OGIER BLASTS PIRELLI AFTER JAPAN PUNCTURE WOE
Eight-time champion slams Italian tyre firm for doing a “sh*t” job in the WRC
Sebastien Ogier responded to his Rally Japan puncture by launching a scathing attack on tyre firm Pirelli.
Ogier dropped out of the victory fight on last weekend’s World championship finale when he punctured on the first full-length stage of the Tarmac event. Pirelli is the WRC’s exclusive tyre supplier and Ogier has been outspoken in his criticism of the Italian firm on a number of occasions in past.
But he was particularly vocal on an event where three of the four factory Toyota drivers picked up punctures and suffered significant delay as a result.
At the finish of the final stage, Ogier told WRC All Live reporter Molly Pettit: “Maybe one day we are going to talk about the really shit job Pirelli is doing. Maybe something is going to change but, at the moment, it’s really a joke what they are doing. It’s punctures all around all the time and it’s just about a lottery.”
In another interview during the rally Ogier said: “To be honest it’s a bit of a shame that nobody talks about this issue with Pirelli because it’s just a joke the job they are doing. It’s not serious, there are punctures all around – more punctures in one year than you have in 10 years with Michelin and nobody talks about it because there are contracts, there are sponsors involved and it’s just not serious. I’m just glad I don’t do the championship [full time] in these conditions.”
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli’s rally activity manager, didn’t respond directly to Ogier’s attacks but suggested that by carrying one spare for the afternoon loop on Saturday meant drivers had “maximum confidence” in the company’s product.
“The choice of a single spare, even in the afternoon when the risk of a puncture was high due to the roads becoming much dirtier than in the morning, means two things: that the drivers have maximum confidence in the robustness and impact resistance of the tyres and that they preferred speed to the certainty of reaching the end of the section.”
While the punctures picked up by Ogier’s team-mates Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanpera were considered self-inflicted, the Frenchman was unable to explain the cause of the deflation that delayed him by more than two-and-a-half minutes.
“I have no idea to be honest,” he said. “It was very narrow with not a lot of grip. I didn’t feel anything.”