News: Rallying
Frenchman not bothered by starting first – and ahead of Evans – in Italy this weekend
Sebastien Ogier has revealed the thought of backing off on Rally of Portugal’s Powerstage to force his Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans to open the road in Sardinia never crossed his mind.
Ogier scored three bonus points for going third fastest on the deciding stage in Portugal, where Welshman Evans landed his first victory of the World Rally Championship season.
The result kept Ogier on top of the standings by two points and means he will run first on the road when Rally Italy begins tomorrow (Friday).
While Ogier is a master at minimising time loss when running at the head of the pack, the Sardinia event’s notoriously sandy surface and hard road base adversely affects those with higher starting positions.
But rather than hindering Evans, Ogier opted to play the team game in Portugal, as he explained.
“I was asked if I hadn’t been tempted to go easy in the Powerstage in order to let Elfyn take the lead of the championship with Sardinia in mind,” said Ogier. “But no, I haven’t thought of it and I preferred to try and go for the additional points because I’m not accustomed to letting points escape me. Another reason is because this year the Powerstage points also count for the manufacturers’ championship and so it’s our responsibility to score as many as possible.”
As well as return to its traditional June date, Rally Italy’s move from Alghero to Olbia has resulted in a handful of route changes, with Sunday’s final leg all new.
“I’m sure that Sardinia will be another demanding rally for us, opening the road again like in Portugal,” said Ogier, the seven-time World champion and triple Sardinia winner. “But, honestly, I am happy leading the championship: I always try to take as many points as I can, and this will be the aim in Sardinia too.”
By winning Rally of Portugal last month, Evans was able to reignite his title challenge, although his second-place starting position on leg one in Sardinia will be far from favourable.
“Portugal was obviously a great result for us,” Evans said. “We made good progress with the car set-up and our understanding of the tyres throughout the weekend, but even though it’s quite a tight turnaround, I think we probably all have a few ideas as to how we can improve the package for Sardinia.
“It’s not going to be an easy weekend given our road position, and that might be more of a disadvantage than it was in October last year if we have warm and dry conditions like expected.”