WRC – Ogier claims shock Finland victory after Rovanperä crashes
Sébastien Ogier claimed an unlikely Secto Rally Finland victory after his Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mate Kalle Rovanperä crashed out on the event’s penultimate stage while in front.
Rovanperä had led round nine of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship for almost every kilometre of this four-day gravel fixture and looked set to end Finland’s seven-year wait for a home winner with a 45.8s advantage going into the rally’s penultimate stage. However, it all went wrong for the 23-year-old when he clipped a rogue rock, pushing his GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid off the line and into a rally-ending roll. Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were uninjured.
The same stage had earlier served up further drama when Rovanperä’s team-mate, Elfyn Evans, also left the road while chasing down Super Sunday points to make up for a broken driveshaft on Friday.
On his first Finnish outing since 2021, Ogier was on hand to pick up the pieces alongside co-driver Vincent Landais and took his 61st WRC victory by 40.1s from Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid driver Thierry Neuville. Adrien Fourmaux, piloting a Ford Puma Rally1 for the M-Sport Ford squad, filled the final podium spot 34.0s further back.
“It’s hard to smile right now,” Ogier said at the finish. “A win in Finland is always nice, but this is not the way we like to have it. Very sorry for Kalle and Jonne, they were unlucky with the stone and it’s a shame for them. We were unlucky in Sardinia and lost in the last stage, but we are lucky here. That’s motorsport.”
Today’s events have shaken up the Driver’s championship standings with Ogier, despite missing three rallies earlier this year, now up to second. After Friday retiree Ott Tänak and Evans both scored zero, the pair dropped to third and fourth respectively.
But it was Neuville (above) who was the biggest winner in terms of the title race. Having arrived in Finland with an eight-point lead, the Belgian’s buffer now stands at 27 points while his Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team extended its lead over Toyota in the Manufacturers’ championship to 20.
“It was a real rollercoaster of emotions this weekend,” Neuville said. “We had a clever approach this weekend knowing it was hard to fight with the Toyotas. After our team’s issues (Tänak and Esapekka Lappi both crashing on Friday), we knew we had to bring the points home.”
Fourmaux’s third-place result marked his fourth podium of the season. The Frenchman (above) trailed Neuville by 34.0s at the final control with Sami Pajari’s Toyota 40.0s behind.
Pajari, along with co-driver Enni Mälkönen, delivered an impressive drive on his top-flight debut. After a rocky start to the rally, which included two spins resulting in rear wing damage on Friday, the Finnish pair claimed their first WRC stage win at Ruuhimäki on Saturday.
Rally2 machinery filled the remainder of the top 10. Oliver Solberg won the FIA WRC2 category and placed fifth overall ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, top FIA WRC2 Challenger Lauri Joona, Mikko Heikkilä, Nikolay Gryazin and Georg Linnamäe. Mexico’s Ricardo Triviño claimed victory in the FIA WRC Masters’ Cup.
Finn Jesse Kallio won FIA WRC3 with FIA Rally Star Taylor Gill (below) claiming his maiden FIA Junior WRC victory after battling back from outside the top 10. The Australian is now one point behind team-mate Romer Jürgenson with just next month’s EKO Acropolis Rally Greece remaining.
Based in Lamia, the gravel event takes place from September 5-8.
