Secto Rally Finland winner Sébastien Ogier has admitted that the outcome of the event means committing to the rest of the World Rally Championship season is now inevitable.
Ogier hasn’t competed full-time since 2021, but the prospect of him gunning for a ninth world title has been a consistent talking point through the Rally Finland weekend.
Having missed just three rallies (Sweden, Safari and Poland) of the nine held so far, Ogier has essentially found himself in the drivers’ title fight accidentally by leveraging the benefit of a lower start position compared to the full-timers.
His mission this season was always to help Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship, but with Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans both crashing out and scoring zero points in Finland, Ogier now finds himself as Thierry Neuville’s closest rival in the standings – albeit still 27 points adrift.
Just after securing his 61st career victory and second in Finland, Ogier suggested he would commit to the four remaining events of the season as he is now Toyota’s leading contender in the drivers’ championship.
“I have to see, but it looks like I have no other option,” he smiled.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala told DirtFish after Rally Latvia a fortnight ago that he would speak to Ogier to see if he can get him to commit to the rest of the season.
That idea hasn’t changed.
Latvala is hoping to convince Ogier to do the rest of the season
“There’s a bit of discussion going on,” Latvala confirmed.
“Yes, I have said to Ogier that it would help if he would do the rest of the championship rounds, but let’s wait for his answer.”
Victory ‘more bitter than sweet’
Ogier’s Finland success will, in time, be registered as a major success for him. It was the first in Jyväskylä for co-driver Vincent Landais and was achieved on Ogier’s first attempt at the event in a Rally1 car.
But the circumstances in which it was claimed, with Kalle Rovanperä seemingly powerless to avoid an accident from the lead on the second-to-last stage, make it difficult for Ogier to enjoy.
“Right now it’s more bitter than sweet, if I’m honest. I even struggle to really feel happiness inside me right now,” he said.
“As a team, we definitely don’t get what we deserved this weekend. I feel for my team, of course. I feel for Kalle and Jonne. They were in a different league the whole weekend, super speed.
“But motorsport is tough sometimes, I’ve experienced that many times in my career also and this stone in the wrong place ruined everything for them today.
“It’s strange because usually if you win Rally Finland you should have a massive smile on your face but right now it’s still not there. Probably after a bit of time I will still be happy and satisfied with what I have done this week, but not ideal.”
Latvala, who was competing on the rally himself and finished a strong second in WRC2, added: “It’s been a tough Sunday, I have to say.
“It’s a very controversial feeling because at the same time, I’m really glad about my own performance. It’s been a great weekend, really enjoyable. We got a great result, but at the same time, it’s been very hard for Toyota.
“Yeah, we’re winning the event, but we lost two cars on Sunday. And normally, if you lose two cars on Sunday, it’s quite a disaster for the championship, especially the manufacturers. But that’s the way rallying is.”
