Eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier took advantage of an error from Toyota teammate Kalle Rovanpera to clinch the Rally of Finland on Sunday.
Rovanpera, the two-time defending champion, was leading by 45.8 seconds going into the penultimate stage and looked certain to become the first Finn in seven years to claim the rally. But the 23-year-old clipped a rock which rolled his car and ended his chances.
Ogier, driving in Finland for the first time since 2021, came through to take his 61st WRC victory while Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who was 40.1sec back in second, and Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux completed the podium.
“It’s hard to smile right now,” said Ogier. A win in Finland is always nice, but this is not the way we like to have it.
“Very sorry for Kalle and (co-driver) Jonne (Halttunen). They were unlucky with the stone and it’s a shame for them. We were unlucky in Sardinia and lost in the last stage, but we are lucky here. That’s motorsport.”
Neuville leads the championship standings with 166 points, 28 clear of Ogier who, like Rovanpera, is only taking part in a limited number of rallies this season. In Finland, the Belgian benefitted from the retirement of his two main title rivals.
First, his Hyundai teammate Ott Tanak, who went into the race in second place, suffered a nasty accident on Friday which saw the Estonian’s co-driver taken to hospital for observation. Tanak was unable to add to his 137 points and duly slipped to third in the standings.
Next up was Welsh driver Elfyn Evans (Toyota) who first encountered transmission problems on Saturday, which dropped him down the order.
He battled on but like Rovanpera went out on the 19th and penultimate stage, leaving him pointless in Finland and down in fourth place in the title race with 132 points.
“It was a real rollercoaster of emotions this weekend,” said Neuville.
“We had a clever approach this weekend knowing it was hard to fight with the Toyotas. After our team’s issues, we knew we had to bring the points home.”
Hyundai now lead the manufacturers’ championship by 20 points, ahead of Toyota. The next WRC action sees the Acropolis Rally in Greece at the start of September.
Final standings at Rally of Finland
1. Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (FRA/Toyota) 2hrs 25min 41.9sec, 2. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) at 40.1sec, 3. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (FRA/M-Sport Ford) 1:14.1, 4. Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (FIN/Toyota) 1:54.5, 5. Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (SWE-GBR/Skoda) 8:15.5
Special stage winners
Thierry Neuville (SS1, SS8), Elfyn Evans (SS2, SS4), Kalle Rovanpera (SS3, SS5, SS6, SS7, SS11, SS12, SS13, SS14, SS16, SS17, SS18), Sami Pajari (SS9), Sebastien Ogier (SS10), Esapekka Lappi (SS15), Takamoto Katsuta (SS19, SS20)
Drivers championship standings
1. Thierry Neuville (BEL) 166 points, 2. Sebastien Ogier (FRA) 138, 3. Ott Tanak (EST) 137, 4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) 132, 5. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) 116
Constructors championship standings
1. Hyundai 395 pts, 2. Toyota 375, 3. Ford (M-Sport) 207
Source: eNCA