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The final day then and with 54km’s over the remaining three stages. What would these final stages have to give to the weekends action. Overnight rain from a huge storm would change the final stage as well with some muddy sections on the first run through.

First up then was SS13 Inohori – 17.47 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott. Dani was quite a long way off the pace and having lost almost 32 seconds fell to down to third overall. The Spanish crew suffered a problem with their hybrid system and therefore a loss of power.

Next up was SS14 Eleftherohori 1 – 18.29 km and Seb was quickest from Ott and Elfyn who set the exact same time. Elfyn revealed at that the stop line that he’d recced this piece of road a number of years ago when it was raining and therefore had some knowledge to fall back on.

Onto the final stage then SS15 Eleftherohori 2[Power Stage] – 18.29 km and after a pause in the action after Elfyn finished the stage when the stage was interrupted for a number of minutes. Once back underway, Adrien was fastest from Ott, Elfyn, Thierry and Takamoto. However, there was drama for Seb who rolled his car and lost second overall. Having got his car back on four wheels, he and his co-driver completed the stage and ended up finishing in sixteenth position.

Of course, the outcome of this was the reality that Hyundai had taken a 1-2-3, certainly not what was expected and a surprise to see Seb make this kind of mistake.

Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It’s unbelievable. It has been a crazy weekend. Ever since the recce, I was concerned about the roughness of the rally; I knew that we needed a different approach than some of the other drivers to try to keep the advantage we have in the championship for the remaining rounds. That objective and target has been the best and paid off with victory and a good team result as well. We were not driving on the limit all weekend long to avoid any punctures and moments, and we kept all four wheels on the road. Now we have a good lead, the story will be to protect those points in the last three rounds.”

Dani Sordo

“At this moment, I am very happy with what we have achieved here for both myself, and the team. It was a complicated rally and I felt we demonstrated our speed on some of the stages, but on others we took it carefully to make sure we didn’t make any mistakes or get another puncture. Of course, I wanted to show my speed more at times, but I had to be clever and think of the team and the manufacturers’ fight. My dream was to finish like this with all three cars on the podium; for the whole team both here and back at base, this is a really good result for our motivation.”

Ott Tänak

“Obviously we were expecting there to be plenty of drama this weekend but in the end, this is a great team result. Everyone should definitely be proud of themselves; there was so much happening around us so to bring home a 1-2-3 is a fantastic finish to the weekend. It is a shame we lost positions on Saturday morning, so we don’t know what could have been, but this is one of the toughest rallies and to come out on top is great for the entire team.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“After a difficult weekend, today didn’t go as well as we would have liked. Clearly, the speed is still missing unfortunately. In some sections and moments, we were still performing OK, but I didn’t feel fully at home to really push with no worries. I was probably too keen to finish cleanly after what’s been a difficult few days. It’s been a big disappointment lately; things have not been going well and we need to get back on the right track. We have some work to do, and we’ll look to start again fresh in the next event.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We gave everything all weekend. We did a lot right, we had a great feeling in the car and great pace, and we fought as hard as we could until the last stage. Unfortunately, we picked up a puncture around a kilometre in, I didn’t react to brake early enough for the next corner, and we rolled. Thankfully we managed to fix the car and bring it back to service and bring at least some points to the team. It’s been a strange weekend. In many aspects it was close to perfection, but it doesn’t count in rallying if you don’t bring it all to the end. This is not a rally where you want to be taking risks, you need some luck to do so, and it was not on our side. It’s satisfying for me to still be able to compete like this: I enjoy pushing the limits, it’s been fun in the car. But I know very well after all these years that sometimes it doesn’t go your way. I will still be there in the next three events, continuing to give my best and keep fighting.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very tough rally. Today on the final day we also had some difficulties. The stages were rough, and I tried to take some points on the Power Stage in particular, but unfortunately, we picked up a puncture. This probably cost us the chance to take some more points. It’s been a disappointing weekend and I’m sorry for the team. The car felt amazing at the beginning of the rally, but with my small mistake our chances of a good result were over, so I need to do a better job in future.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“It was a frustrating start to the rally, after we were fighting for the top spots in the morning, but then we broke the suspension after hitting a rock. We were then focused totally on Super Sunday to get the maximum points. We got 11 out of 12 available points, including the 5 for the Power Stage.

“We showed some good pace overall, and there has been an incredible atmosphere with all the fans and the really beautiful stages. It was a tough and hot event, and now we have Chile coming up and we want to come back stronger for that.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“14th overall and second Greek driver – we have achieved our best result on Acropolis Rally, while I was the oldest driver on the 70 entries! We had no issues throughout the rally, and we pushed when possible. I’m also very happy to have pleased the Greek fans!”

Grégoire Munster

“We’re disappointed of course, I think the rally was going well for us despite some small issues on the first day and the punctures. Even on the second day, the pace in the morning was encouraging and then we had this off.

“A small mistake with big consequences, and it’s a shame because the team put a lot of resource into getting the car in the best condition as possible in this really rough event. So to not get a result in the end is a shame. But we can’t rewind, we can just look forward to Chile and put everything in to get a good result there.”

Summary

Well, there was one final twist in this years Acropolis Rally, with Seb and Vincent rolling in the final stage. This gave the Hyundai team a 1-2-3 and an increased lead in the manufacturers title race. Thierry also took victory from Dani and Ott. All three crews led at some point, but it was the championship leaders that took their second win of the year.

Their teammates both could have won of course, but for the punctures that they both suffered during Saturday’s stages.

At Toyota the team suffered a number of issues, some caused by the drivers and a couple of technical failures as well which was surprising. They will investigate, fix and learn from this. It was a shame to see Elfyn and Scott have the puncture which caused them to lose so much time so early in the rally.

Finally at M-Sport Ford it was a case if what might have been. Adrien could have made it to the podium this time, but after the incident which removed the suspension on his Puma, it then became a pursuit for the biggest number of points available on Sunday, given the points system for this year which has received deserved criticism and been incredibly unpopular with the fans and also some of the drivers this year.

Next up is a return to Rally Chile near the end of the month from the 26^th to the 29^th of September.

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10

1	T. Neuville	192
2	O. Tänak	158
3	S. Ogier	154
4	E. Evans	140
5	A. Fourmaux	130
6	K. Rovanpera	86
7	T. Katsuta	80
8	D. Sordo	44
9	S. Pajari	34
10	E. Lappi	33

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 10

1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	445
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	410
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	226

The second full day of the tenth round of the championship again saw drama from the off. A number of cars would make the restart with, including Takamoto and Adrien with the Japanese star opening the road.

First up then was SS7 Rengini – 28.67 km and there was a stage win for Thierry from Seb and Dani. Meanwhile, Ott and Martin fell from the lead with not just one but two punctures. The Estonian’s fell to sixth place. Dani now led from Thierry and Seb. Further back, Elfyn and Scott made it up into fifteenth position after setting the fourth best time.

Onto SS8 Thiva – 20.95 km which was taken by Seb from Dani and Thierry. Dani was pulling away from Thierry, the gap now between the teammates a little over ten seconds. Ott gained two positions, moving ahead of two WRC2 cars and into fourth place.

SS9 Aghii Theodori 1 – 25.87 km was taken by Seb from Thierry and Ott. Dani had a tyre fail on him and this led to the rear right-hand side section of bodywork getting ripped away. Another leader fell from the lead and now his Belgian teammate was leading.

Following that and the tyre the shortest proper stage of the day, SS10 Loutraki – 12.90 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Thierry in this one. The Belgians now had a forty second lead over their Spanish teammates.

The second run of SS11 Aghii Theodori 2 – 25.87 km and Seb was fastest from Ott and Thierry. There was an incident for Elfyn and Scott as their car dug in in a rut in a left-handed hairpin and the car slow rolled onto its roof. They got it back onto its wheels and completed the stage, having let their teammates Seb and Vincent through, so they didn’t give them a dust cloud to drive through. Ott and Martin also had a moment at the same corner and managed to get his Hyundai back onto four wheels.

The final mickey mouse stage, SS12 EKO SSS – 1.97 km and Thierry won it from Seb and Dani. The Belgians took the maximum points at the end as leaders of the rally at the end of Saturday.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	3:01:05.3
2	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+53.7
3	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:20.9
4	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:19.2
5	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally2	+5:06.1
6	R. Virves	A. Lesk	Škoda Fabia RS	+5:33.8
7	Y. Rossel	F. Barral	Citroën C3	+6:00.3
8	K. Kajetanovicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+6:58.1
9	G. Linnamäe	J. Morgan	Toyota GR Yaris Rally2	+8:33.9
10	F. Zaldivar	M. Der Ohannesian	Škoda Fabia RS	+9:23.2

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“So far, we have managed our rally well despite some small issues on Friday, but we’ve had nothing major on Saturday. Our approach was to be careful with the car when it was needed, but you can’t avoid the punctures here. There are so many rocks around and you just need to get through the stage. I tried to adapt my driving style in the ruts to be smoother and not enter them too hard to avoid going sideways and risking hitting a stone. It’s a lottery out there and we don’t know what tomorrow will bring – what the weather will be like, how hard we need to push for the extra points – so a lot of things we still need to manage to bring home as many points as possible.”

Dani Sordo

“I’m a little bit disappointed that our puncture took us out of the rally lead, but in the end, it was not as bad as it could have been. We drove a little more slowly after that to avoid any more problems, but for sure with all the dust in the car it was very tricky. Thankfully, we had enough of a gap to Ogier today, but we didn’t want to make a mistake and lose another position. It was hard to survive but we managed to. Tomorrow will be another demanding day with two passes of the Power Stage, which will really destroy the surface – I think the rally won’t be decided until the very last corner.”

Ott Tänak

“The length of today has been very challenging with a lot of time on the road sections. It was very unfortunate to get two punctures this morning, but what’s done is done and let’s see what tomorrow brings. The afternoon was without trouble and I’m happy to be at the end, but I wasn’t really comfortable in the car. However, tomorrow is another day, and we have a chance to improve it. Let’s see what the weather does as well as the conditions of the stages, but we are expecting another difficult day. All I can do at the moment is support the team and I will definitely try to do my best for them tomorrow.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“I think we did a good day today. There was nothing else we could do. We knew it would be a difficult day so we can be pleased that we got through without trouble. The gaps were quite big so we just focused on ourselves and tried to do our job. It’s been a challenging weekend for everyone and with tomorrow to come, it’s far from over. It’s a very important day for both championships but the last stage that we drive twice is maybe the roughest we saw during recce, so it will be interesting to see what happens.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was good to be back in the car today; thank you to the team for fixing it. It was an extremely hot day and at the same time, the amount of road cleaning was much more than I expected. This made it very hard to compare my pace to the others, so I just tried to focus on my job and what I could do. I tried to find a good feeling for tomorrow and I will do my best. The stages are still very rough but let’s see how it goes.”

Elfyn Evans

“It was not an easy day to really push to the maximum after the difficulties of yesterday, but it was an opportunity to keep working through a few things with our car setup for this kind of condition and we were able to find some answers at least. Then, in the last proper stage this afternoon, we just clipped a rut in a tight hairpin. The car went over quite slowly but the damage was obvious. We did try to make some repairs and continue but the team made the call to retire, as it’s important to get everything right for tomorrow.”

Sunday

The final day of this rally will see the crews tackle 54km’s over three stages and the longest stage of the day is SS14 Eleftherohori 1 – 18.29 km which is repeated as the rally ending power stage.

 

Let’s see if there is any more drama in the final kilometres tomorrow!

The first full day of this iconic rally saw lots of action over the six stages with a service after the morning loop.

Of course, Thierry and Martijn would open the road throughout the day with his closest championship challengers, Seb and Vincent behind and getting a cleaner road.

SS1 Ano Pavliani 1 – 22.47 km was first up and Seb set the pace from Ott and Adrien and just eight tenths of a second covered the top three. Thierry was ten seconds behind and holding sixth. Meanwhile Elfyn had a puncture and lost over two minutes, putting his championship hopes into a really bad position.

Next up was SS2 Dafni 1 – 21.67 km and Takamoto was right there setting the pace from Ott and Seb third. The Japanese star gained two places moving into second whilst Ott also gained one position and moved into the lead. Seb dropped to third 1.4 seconds now behind the new rally leader. Thierry remained in sixth, losing more time and now 24.5 seconds from his teammate. It was worse though for Elfyn who suffered a technical problem losing him pace with a lack of power.

The last morning stage, SS3 Tarzan 1 – 23.37 km saw Seb go fastest from Adrien and Dani. We had a new top three with Seb moving into the lead from Adrien and Ott. Takamoto was out sadly after losing a wheel in the stage whilst his Welsh teammate was struggling with the loss of power still and hoping to make it back to service.

After service SS4 Ano Pavliani 2 – 22.47 km was next up. Seb was fastest from Ott and Dani. There was drama sadly for Adrien who stopped on the stage with broken suspension. Meanwhile Elfyn was up to speed and set the sixth best time moving up the leader board as well. Thierry was fourth overall, but 48.9 seconds from the lead.

Onto the penultimate stage of the day then, SS5 Dafni 2 – 21.67 km and Ott was fastest from Dani and Gregoire. Ott moved into the lead, now five seconds ahead of Seb. Gregoire gained a place as well, moving into fifth overall.

The final stage then, SS6 Tarzan 2 – 23.37 km and there was drama for Seb as he suffered a similar problem with a loss of power and the turbo had failed on his GR Yaris. He fell to fourth place, now almost two and a half minutes from Ott who now led a Hyundai one, two, three. There was also drama for Gregoire as he suffered a puncture as well, falling to seventh overall.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

1	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	1:40:16.9
2	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+21.8
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+45.2
4	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+2:26.4
5	R. Virves	A. Lesk	Škoda Fabia RS	+3:10.9
6	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally2	+3:12.4
7	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+4:08.4
8	K. Kajetanovic	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+4:09.0
9	F. Zaldivar	M. Der Ohannesian	Škoda Fabia RS	+4:19.7
10	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Citroën C3	+4:22.5

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“No question, today has been a very demanding day and we are very grateful to come through without any dramas or issues. All in all, it has been a positive day for us, but we know very well there is still a long way to go, and how hard it is to do the same job for the rest of the weekend. Until Ogier had his issue, we were trying to find the right balance in the car to fight him, and on the stage, he hit trouble we managed to improve the car. It was a lot better for the last two stages, but this rally is not only about performance; you also need the reliability to bring the car home. We are happy we managed to do it today, but we still need to keep our heads down.”

Dani Sordo

“Overall, a positive day for us. We had a hybrid issue on the last three stages, so we weren’t taking any risks to make sure we didn’t break anything on the car, but despite this our times were good. When we knew Ogier had problems we still drove as normal to make sure we made no mistakes, but it was not simple; it was really hot in the car, and it was a very demanding day. Tomorrow will be another long one, with a lot of road section as well as lengthy stages, which will make it even trickier. We’ve completed day one and we enjoyed it, and now we focus on doing the same again tomorrow.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was a challenging day out there, fighting in tough conditions and very hot weather; I was struggling sometimes to concentrate at the end of stages. It wasn’t a trouble-free run for us, but we were consistent and just trying to follow the approach we set ourselves before the rally. We focused on our speed and not getting frustrated if the cleaning effect lost us time, and we avoided being too harsh on the car in rough sections. We had some technical issues this morning, but the team solved it quickly and we didn’t lose too much ground. In the position we are in, there is no need to take too much risk: we knew it would be a long day and it is still a long rally, which is why we need to keep the same approach.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I was pleased with my morning. I think we did all we could from second on the road: the surface was pretty loose so being in the lead was a bit of a surprise, but I think we optimised the strategy with the tyre choice, having more softs than the others. The rhythm with the driving was pretty good too. This afternoon it was still all going well, and the feeling was pretty good. Then we had a loss of power near the end of the penultimate stage. There was not much we could do and we just tried to finish the loop minimising the time loss. It was a tough day for the team but there’s still a long day tomorrow and Sunday so we’re not giving up.”

Elfyn Evans

“It was a disastrous start for us this morning. We picked up a puncture in the first stage: there was a compression in the road which we knew about, and we tried to slow down for it but clearly not enough. Then, towards the end we had a loss of power, and we weren’t sure what the reason was, but the team was able to fix the issue at lunchtime. It’s obviously very difficult now with the time that we’ve lost, but tomorrow is another opportunity to try some things with the car to have a good feeling, and the main thing will be to just get through another long day.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It had been a pretty good start to the morning. The car felt amazing and without a big push I was able to set the fastest time in SS2. Of course, there was some road cleaning effect which helped, but overall, I was happy. So, I just continued to drive in the same way in SS3. Unfortunately, in a twisty and forested section I misunderstood the information in the pace-note. So, what I had in mind going into the corner wasn’t correct, I went wide and got damage on the right-rear. It’s a really hard moment but I just try to move forward and keep working hard.”

 

Saturday

Day two will see the crews face 116km’s over five stages. There is no service either throughout the day, just a tyre fitting zone. In addition, four of the stages will only be run once including the extra-long and longest stage of the weekend SS7 Rengini – 28.67 km as well as the shortest stage which most rallying fans wonder what is doing there at only 1.97km’s.

Let’s wait and see what happens tomorrow!

The championship moves onto ‘The Rally of the Gods’ which is the tenth round of this season’s championship.

There are 305km’s over the fifteen stages over the three or so days of competitive action. The longest day of action is Friday with a total of 135km’s over the six stages. The championship leaders, Thierry and Martijn will face a tricky day on Friday and will hope that their time loss will be kept to a minimum.

Let’s take a look at the stages and also hear from the drivers.

Acropolis Rally commences with a ceremonial start in Lamia on Thursday evening.

Friday’s challenges begin with SS1 Ano Pavliani (22.47km) and continue across a further five stages, totalling 135.02km.

116.23km of competition on Saturday is rounded off with SS12 EKO SSS, a 1.97km sprint in the evening.

Three stages conclude the rally on Super Sunday, with the 18.29km SS15 Eleftherohori 2 acting as the weekend’s Power Stage.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Acropolis Rally is a very challenging and long event. In the car, we can suffer a lot from the heat and the roughness of the terrain. The stages are always changing, so we come across a variety of profiles throughout the weekend. I enjoy this rally a lot, I like the technicalities of managing tyres and the car, and the roads are very different to what we usually see on a weekend. For a strong weekend, we need a good mix of performance, precision and protection from the car setup; strong rims are also a necessity to protect tyres as much as possible. We are still leading the fight for the championship, so it is important to score as many points as possible without pushing too hard and risking the entire weekend. Our car is strong, and we usually perform well in Greece, so hopefully we can do the same this year.”

Ott Tänak

“The profile at Acropolis Rally is nice: the roads are wider than Portugal and Sardinia and the surface is rougher and slower, conditions in which the car has been previously performed well. This is an event you can enjoy as a driver, but the rough gravel can make the loop quite demanding for both the car and crew. You need to have a well calibrated car to get a good rhythm and the better the feeling in the car, the easier it is to do a good job. You need to be able to trust it while still feeling the limits. Martin and I are definitely looking forward to a strong result for the team and for ourselves to keep us in the championship fight.”

Dani Sordo

“I have a lot of confidence heading to Acropolis Rally; we got some valuable time in the car during the pre-event test, and I have done well here in the past. The heat and the road conditions can massively affect our performance, so our setup needs to be different to how we have run at previous rough gravel events. A higher car is crucial to surviving the stages and avoiding an early retirement by hitting a large rock or a hidden rut – or both. All three championships are tight, so I know we need to do whatever we can to help the team, and we are hoping for the best finish possible in Greece.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“The Acropolis is an event where the conditions can be tough, but the pace is always high despite that. It’s a long week with some long days, so there’s an element of endurance with the possibility for it to be very hot too. Last year, we sustained some damage on the Saturday, but we somehow made it through to finish on the podium. As usual, we’ll be giving our all and targeting the best result possible. The last rally clearly didn’t go to plan for us after a decent start, but at least our road position in Greece will probably be the best we’ve had on gravel all year, so we need to try and make the most of that.”

Sébastien Ogier

“The Acropolis Rally is one of the legendary events in the history of our sport and I enjoy going to Greece, so it had always been my plan together with the team that I would compete there again this year. It’s a rally that I managed to win once quite early in my career, and then it was not in the calendar for many years, so it would be nice to take another victory there. Last year, we were leading until we were quite unlucky in some very rough conditions: it can be the kind of rally where you need some luck on your side to avoid trouble. Like always, the aim will be to try and fight for the top places and for as many points as we can.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Greece is one of the trickiest rallies given how rough and slippery the stages can be. As a driver, you need to be committed as usual of course, but at the same time you have to manage the car and the tyres. It’s a different kind of challenge to the last three rallies, so it needs a change of mindset, but I had a good test last week and I have a good feeling for the rally. Last year, the rally was going OK for us until we picked up some punctures. This kind of thing can happen on a rally like this, and I will try to focus on avoiding issues and mistakes, and if I follow this strategy, we can hopefully have a good result at the end.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m pleased to be back after the summer break, we know that Greece is a rough and tough event; it’s always really hot with an abrasive surface. Greece is quite slow compared to the rallies we’ve just done in Finland and Latvia, but we’ve had a good day’s testing and now we want to deliver the best result possible. We know the car has been competitive here previously, and we just need to score some good points to remain contenders in the championship.”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m looking forward to Greece because it’s an event I’ve done twice already. We had a good result last year with the Fiesta Rally1, finishing 5th in WRC2 and winning the Challenger category.

“It’s a demanding event for the crew and the car, and it’s about finding the right balance between pushing and managing the car through the rough sections, so it’s an event that suits us. There’s not due to be any rain this weekend but let’s see, Greece can always be a bit unpredictable!”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Home rally for me – despite the fact that I appear to be the oldest driver amongst the 72 starters, I still intend to show progress and fight for first in the Greek cup. I can’t wait for Friday morning so we can get started!”

Summary

Well, we are set for a very interesting round this weekend and it is very intriguing that Seb and Vincent are competing this weekend for Toyota and will be second on the road behind the Hyundai championship leaders. Let’s see how things go on the stages. Could this be a move to give their teammates, Elfyn and Scott a better and cleaner road to take the fight to the Belgian crew at the top.

The action starts with shakedown on Thursday morning (5^th September). Enjoy the rally!

Just the final day of action and with 41km’s over four stages, the crews that were not in the top ten at the end of Saturday’s stages would now be eyeing up the points available for finishing in the top seven positions, plus the powerstage points.

First up was SS17 Sahloinen-Moksi 1 – 14.27 km Kalle was fastest from Elfyn and Esapekka in third. Just four tenths of a second separated the top two as well. Sami and Enni had a moment in the stage going off the road and surviving incredibly without any damage.

The shortest stage of the day followed SS18 Laajavuori 1 – 4.35 km and this would be the stage which would be the powerstage later but would not be the typical type of stage that would be normally part of the stages in Finland. Kalle would again be fastest from Seb this time and Thierry third. Elfyn could only manage the fourth fastest time.

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS19 Sahloinen-Moksi 2 – 14.27 km and first to complete was Takamoto, with Esapekka going second fastest. There was drama sadly for Elfyn and Scott as they entered the first corner they understeered wide, hit a tree. This pitched their Yaris sideways, spinning across the road and into the trees on the other side of the road. There were bodywork parts on the stage and after Elfyn realised that he was not going to be able to even complete the stage he jumped out and dealt with the debris so the stage could continue with no delays. Once the stage was back up and running Thierry was next to complete and went third fastest setting an identical time to Esapekka. There was even more drama to come though as Kalle and Jonne came towards the end of the stage and there was a rock right in the line on a left hander. This made the car kick up at the front and sent it offline and into the trees lining the road on the right-hand side. They were fine, but out from the lead, putting Seb into the lead, Thierry up to second and Adrien into third place.

The final stage then, SS20 Laajavuori 2[Power Stage] – 8.77 km and Takamoto was fastest from Thierry, Esapekka, Adrien and Seb. The French crew then had taken victory in somewhat remarkable circumstances from Thierry and Adrien took third.

Let’s take a look at the top ten positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Finland

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 2:25:41.9 2 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +40.1 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:14.1 4 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:54.5 5 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +8:15.5 6 J. Latvala J. Hänninen Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +8:54.5 7 L. Joona J. Hussi Škoda Fabia RS +9:29.4 8 M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +9:32.0 9 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Citroën C3 +9:51.2 10 G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +10:07.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“To win in Finland is always nice, even if this is not the way we would like to have taken it. The team provided an amazing car and dominated all weekend. Kalle and Jonne were in a different league than the rest and were very unlucky with this rock on the line. I feel for my team as we deserved a much better result. I lost a win in Sardinia earlier this season through luck and I have now gained one back here. I have been around long enough to experience many outcomes and emotions and I’ve been lucky to be on the right side of that equation most of the time – but not today. I would honestly have preferred to finish second, but motorsport is unfair sometimes.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m relieved to have finished my first event in a Rally1 car. What an emotional rollercoaster this week has been! It sounds nice to be the highest-placed Finn on Rally Finland and scoring fourth place on my first event – and scoring my first stage win – but there’s still plenty of room to improve. I was expecting a more consistent and relaxed event – I don’t remember a time the weather was so challenging on Rally Finland. It’s not been the perfect weekend for the team but I’m happy to find positives in my own performance. Huge thanks to Toyota and the whole team: it was a dream come true to drive on my home rally with the GR YARIS Rally1.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“The car was working very well today after the changes we made yesterday. I had a good feeling on Sunday morning, and I was able to push: it’s great to have won the Power Stage and taken maximum points from there, plus scoring good points for Super Sunday by being equal-fastest on the last day. But I’m really sorry to the team for not being able to bring a result home: while the speed was good, the outcome could have been much better. Many people made mistakes this weekend, but the rally is a long weekend, not a sprint.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“We had a really good morning with everything under control and still fighting for Sunday points without taking any risks. On pretty much the last corner of the penultimate stage we were driving normally with a steady pace but in the middle of the corner, there was a huge loose stone which I could not avoid, and it threw us off the road. It’s quite an unreal feeling, considering there was nothing we could have done to change the situation. It’s quite tough to take but on the other hand, Jonne and I executed a perfect weekend until that point and couldn’t really have done anything differently.”

Elfyn Evans

“Unfortunately, we had an accident right at the beginning of the penultimate stage. I’d managed the corner OK on the first pass, but I had a bit of understeer in the ruts the second time around and ran out of road. We knew it was a tricky corner, but it was more down to the way the car reacted in the rut than the speed. It was a costly mistake on my part and a weekend that went from bad to worse – but this is motorsport, and these things happen. There are four rounds to go in the championship and everything is still open, so we’ll continue to give our all until the very end.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (WRC2)

“For myself and Juho it’s a really great feeling at the end of the rally. Our target was to finish in the top five of WRC2 and we’ve been in second place since almost the start of the rally and finished on the podium. It’s been a really enjoyable weekend behind the wheel, and I can be very satisfied with my own performance, it’s not been bad. At the same time, it’s been a hard Sunday for the team: it’s great to win here again, but to have two cars retire on Sunday is not good for the championship. But I know our team never gives up and we will put all our efforts into the coming events.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“A good, consistent drive throughout the day. Our increase in tempo on the last two stages made the difference with the retirement of Kalle. We were capable of reducing the gap on the Power Stage so Ogier would only leave Finland with one more point than us. This weekend has been a rollercoaster of emotions for everybody, like the stages. Lots of ups and downs and it was changing all the time. Greece is next – and it’s a challenging event. We will be on it and with a shift of focus to this surface we are hoping to take what we have done at these fast gravel rallies one step further.”

Esapekka Lappi

“When you retire from any rally you are disappointed, but Finland was the most important one for me personally. These risks are a part of motorsport, when you are constantly pushing the limit: you don’t do anything wrong and then you end up retiring. It was similar for Kalle today and I really felt for him, it’s a big shame. Today we did what we could, we brought home a good amount of Super Sunday points for the team, so I am very satisfied with how the day went.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“It has been a tricky weekend, I have struggled to find confidence in the car in the tough conditions, but once I knew it was going to be difficult to fight the top guys I wanted to do a sensible drive and so I worked on the car setup over the first two days and just made sure I didn’t make any mistakes. We found some good improvements and driving Ouninpohja in this car was just amazing.

“To end the rally with a podium is not necessarily what I was expecting, but a focused drive all weekend made sure we were there in case anything happened to the others and I can be really happy with my weekend and my fourth podium this year!

“Now I look forward to a few weeks off before Rally Greece and the rest of the season, where I want to be strong and keep challenging for the top spots.”

Grégoire Munster

“I think it was a tricky event, for our first time in Finland in a Rally1 car it for sure wasn’t easy, especially with these conditions. We can be happy with our first day on Friday. For the second day, yes it was disappointing, not just because of the off but also because we missed out on the kilometres in these tough conditions and the famous stage of Ouninpohja!

“The team did an amazing job to fix the car so we could continue on Sunday, to gain 40 crucial kilometres so we could finish on a good note before the next event. I was really glad to have the opportunity to drive again and finish the rally.”

William Creighton (WRC2)

“A difficult rally with quite inconsistent conditions with the rain showers. Unfortunately, we had to retire on Friday, but the team did a great job to get everything sorted so we could gain experience for the rest of the stages. The atmosphere has been incredible, and I hope we can return to these classic stages in the future! Thanks to everyone at M-Sport and MI Rally Academy for supporting us this weekend.”

Oliver Solberg (WRC2 winner)

“Honestly, I was hoping for a similar result to last year – but to go one better: to finish fifth overall instead of sixth and to win WRC2 is something very, very special. It’s been an unbelievable weekend for Elliott [co-driver] and me.

“First, I want to thank Elliott – as usual he has been perfect. This is a big week for both of us, the fastest rally of the season and such a complicated and fast event. I just couldn’t do it without him. It’s the same for the team, everybody is putting in so much work all of the time and this result is for those guys, it’s been amazing.

“The rally itself was really not too complicated. The biggest thing was the weather and the conditions through Friday; we had some rain then no rain, then it was drying, then it was raining again and all the time our main competition – Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota team principal and fellow WRC2 competitor) – was far behind us on the road and we didn’t know what the conditions were really like for him.

“I wasn’t pushing so hard through Friday, maybe 90%. I wanted to keep something in reserve and not to take the big risk. It was kind of the same on Saturday – but that day was all about Ouninpohja and the chance to get into that stage and drive in this incredible place. My father broke the record there 20 years ago, so it was actually quite emotional to drive the full length of stage again. It was incredible!

“For Sunday, it was about no mistakes and bringing the car home to take the points. The atmosphere in Laajavuori this morning was incredible – I don’t think I ever saw so many people spectating in Finland or so many Swedish and Norwegian flags.

“I have to say a big congratulations to Jari-Matti, he made a really nice fight. But for me, it’s a big relief and such an amazing feeling to have won this one. Winning in Finland is a really, really big thing and to do it two years in succession is fantastic. Tonight, we can celebrate and then we have to focus to try to finish the job and win this title.”

Summary

Well, what an incredible rally with a crazy outcome in the penultimate stage. Seb and Vincent took their second victory in Finland after their teammates crashed out. They have also moved into second in the championship!

A second-place finish for Thierry and Martijn has given the Belgian Hyundai crew an increased lead in the championship. Can they hold on to take the championship?

Finally, Adrien and Alex took a fourth podium for M-Sport Ford with a great drive. Earlier in the weekend the car was not handling so well, but with the crew and team working hard to get the car into the right place, they saw things improve and when Kalle and Jonne crashed out they found themselves on the podium.

The crews and teams have a break of sorts now till the next round in Greece from the 5^th to the 8^th of September. Whether we see Seb and Vincent in Greece is yet to be seen.

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9

1	T. Neuville	168
2	S. Ogier	141
3	O. Tänak	137
4	E. Evans	132
5	A. Fourmaux	119
6	K. Rovanperä	86
7	T. Katsuta	76
8	E. Lappi	33
9	A. Mikkelsen	29
10	D. Sordo	27

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9

1	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	395
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	375
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	207