He was quite literally on the floor.
Parked up in the quaint Portuguese village of Fridão, rallying’s eight-time world champion needed time to cool his feet, finely placing his OMPs by the side of the road and giving his toes air to breathe.
It wasn’t a luxury he was affording Ott Tänak.
Undoubtedly, Tänak’s speed was a worry for the Frenchman. It’s not often he’s beaten in a straight fight, but it had happened in Canarias three weeks earlier and looked to be happening here, too.
But on the road section, preceding this moment of rest, Ogier had predicted something. He’d told his engineer: something will happen. Quite what was anyone’s guest, but a driver as wily and experienced as Ogier rarely gets these things wrong.
So while it was Tänak who won exactly half of Rally Portugal’s stages, it was Ogier who once again stood tallest on the podium.
He may have been (sitting) down at that poetic moment before the stage that went wrong for Tänak, but the one thing you can never, ever, do is count Sébastien Ogier out.
The Tänak threat
Right from the outset, Tänak was a threat in Portugal
With more questions hanging over their heads than the politicians fighting for presidency in Portugal last week, Hyundai knew it needed a response in Portugal.
Quickly, and as expected, it became clear the Canarias was an anomaly. The i20 wasn’t just back in the race on the gravel, it was leading it. This was the upgraded car’s first outing on world championship gravel, and it performed well.
Tänak and team-mate Adrien Fourmaux clearly had good road positions (fifth and sixth) but the fight at the pointy end was all Hyundai until Fourmaux was sidelined on SS8 with a broken kingpin bracket.
Unperturbed, Tänak pressed on to lead overnight, setting up what could be a thrilling fight with good friend, former team-mate and rival Ogier.
“Not could be,’ Tänak corrected DirtFish, “but it is.”
Ogier meanwhile was an uncharacteristically slow starter in his Toyota, selecting too soft a setup for the first stages before working to improve that as the day progressed.
“A fight with Ott is always enjoyable,” Ogier smiled. “It’s always an intense one. I know I need to give my best if I want to have a chance.”
But what exactly Ogier giving his best meant was only to be discovered.
The Tänak tussle
The Ogier/Tänak story began all those years ago in Poland, when Ogier lifted the heartbroken Estonian onto his shoulders and paraded him around – a quite literal pick-me-up after he’d just seen his maiden victory flash before his eyes.
Since, the pair have shared a title-winning team, disputed world championships and been embroiled in many titanic scraps for victory. Sardinia 2024 immediately springs to mind, when a bizarre twist of karma unfolded as Tänak stole the victory from under Ogier’s nose – atoning for his ‘lost’ Italian win of 2019, and inflicting a 0.2s defeat on Ogier like he had to his now-boss Jari-Matti Latvala in 2011.
As Ogier entertainingly pointed out during last year’s Acropolis as part of his efforts to destabilize Thierry Neuville, he likes Ott. But individually, competitors don’t come much more fierce than these two. Ladies and gentlemen: place your bets.
Ogier's speed was strong, but Tänak's was stronger
There’s something inevitable about a Sébastien breezing Saturday. Loeb made a career out of devastating his rivals on the second day, and Ogier isn’t much different. Sure enough, the Toyota was at the top of the timesheets on both SS12 and SS13, positioned perfectly for an attack when Tänak punctured on the latter.
The lead was down to just 2.0s.
Amarante was up next, the longest stage of the rally. With the upper-hand, surely this was a formality. A matter of time.
But Ogier’s sudden look of puzzlement at the stop-line told a very different story. He hadn’t just been beaten by Tänak but destroyed as 2019’s world champion extended that 2.0s advantage to 11.8s.
“Yeah?” Tänak said, unable to hide his smile. “Good stage then.”
Tänak’s trouble on the previous stage had disguised the true picture, as he was set to make good ground on Ogier on the previous stage too before it leaked away along with his tire’s air.
Over the next pair of stages after service, a familiar feeling began to settle in for Ogier. Just like three weeks ago, over 1200 miles south-west on the island of Gran Canaria, try as he might he couldn’t crack his rival. Repeatedly edging closer to stage wins against Kalle Rovanperä, somehow the Finn always had an answer.
Portugal was Tänak’s turn. But for how long?
The Tänak twist
Tänak was looking destined for victory... but then it all went wrong
Ogier never fully committed to the opinion (at least publicly), but he certainly held the suspicion that Tänak was living life on the edge.
He knew both how quickly he was going, and how capable the Toyota beneath him was. So if he was being beaten, Tänak can’t have been holding much back.
In the end, it was the power-steering that gave way on stages Rovanperä in particular was surprised by the roughness of.
“I felt it quite clearly when it happened,” Tänak reflected afterwards, “and obviously I just suddenly lost it. Yeah, obviously I tried [to continue at good speed], but so much roughness and bedrock and nothing more I could do, so yeah, unfortunate.”
The anguish was written all over Tänak’s face – although he kept a remarkably cool head throughout.
“I’ve lost one victory here,” he remembered, “in exactly the same way, more or less, quite in the same section in 2021 with Hyundai. Unfortunately, it happened again.
“It’s a rally which I really enjoy and I really love to win it, but probably not this time.”
Stealing the lead in this way was not what Ogier had wanted. But this isn’t a friendship quite like the bond Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta share. Between two serial winners, there can’t be too much room for sentiment.
Ogier's premonition that something was coming proved correct
“We knew it was important to keep pressure as long as we can, stay as close as we can – the conditions were so rough this afternoon,” Ogier said.
“It was really a fight to survive it. And I say to my engineer, you know, anything can happen still. It’s so demanding for the cars. And of course, I don’t celebrate to take the lead like this. It’s not the way we enjoy it the most, especially against friends like Ott, but it’s part of the game sometimes in motorsport.
“Now we have to try to finish the job tomorrow. 75 kilometers is still a long way.”
Ogier’s killer trait has evolved
As the sun rose over the final day in Portugal, Ogier’s route to victory was however clear. He’d graced the top step 62 times before; there was little doubt Ogier would perfect the plan and manage the gap.
Tänak had fallen to third due to his restricted pace, but despite Rovanperä’s healthy advances into Ogier’s lead on the day’s opener, it soon became apparent the Finn was rapidly going to transition from the hunter to the hunted.
Realizing he probably backed off too much, Ogier responded to Rovanperä on SS20 and tightened his control on the rally lead. But in a bid to gain second, earn himself 10 championship points and potentially make a statement, Tänak just couldn’t help himself.
On all but one of Sunday’s six stages, he went fastest. Powerstage claimed by 1.1s; Super Sunday by a mammoth 12.0s and Rovanperä deposed to third.
“From my side, normally, I try to not leave anything in the stage,” Tänak surmised.
But in a season where the identity of the world championship favorite is still not looking clear (leader Elfyn Evans’ chances taking a hit with an off-beat run to sixth in Portugal), Ogier reasserted himself as the master.
Throughout his illustrious career, he’s had plenty of strong-suits: mentality, precision, tire management and of course speed.
But as the years have progressed and Ogier has nudged the other side of 40, his craft has evolved. Canarias was a hint that perhaps Ogier’s suffering from the inevitable loss of raw performance that any athlete will in the twilight of his career, but he makes up for that with intelligence and cunning.
In a straight race against Rovanperä last month, he couldn’t reply. In a straight race against Tänak this time, he was covered off too. There’s a definite awareness of his increasing age.
But on stages that offered more jeopardy than the smooth Tarmac of Gran Canaria, Ogier was able to exercise his guile and rally craft to devastating effect.
“I think it’s something I can be proud of, the way I’ve managed to be competitive after all these years,” Ogier said. “On our side, I think we proved one more time that race management is definitely a craft we have.”
Winning is becoming harder for Ogier, you can see it. But it’s not becoming any rarer.
Perceived advantage of completing a part-time season and having a better road position or not, the fact he’s still able to teach today’s generation a trick or two is remarkable.
No longer the greyhound; instead the cunning fox.
