Ogier on the title trail in Wales
Evans keen to shine on home turf Tanak to Toyota for 2018
SEBASTIEN Oger is aiming to wrap up the 2017 World Rally Championship title at Rally GB this weekend. The M-sport Ford driver says he’s keen to put the result beyond doubt in the Welsh forests, rather than see the battle go down to the wire at the season-ending Rally Australia.
Retirement for Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville in Spain elevated Ogier’s fellow Fiesta WRC driver Ott Tanak to second in the standings, albeit 37 points behind the Frenchman.
“I don’t want to go to the last rally in Australia and still be fighting for the championship,” Ogier said last week.
“The road cleaning is really bad on that rally and to go there and fight in those conditions, having to drive at the front on the first day, it wouldn’t be so good.”
Winning in Wales would see Ogier claim the title no matter where Neuville or Tanak finishes, so he’s expected to push hard.
But local hero Elfyn Evans, also at the wheel of a Fiesta, could spoil Ogier’s plans. The Welshman has second places in Finland and Argentina to his name in 2017, knows the forests like the back of his hand and has been tipped for a breakthrough win.
“We’re really in for a classic event and it should present us with a really good opportunity,” he admitted. “Hopefully we can bring home a great result.”
This year’s running of Wales Rally GB is expected to be particularly gruelling. It kicks off on Thursday night in Conwy, followed by a full day of stages in mid-wales on Friday.
Saturday sees the crews tackle classic stages like Dyfi, before crossing the border to Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire for a family-friendly spectator stage. The cars
will then head back into the forests for night stages, ahead of another full day’s running on Sunday, ending with a televised ‘power stage’ finale in Llandudno.
Elsewhere, the run-up to Rally GB has also seen Tanak confirm a rumoured move to Toyota works for 2018. The Estonian will take the place of Finn Juho Hanninen.