Sebastien Ogier and M-Sport announced that the #1 crew will not restart today in Rally Finland. The team wants to give Julien Ingrassia more time to recover after yesterday’s crash in SS4. Both men went through checks but the co-driver still felt dizzy.
“There was a big jump about two kilometres before we crashed. The landing damaged the rear suspension and towards the end of the stage, I got a bit distracted by it. I was too late on the brakes and we had an impact sideways into a tree”, Ogier explained.
“It’s a real shame because our pace was really good and now we have missed an opportunity to score some good points for the championship. We had already lost some seconds with a throttle problem that was coming and going, but without that, we were fighting right at the front.”
M-Sport’s Friday was not good as a whole. Ott Tanak also had problems – in the same SS4
He finished the day in 10th place.
“We ran slightly wide at the start of SS4 and picked up a puncture. We lost more than one and a half minutes which obviously ended our hopes of challenging for the victory. At these speeds, the gaps are so close, and it is very difficult to make up the time. Since then, we’ve just been focused on driving cleanly. There is still motivation as it’s important for the team that we score as many points as possible. But you know the motivation is different when you are not fighting for the win. There is still a long way to go and a lot can still happen in this rally, so we just need to continue as we are and see what happens”, the Estonian said.
The team’s hopes for a better result are now with Teemu Suninen and Elfyn Evans – third and seventh respectively at the beginning of the second day
“This is my home rally and only my second time in a world rally car so it is special for sure. The Finnish fans have been amazing as always and I want to thank all of them for their support. I think we have driven well and shown good pace with no mistakes, but there are still things to improve. I need to be more consistent and more precise with the driving lines as that is what brings the good times here with these cars“, Suninen added.
In agreement with the organisers, we have retired for today to give Julien more time to recover and be more checked. 1/2#RallyFinland #WRC
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) July 29, 2017
Decision will be taken later whether or not we restart tomorrow @RallyFinland. Thank you all for your support. 2/2
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) July 29, 2017
