after hitting exactly the same rock, as did the Welshman’s Toyota ally Takamoto Katsuta. The pair arrived back to service in sixth and eighth respectively, sandwiching the M-Sport Ford Puma of Craig Breen.
Adrien Fourmaux made a sensible start to his first FIA World Rally Championship outing since August and trailed Katsuta by just 2.7sec at close of play. Gus Greensmith, also driving a Puma, completed the top 10 another 7.5sec in arrears.
Saturday:
A dominant drive moved Sébastien Ogier clear of the RallyRACC – Rally de España field as his Toyota Gazoo Racing squad put one hand on the manufacturers’ crown on Saturday. The eight-time WRC champion is on course to claim his maiden victory of the FIA World Rally Championship’s hybrid era on only his fifth start aboard a Rally1-specification GR Yaris.
Ogier was virtually untouchable and won four out of seven flowing asphalt speed tests in the Costa Daurada hills to turn a slender 4.8sec overnight lead into a 20.7sec advantage over Thierry Neuville with one day remaining of this penultimate round. Barring any major dramas, Ogier’s Toyota Gazoo Racing squad is almost guaranteed to seal the manufacturers’ championship title on Sunday.
Neuville moved into the runner-up spot at the final hour – pinching the position from 2022 champion Kalle Rovanperä, who dropped a chunk of time when he selected the wrong engine map on the start line of El Montmell. At close of play just 1.4sec separated the pair. It was a generally frustrating day for Neuville, however, as he fought to optimise the set-up of his i20 N.
Despite continuously making tweaks to the car he could not find the perfect balance between understeer and the rear-end breaking free. His Estonian team-mate Ott Tänak ended 15.9sec behind. Tänak’s day was relatively drama-free and he headed fifth-placed Dani Sordo – also driving an i20 N – by 36.6sec.
Sordo’s Saturday was one of two halves. The morning was filled with frustration as he repeatedly dropped time to the leading crews. Mid-leg set-up tweaks rejuvenated the Spaniard and he even grabbed a stage win late in the afternoon.
Elfyn Evans remained a lacklustre sixth overall, 14.4sec down on Sordo. His Toyota ran without problems but, like Sordo, something was missing for the 33-year-old and he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. Tyre management was the major talking point for Craig Breen, who held seventh overall in an M-Sport Ford Puma.
The Irishman couldn’t gel with the set-up of the car which resulted in him overheating the front tyres on several occasions. He languished 1min 39.7sec back from the lead but pulled clear of Yaris hotshot Takamoto Katsuta. Puma duo Adrien Fourmaux and Pierre-Louis Loubet completed the leaderboard. The latter broke into the top 10 at the expense of team-mate Gus Greensmith, who retired when he collided with an armco barrier on a right-hand bend in the final stage of the morning loop.
Sunday:
Sébastien Ogier stormed to his first victory of the FIA World Rally Championship’s hybrid era – triumphing at RallyRACC – Rally de España while helping secure the manufacturers’ title for Toyota Gazoo Racing. The Frenchman has been contesting a part-time campaign for Toyota this season and took control of this penultimate round when he posted a trio of fastest times across the middle of the three-day asphalt rally.
Driving a GR Yaris, Ogier carried a 20.7sec lead into Sunday’s final leg and could afford to negotiate the final four speed tests without taking excessive risks. He did exactly that, clinching victory by 16.4sec from Hyundai i20 N star Thierry Neuville to mark his first triumph of the WRC’s hybrid era and win number one for co-driver Benjamin Veillas.
Kalle Rovanperä, who won the drivers’ championship earlier this month, confirmed a double podium for Toyota. His result secured the Japanese marque its second-successive manufacturers’ crown. With one round to spare, the Jyväskylä-based squad holds an unassailable 93-point lead over Hyundai Motorsport and can no longer be caught.
Neuville stole the runner-up spot from Rovanperä late on Saturday afternoon and was poised for a tight scrap with the young Finn. That battle never materialised, however, as Rovanperä punctured a front left tyre when he drove over a drainage hole in the second stage. At the final control, 18.1sec split the pair.
Hyundai cars locked out the remainder of the top-five with Ott Tänak finishing 44.0sec back from the lead in fourth overall. The Estonian driver never quite found the sweet spot in terms of his car’s set-up and trailed Rovanperä by 9.5sec. A disappointed Dani Sordo was 32.5sec further back after a mixed weekend on his home roads.
He lacked pace for the first day-and-a-half until set-up tweaks at Saturday’s midpoint unlocked a sudden turn of speed. Unfortunately those tweaks came too little too late and, despite winning a couple of the smooth Tarmac speed tests, Sordo was left to rue what could have been. Also feeling dejected was sixth-placed Elfyn Evans.
The Welshman felt he was lacking performance throughout the rally and a puncture in the same place as team-mate Rovanperä at Riudecanyes compounded his woes. Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux were seventh and eighth. Both drivers gained a position at the expense of Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford Puma colleague Craig Breen, who also had tyre dramas after hitting a hole in the morning.
Breen eventually finished ninth overall as co-driver Paul Nagle bowed into retirement from the sport’s top level on his 102nd WRC start. Pierre-Louis Loubet – also driving a Puma – completed the leaderboard.
Here’s WRC Rally RACC results: https://www.wrc.com/en/wrcplus/live-timing/
[Note: The above is as per press release with no edits made]
