It was the ultimate last laugh.
Just seconds after Sébastien Ogier had rolled into the end-of-rally media zone, revealing his bruised Toyota to the waiting pack of journalists, Thierry Neuville sprung out of his Hyundai and exclaimed a shriek of belligerent joy before falling into the arms of his team.
This was more than just a victory at Acropolis Rally Greece. This was a statement; the perfect reply to a war of words Ogier had launched.
Not once did the Belgian take the bait Ogier had laid down with his suggestion that “our championship leader is not fast” and he “needs to stop crying all the time” and “learn how to drive first on the road”.
Every attempt to prize a reaction was met with a “no comment” or “I’ve not much to say about that.” What Neuville did instead was deliver. In the circumstances it’s little wonder the win meant so much.
Neuville's second win of 2024 was one to savor
But his hero arrival back in Lamia, akin to the winning team driving down the pitlane after the Le Mans 24 Hours, was atypical of a driver claiming a World Rally Championship win. This was essentially showboating.
Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing that just so happened to be within earshot of Ogier. Far more likely, this was Neuville’s way of making his point to Ogier. Actions, after all, speak louder than words.
The two played nice in the media zone. During our interview with Neuville, Ogier came over, shook Thierry’s hand and offered a “bravo”.
“Désolé,” Neuville responded. Or in English, sorry.
Acropolis victor received a polite "bravo" from his beaten rival
But to win from first on the road was some achievement by a driver who supposedly can’t do it…
“Yeah,” Neuville grinned, “I can only smile. I don’t know what to say.”
Someone else close to Neuville did though: “He [Ogier] can behave how he wants, we are just doing our own thing.”
How the tension grew
Neuville’s challengers for this year’s world title have long been Hyundai team-mate Ott Tänak and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans.
But a string of mega results had accidentally brought Ogier into play. A push for a ninth world title was never his intention, but his team needs him and up he’s stepped.
Acropolis was always going to be a key chapter in 2024’s story – particularly once the drivers arrived and realized the temperature was sweltering and the roads rougher than they had been for years.
We all knew that the result would likely tell us plenty about the direction of this year’s championship. We were equally all aware that Ogier would play a central role in any twist. But we didn’t know Ogier would make more of a statement off the stages than he did on them.
Eight-time champion made his frustrations known from the off
In truth, Acropolis was a bit of an ugly weekend for the eight-time champ. Right from the very first stage, confronted with dust from Neuville running three minutes ahead, the Toyota star let rip.
“It is annoying to see that the sport never learns,” he said. “We ask, we know that we are going to have dust.
“There is hanging dust. Oh, they say no. What do you have in your head? Nothing – it’s crazy.”
Those choice words earned Ogier a suspended €30,000 fine for the next two years – an unnecessarily hefty penalty in this writer’s view, but nonetheless his ire set the tone for a weekend that was destined to get away from him.
Turbo trouble – while leading by over 10 seconds and with 48.9s in hand over Neuville – just five stages into the rally extinguished any realistic hopes of a second Acropolis win of Ogier’s career.
By dragging his battle-scarred Yaris home, Ogier did at least bank his Saturday points
Without that trouble, the pantomime that followed may never have unfolded. But Ogier knew he had to do something – with 27 points to make up and a championship structure making any gains difficult, dropping behind Neuville was the last thing he needed.
The solution? Try to get in his head.
Those now famous quotes about Neuville’s inability to drive from first on the road are what he chose. Does Séb truly believe that to be the case? Probably not fully. But this was a premeditated jab squarely in Neuville’s direction – every single journalist got the same line, unprompted, from Ogier.
Fan footage the next morning showing a bunch of Neuville supporters brushing the road in front of Ogier was comedy gold. This had created the rumble Ogier had wanted.
And the drivers had noticed it too. Wandering around with them ahead of Saturday’s first stage, it was the equivalent of being told not to laugh in the classroom when all that ends up doing is making you laugh.
Sordo saw the funny side of war of words
Dani Sordo fronted up to the elephant in the room.
“It makes it a little bit exciting for the championship, so it’s good,” he smiled.
“I think we need these kind of things. Everybody wants to win and we know Séb is really, really hungry and when he’s lost he’s not happy.
“Thierry is doing well, I think he’s intelligent, but Ogier for sure is like ‘aah’ [attacking him]. But for sure for the spectators it’s nice.”
Ogier upped the ante with more subliminal messaging at the end of the stage. Learning that then rally leader Tänak had had to stop to change two punctures, Ogier offered:
“That’s a shame. I like Ott.”
Mic well and truly dropped. He had us all in the palm of his hands – except not all. Not the one he was actually trying to get to.
Neuville.
Neuville didn't need to take risks on rough Greek roads
By lunchtime, those punctures for Tänak and one for Dani Sordo too elevated Neuville into the lead with Ogier unable to improve on third.
As it stood, that moved Neuville 32 points ahead (more than a weekend maximum points haul) but again he chose the perfect strategy.
“I don’t think we need to be fastest tomorrow,” Neuville stated. “However I believe that if we can take a similar amount of points from the weekend as Sébastien we have done a good operation this week.”
The same wasn’t true for Ogier, who had no option but to go flat-out. Prior to the powerstage he was a clear 13s up on anyone else in Sunday’s standings and poised to gain two of those five lost points.
But then his world turned upside down with his accident while carrying a flat tire. All of that previous effort had ultimately been for nothing.
Ogier feels his performance was “close to perfection” at the weekend, but “sometimes it doesn’t go your way”.
Both statements hold true. Ogier was good enough to win in Greece, but the turbo issue stole that chance from him. However, he didn’t look totally at ease – once he was deposed from the lead, the frustration took over and influenced his decisions.
Later on though, Ogier did take to social media to state, “I guess a bit of karma in the end,” adding a cheeky “hope you’re been entertained” before congratulating Hyundai and Neuville on their victory.
Neuville’s performance meanwhile demonstrated why he’s destined to etch his name onto the WRC trophy.
To steal a line from Hyundai technical director François-Xavier Demaison: “He deserves to be world champion.”
Ogier dug deep into his box of tricks to unsettle Neuville, but the driver who many feel doesn’t have the nerve over a season to win a championship expertly withstood it all.
“I mean, we all do mistakes and mistakes are part of our job,” Neuville finalized.
“We are driving on a fine line all the time – it can happen.
“Clearly we were not driving on the limit all weekend long. We didn’t have any moment or any surprise and just kept all four wheels all the time on the road, and that has paid off.
“Some other drivers had to take a bit more risk and they’ve probably taken too much.
“That’s part of the game.”
A game started by Ogier but conquered by Neuville.
