Jari-Matti Latvala has one reason to be cheerful and two to be miserable on Acropolis Rally Greece.
Sébastien Ogier leads the way, as he has done on many occasions this season, aboard a GR Yaris Rally1. The other two have already dropped out of the fight at the sharp end.
“The situation is getting for sure more difficult,” Latvala told DirtFish. “We knew that already coming here this was one of the crucial ones. Already having problems with two cars in the morning…”
In Elfyn Evans’ case, his rally became undone firstly by stopping to change a puncture, then limping through two stages in a car massively down on power.
Evans had suggested the power problems might have been his fault, having clattered a rock to cause the earlier puncture. But his team boss explained that a faulty turbocharger was to blame and it was unlikely to have been Evans’ fault.
“The problem was in the turbocharger,” Latvala told DirtFish. “We don’t know what was causing the issue, so we’re just investigating that.
“Normally, you know, if it’s having something with the turbo, it doesn’t really…. these days, these issues don’t come very easily. And I mean, the cars need to be able to take impact. So I can’t rule it [Evans’ impact being at fault] out, but I don’t think it’s likely.”
Ogier is leading the way in Greece but his team-mates have already falled by the wayside
Even more of a headache for Latvala is Katsuta’s retirement from second place after breaking a wheel on Tarzan. It’s the fourth time this season Katsuta has crashed out of a promising position, having done the same in Sweden, Portugal and Finland earlier this season.
“With Taka, it was disappointing this morning because we wanted him to have a clean event here and try to support the team, because the points would be needed for the manufacturers’ championship.
“That is a situation where you need to remember that the rally is not won at one stage, because you need to always think about the whole weekend. So that is something we need to still work with Taka.”
For both Evans and Katsuta, attention now turns to Sunday. As demonstrated by DirtFish’s analysis of the new-for-2024 points system last month, Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak have been the big scorers when it comes to maximising the potential for 12 final-day bonus points.
The last WRC round in Finland, was particularly painful for Toyota. Evans and Kalle Rovanperä crashed out of round nine, Hyundai extended its lead at the top of the makes’ race from one point to 20.
Takamoto Katsuta has retired five times this season – four due to incidents
Latvala admitted his team had work to do on the final day of the next four rallies.
“We need a win,” said Latvala, “but at the same time we also need a strong performance from the Sunday. If we really want to fight for the manufacturer championship, that is the reality that we need strong results overall and from the Sundays. The strong Sunday hasn’t been our strongest point this year, I have to admit. We have to change this.
“The mentality what we had for this year is like we [want to win] overall, we were just looking the result, you know, having the win. But if you look at it now as a championship point wise, it hasn’t been the best approach.”
The need for a strong Sunday in Acropolis has been amplified by Friday morning’s events on the Acropolis, with Elfyn Evans losing several minutes with a technical issue and puncture while Takamoto Katsuta retired after breaking a wheel.
Ogier leads the way at Friday midday service – but will be dependent on Evans and Katsuta coming back strong on the final day to keep in touch with Hyundai in both championships.
“Hyundai’s approach has maybe been working better with their focus on Sunday performance and powerstage wins,” added Latvala. “We need to take this [approach].”
