Thierry Neuville was allowed to drive with the blessing of the Hyundai team management to win the Akropolis rally, even though Ott Tänak, who drove second, would have needed all possible points from Greece.
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Although the World Rally Championship in Greece ended with a triple victory for the Hyundai team, the Korean team’s team order on the final day caused great surprise. Belgian Thierry Neuville got to drive with the team management’s blessing to first place and an Estonian Ott Tänak came second.
The decision was surprising because Tänak is chasing Toyota Kalle Rovanperää in the fight for the world rally championship. Tänak would have needed all the possible points available from Greece so that he would still have the opportunity to push past Rovanperä.
Now Rovanperä’s World Cup points lead over Tänak narrowed to 53 points. Neuville is third in the World Championship standings, but his gap to the top is already 76 points.
Rovanperä will become world champion if he gets eight points more than Tänak in the next race in New Zealand.
– A special solution. Of course, the decision was sporting, when the fastest man was allowed to win. But Tänak lost points that he could have gained. Hyundai could have taken the triple win and maximum points for Tänak, Urheilu’s expert Henri Haapamäki comment.
Tänak expressed his opinion quite bluntly at the finish line.
– If you want to fight for the drivers’ championship, the decision was wrong. If you are looking for a good PR, the decision was right, Tänak formulated his thoughts.
Hyundai’s policies suit Rovanpera well.
– At least it didn’t bother me at all. The situation is still quite good, but it is clear that we also have to succeed, Rovanperä stated.
The real rock bottom of the Toyota stable
The big topic of discussion at the World Rally Championship in Greece was the total failure of the Toyota team. It is quite incredible that only Japanese Takamoto Katsuta managed to drive into the top ten.
Rovanperä lost the lead already on Friday and lost his last chances when his car crashed into a tree on Saturday morning.
– Rovanperä complained all weekend that there is no traction and he cannot drive top results. Now, however, he was able to pull second on the Power Stage. Was it the case that when the car didn’t fit the hand, Kalle couldn’t get into his best rhythm himself, Haapamäki assessed.
Haapamäki described Rovanperä’s Akropolis rally as “semi-soft” as a whole.
– Of course, there could have been a slight feeling of well-being in the background, when you look at the kind of series lead he has reached. Maybe there was no desire to go into the discomfort zone now, Haapamäki thought.
The World Rally Championship in New Zealand is held between September and October. Live broadcasts and the best bits from the rally can be seen as usual on channels.
Read also:
Kalle Rovanperä’s World Championship points lead narrowed significantly – “Hopefully we can give the car such an impact that we can race with Tänak”
Rovanperä took important points on the Power Stage, team manager Latvala commented on Toyota’s collapse – “There was something to learn from this”