The multimaster’s peculiar mistake surprised the expert – is Toyota’s game played now? | Sport

Henri Haapamäki doesn’t flag Sebastien Ogier out of the World Rally Championship just yet, even though Toyota had a really weak weekend in Greece.

The World Cup rally in Greece ended with a jubilant celebration for the Hyundai team. Hyundai took by Thierry Neuville leading to a triple win. Dani Sordo drove second and Ott Tänak completed the jackpot of the Korean stable with its third place.

For Toyota, the weekend was catastrophically weak. The misery culminated when Sebastien Ogier crashed his car on the Power Stage that ended the rally. Ogier managed to get to the finish line and didn’t miss a goal anyway.

– A rare mistake from a multi-master. Like a team manager Jari-Matti Latvala said, so the maximum point pot was sought. Ogier made a small mistake and drove too hard in the left-right corner combination. There were stones there, and the car started to fall, Haapamäki recounted the events.

Toyota’s situation became difficult already on Friday. The same turbo failure plagued Ogier and Elfyn Evans. Takamoto Katsuta on the other hand, stopped after executing the suspensions of the rear wheel of his car.

– It was really difficult. The cars had technical problems, an unusually high number of out-of-hours runs and turbo problems right away on Friday. Not a good weekend by any means, but these also belong to the sport, Haapamäki thought.

Does Ogier still have championship hopes?

Neuville is now 34 points ahead of his teammate Tänak in the World Championship. Ogier’s gap to Neuville is 38 points, with only three races remaining this season.

– Now we need professionals, when we start to be in trouble. You should never give up, even this rally in Greece showed that anything can happen. Situations change in the blink of an eye, Haapamäki said.

Haapamäki still doesn’t count Ogier out of the championship race.

– You can’t drop the ax into the well yet. Ogier has managed to get out of tight spots before. It cannot yet be said that the game is over, even though the gap grew, Haapamäki estimated.

Hyundai’s lead over Toyota in the team championship is 35 points. It’s probably impossible to catch up anymore.

“A dream result for Hyundai”

Neuville’s road to victory in the Akropolis rally was made easier by the dramatic events of the rally. On the bumpy roads of Greece, reliability was measured above all, and perhaps not so much top speeds.

– Really a dream result, even when Toyota had bad problems. Hard work from Neuville. He has been scolded a lot about how he can handle the pressure when we start chasing championships, Haapamäki reminded.

– Neuville drove really sensibly, went around the stones and still kept a reasonably good speed. He was by no means the fastest driver in the race. But often in long rallies, safe and error-free execution is a good thing to do.

On the Power Stage, a delicious battle between Neuville and Ogier was expected, but it was also watered down when Ogier crashed his car.

– Now Neuville got away like a dog from a dog when he got the news that Ogier’s car was in the forest. The biggest stone definitely fell from the shoulders. It would have been great to see the very last pressure cooker, Haapamäki said.

Pajari showed his skills again

Competing in Toyota’s Rally2 car Sami Pajari drove his third first place of the season in the WRC2 class. However, the first place came with the smallest possible difference.

Pajari suffered a flat tire, and Skoda Robert Virves finished in the same time as Pajar. Pajari was crowned the winner because he was faster than the two on the opening stretch of the rally. Pajari from Lahte retained his chance to drive as WRC2 class champion.

– A very rare ending. It was a rush to slip ahead, but the win went home. A victory is always a victory, whether it comes with a difference of a meter or a millimeter, Haapamäki emphasized.

Pajari is second in the points standings of the WRC2 class and three points behind Oliver Solberg.

Pajari, who had already shown his skills on the Jyväskylä gravel, finished fourth in the general competition as well.

– Sami drove a hard result and a reasonable maximum ride in difficult conditions. You have to remember that there were several fast drivers in the same class, Haapamäki pointed out.