Sébastien Ogier made a mistake during the first day of Rally Portugal – something he does not do often. He stopped during the second pass of Viana do Castelo (SS5) with damaged suspension.
Images of @SebOgier after his crash on SS5 #rallydeportugal #wrc #wrclive pic.twitter.com/sLzr74YApX
— WRC (@OfficialWRC) May 18, 2018
“I went just a couple of centimetres too deep into a right-hand corner. There was a bank and I thought it would be okay to touch it a little, but unfortunately, there was something there – a small root [or tree stump]”, Ogier explained.
Ogier: “It was a small, short impact on the suspension, but it was enough to break it”
“In the next corner, nothing happened when I braked – I couldn’t turn and went straight into the trees. It was my mistake and I shouldn’t have touched the bank – those two or three centimetres have cost us a lot this weekend.”
Ogier was opening the road during the first day of competition in Portugal. He was clearing a line in the loose gravel but despite that was fourth until the incident.
The Frenchman and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia will be back on the road on Saturday but without a target for the rest of the rally.
?️ “I was a little too inside in a right corner. There was a bank and I thought it would be ok to just touch it a little bit, unfortunately there was something in this bank, like a little root. There was a small short impact on the suspension… pic.twitter.com/9BeKm5Fmed
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) May 18, 2018
I didn’t feel anything hard but it was enough to break the arm of the suspension. In the next corner nothing happened when I braked, I couldn’t turn & went straight in the trees. It’s my mistake, I shouldn’t have touched this bank. It’s a line mistake of 2-3cm which cost a lot…
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) May 18, 2018
I think it should be fixable because there was no big impact after that. There is no target for the rest of @rallydeportugal, maybe we could save points in the Power Stage but if we are very early on the road it might be difficult. It will not be a good weekend, that’s for sure”
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) May 18, 2018
Meanwhile, Elfyn Evans went really well in the rally. He was pleased but thought there were still things for improvement.
