How a record 10th WRC title bid was reignited after Ogier vs Neuville epic

If there were any doubts regarding Sebastien Ogier’s desire to clinch a record 10th World Rally Championship title they were well and truly extinguished by his reaction to claiming a perfect Acropolis Rally Greece victory.

The prospect of the nine-time world champion pulling clear of former rival and fellow WRC legend Sebastien Loeb is starting to become a clear possibility. This was yet another vintage Ogier display on Greece's famed rough gravel roads where staying out of trouble is more important than pure speed. 

To conquer what is known as the ‘Rally of Gods’ requires the perfect measure of speed and the ability to avoid the thousands of sharp rocks that are waiting to tear a crew’s rally apart in an instant. It also requires luck. Ogier had all of these factors seemingly in his favour and was one of only two Rally1 drivers to avoid a tyre failure en-route to claim a maximum 35 points that could prove crucial in this year’s title race.

“It was a perfect weekend in the end and it was exactly what we needed for our championship to bring us back in the game. I knew if it was not going our way this weekend it would probably have been the end of the hope to fight for a championship, so the pressure was high,” said Ogier, who is now 37 points behind leader and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans.

“In a rally like this you need to have the luck with you to win. Here more than any other event it is very difficult to manage with the roughness so I’m glad the Greek gods were with me this time. I think we had a good strategy the whole weekend to try and stay out of trouble.”

Heading into the Acropolis Ogier admitted he needed that luck. At the previous gravel round in Portugal, the 42-year-old appeared on course for yet another impressive win before a puncture on the final day handed Theirry Neuville victory. In a poetic twist the two old rivals resumed battle in Greece and it was Neuville that suffered the heartache of a late puncture which extinguished his victory hopes.

Neuville's penultimate stage puncture ended his hopes of victory

Photo by: WRC.com

From the outside this was a head-to-head battle to relish. For over a decade now Ogier versus Neuville has always had a captivating edge to it given the frosty feelings they have for each other. It was at the Acropolis in Neuville's title-winning year where Ogier landed a jab by saying the Belgian should "stop crying" and "learn driving first on the road." That year Neuville had the last laugh and took the spoils.   

This year both were aware of the challenge ahead as the rally returned to Loutraki for the first time since 2013. Neuville declared that the roads featured more rocks than ever, while Ogier said there was no point where you could relax.

The return of Ogier versus Neuville 

But for four days they were never split by more than 11s as the tussle ebbed and flowed across punishing days in the Greek heat on the roughest roads in the WRC.

Fresh from an overnight ferry ride that acted as a unique floating parc ferme designed to save crews a lengthy road section, it became clear that tyre preservation would be key on Friday. Oliver Solberg and M-Sport-Ford’s Martins Sesks were the first to pop a couple of Hankook’s revised hard compound tyres that underwent swift changes after Portugal, amid fears of increased risk of delaminations. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux emerged in the rally lead after stage three but on the next run the Frenchman suffered his first of four tyre failures over the rally. His pace would only translate to a seventh-place finish.

Ogier’s concerns were heard and the stage was shortened. However, Neuville’s reaction was to absolutely blitz the stage, taking a whopping 7.1s out of his rival

While Fourmaux’s fate provided a cautionary tale, it shifted the focus on to a classic Ogier versus Neuville battle where the latter had the early advantage. After months of Neuville’s confidence being sapped behind the wheel of a recalcitrant Hyundai i20 N, the 2024 world champion was finally comfortable and back to his very best. 

At the end of Friday a narrative was building. In the sky-blue Hyundai corner Neuville was happy to lead Ogier by 9.7s, but adamant that while it was “nice" to lead “it didn’t mean anything” given how quickly this rally can bite. In the red Toyota corner Ogier maintained the stance of not being drawn into the fight with Neuville and just “focusing on myself and staying out of trouble."

On Saturday the battle went up a notch as Ogier managed to cut the gap to 3.7s by the midpoint service where his desire for victory was evident. Concerned that the Hankook tyres that had been suffering on the hot rocky roads would not survive the first 4.5km of the second pass through Ghymno, Ogier urged organisers and the FIA to cancel the section.

Ogier convinced organisers and the FIA to shorted stage 12

Photo by: Toyota Racing

"I don't see how our tyres can survive this condition so it's going to be a pure lottery,” said Ogier. “It's too risky that our tyres will not survive that. It is going to be stupid and I don’t like it when rallies are decided like this. I hope someone will hear us." 

While Neuville ultimately agreed that it was too rough, his stance wasn’t so firm to force a change: "If somebody asks me I will give my opinion but I will not push for it [the section to be cancelled].” 

Ogier’s concerns were heard and the stage was shortened. However, Neuville’s reaction was to absolutely blitz the stage, taking a whopping 7.1s out of his rival, but in typical Ogier fashion he responded on the very next test where Neuville had a moment and damaged his power steering with the stage end in sight. A matter of 4.1s separated the pair heading into Sunday’s final four stages with Neuville admitting “risks would be required for victory”, while Ogier refused to alter his measured approach.

On Sunday morning Ogier struck the perfect balance of speed and risk to snatch the lead by 1.3s on stage 14. The following stage proved just how intense the fight was as Ogier and Neuville posted identical times. 

It seemed a grandstand final-stage decider could be in the offing, but the ‘Rally of Gods’ had one final twist: A double-rear puncture on the penultimate stage cost Neuville almost a minute and with it his victory hopes evaporated.

One stage stood in the way of Ogier and victory and he didn’t disappoint, wrapping up the victory in the style of someone hungry for a 10th world title. At the finish Ogier required a second look at the timing screen to quite believe that he had indeed won the Power Stage too and achieved a rare maximum 35-point win. 

Neuville may have lost out but took the benefits of second place and regaining a comfortable feeling in his Hyundai

Photo by: Hyundai

“It [the battle with Neuville] looked more intense than it really was I would say for us. It is the reality as I honestly mainly focused on myself and my strategy to not go for all or nothing,” said Ogier, whose first Acropolis win since 2011 drew him level for career Acropolis wins with Neuville. 

“I needed good points this week and of course the win was what we needed. Then if it wasn’t to be for the win a second and some Sunday points would have still been a positive step, so I couldn’t afford to go for all or nothing. In this kind of condition if you push maximum, the risk level is much too high. Still, I enjoyed it [the battle], to have Thierry that close and especially nice when you finish in front." 

It is these moments that will have championship leader Evans and the rest of the service park seriously looking over their shoulders. Ogier proved he can win a title in a part-time campaign last year, so who's to say he can’t repeat it? 

"It has been a very long time since I have felt that comfortable and I nearly forgot that feeling" Thierry Neuville

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Neuville. Clearly the disappointment of the penultimate-stage puncture was plain to see but in defeat there was silver lining and twinkle back in the eyes of the Belgian that has cast a downbeat frustrated figure for much of this year.

“I have mixed feelings right now. We really wanted to bring home the victory for the team to give them an extra boost for the rest of the season, but on the other hand I can be pleased with the performance we delivered here this weekend," said Neuville.

“I was comfortable in the car and I actually realised it has been a very long time since I have felt that comfortable and I nearly forgot that feeling. It shows that when we get the feeling we need to have in the car which performs well we can be up to speed so that is something very promising. It was like the old good times when we were fighting with Sebastien on a regular basis.”

Katsuta impressed with third place to close the gap on Evans at the top of the standings

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Katsuta adds to growing pressure on points leader Evans

With Ogier now back in the title hunt, Neuville seemingly finding form and Takamoto Katsuta displaying impressive consistency, championship leader Evans will begin to start to feel the heat rising in the title race.

Evans knew this round would be the toughest to tackle as championship leader and road sweeper on Friday. That job was made even more difficult by the fact five of the six stages were first pass-only. 

Likewise, few could have predicted how well Evans’ team-mate Katsuta would fare starting from second on the road. The Japanese coped admirably in the tricky conditions limiting his time loss to 1m33s and was able to successfully judge the tricky conditions, while his rivals hit trouble, to climb from sixth to third and claim a deserved fourth podium of the year. Katsuta is now the only driver to have finished every round inside the top seven this year, cutting the 20-point gap to points leader Evans to 11 points.

“It’s very good to finish on the podium after such a tough rally. It was difficult for us in the beginning running second on the road, but we were expecting this and we had a clear plan to try and avoid problems and mistakes and just manage the situation. It worked out very well,” said Katsuta.

Evans lost more than two minutes on Friday due to the cleaning effect which he felt was far worse than he had anticipated. Armed with a better road position on Saturday he recovered from seventh to fifth, only for the hard work to be undone by a front-right puncture in stage 13. Evans ended the rally in seventh but was promoted back to fifth after M-Sport’s Josh McErlean and Hyundai’s Forumaux were stripped of fourth and sixth place finishes respectively after being handed one-minute penalties following their respective co-drivers found guilty of failing to have their seatbelts fastened properly during a stage.

It proved to be a valuable four-point swing for Evans which could prove crucial come the season’s end given the Toyota driver lost out on a maiden title last year by that very same margin. 

“I didn’t have a lot of expectation coming in but it is a bit frustrating of course as things looked OK by Saturday afternoon and that puncture did a lot of damage to where we were overall. It has been a bad weekend in terms of points but it is early days still it doesn’t mean too much at the moment,” said Evans. 

Jon Armstrong, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

McErlean and Armstrong shine to give M-Sport a boost

The feel-good story of the weekend belonged to M-Sport-Ford. The British squad has faced a challenging year but in Greece its full-time drivers McErlean and Jon Armstrong outlined their talent, and provided a much-needed boost for themselves and the team.

Armstrong turned heads once again as he became locked in a fight for the podium and was sitting in third overall when he beat Ogier in stage five by 0.6s to claim his first career WRC stage win. Elation quickly turned to deflation as a double puncture in the next test followed by a turbo issue put him out of the podium fight. But Armstrong proved he is most definitely the real deal.

This year has proven to be a real test of mental strength for Armstrong’s team-mate McErlean, who has struggled for results and consistency. After Armstrong’s unfortunate exit, the Irishman took up the baton and led the team’s charge to claim a career-best result of fourth on the road, and sixth in the final classification following post rally seatbelt penalty.

The Acropolis did little to alter a concerning trend surrounding Oliver Solberg’s season as the Toyota driver suffered his fourth crash in five rallies

“For Jon to take his maiden WRC stage win with the team in the Ford Puma Rally1 is a huge achievement for us all and something to be really proud of, and for Josh to claim his best-ever result here is even better," said M-Sport team principal Richard Millener.

Solberg admits new mental approach is required 

The Acropolis did little to alter a concerning trend surrounding Oliver Solberg’s season as the Toyota driver suffered his fourth crash in five rallies. 

The Swede claimed an impressive victory at this event last year in WRC2, demonstrating an ability to avoid picking up any punctures. Unfortunately, this year he suffered a tyre deflation on the first gravel stage. 

Four crashes in five rallies means Solberg has faded from the title picture

Photo by: Toyota Racing

"I was taking it so easy and so careful and all of a sudden I felt the puncture. Unbelievable. If you get a puncture now from this, then I don't know what to do," said Solberg.

After losing 1m28s, Solberg found himself on the back foot and was even more careful to protect his tyres. The Swede had climbed back to ninth before an error resulted in his GR Yaris running off the road in stage seven and in a bid to try and rejoin the road Solberg broke the gearbox as his car remained beached at the side of the road. 

Speed and ability are not in question as Solberg leads the stage win tally for this year, but after costly errors in Japan, Canary Islands and Croatia, Solberg confessed that he needs to change his approach after falling to fifth in the championship standings, 59 points behind leader Evans.

“It is life at the moment it seems. I just need to find a better way mentally to reset a bit," he added. “The speed and ability is not a problem. I just need to find an approach and know when I absolutely don’t need to push. I think the problem is trying to find a way, and whatever it is I need to figure it out. It seems I get caught up with things in my own head.”  

The WRC takes a short breather before Rally Estonia in mid-July

Photo by: Toyota