Sebastien Ogier is not willing to repeat a painful experience. Amid the tight battle at Rally Chile, the Toyota driver made it clear he will not take excessive risks. “I don’t think I am the driver who takes every last risk any more. That is clear. I try to use my experience and stay within my comfort zone,” he said.
The statement came after a series of heavy crashes marked Saturday’s three stages in Chile. Ogier admitted that those incidents, plus his own experiences this year, heavily influence his risk threshold. “We have already been to hospital this year, and I don’t want to go there again,” he stressed.
In the current standings, Adrien Fourmaux of Hyundai still leads, but Ogier is only 1.9 seconds behind. The two are fighting tooth and nail. Fourmaux acknowledged, “We are fighting over tenths.”
Fourmaux was pleased with his morning loop. “I think we did quite well with the tyre package we had available, and we also managed to keep Seb behind us,” he said. “It is really close. If the situation is still the same this evening, I will be happy. The afternoon is therefore going to be difficult, but the morning was pretty clean. The stages were really enjoyable to drive. As expected, road sweeping had a major effect on the final stage, but overall the situation is not too bad.”
Fourmaux cannot repeat the attack mode he showed in Paraguay. “The difference compared with Paraguay is that there we could really attack with the tyres on Saturday without taking too much risk. Here it is much more about managing the tyres. You can drive really hard at the start of a stage and then lose everything towards the end. So it is not as easy, and you cannot attack in the same way here.”
“Personally, I am not in the same Paraguay mode at the moment. But I am in fight mode for the podium, that is clear,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ogier moved up to third on the first stage of the morning and managed to increase the gap to as much as 4.2 seconds on the following stage. However, the final stage turned into a nightmare. “The final stage was tricky again. It was drier than the others and once again extremely loose. A few cars had gone off before us, so there were no longer enough cars ahead of us to create a good line. On the final stage, I felt I was really struggling for grip and trying to find good lines,” he lamented.
“Unfortunately, the time we gained on the first two stages went to waste on the last one. So it was not ideal,” Ogier continued.
With the second half of Saturday still having three stages remaining, the tension at Rally Chile is heating up. Fourmaux is determined to hold on to the podium, while Ogier must balance between attacking and staying safe. Whatever the outcome, the most important thing for Ogier is safety. “I want to wish everyone who was injured a good recovery, because I have heard that some were injured quite seriously. I wish them all the best. That is the most important thing,” he concluded.
Baca Juga
Thierry Neuville crash hebat di SS7 Rally Chile, Hyundai tak bisa lanjut. Dampak pada klasemen dan persiapan Rally Italia Sardegna.
Oliver Solberg memimpin Reli Swedia WRC 2026 setelah loop Sabtu pagi, unggul 10,1 detik atas Elfyn Evans yang masih kesulitan dengan setelan mobil.
Co-driver Finlandia Topi Luhtinen masih dirawat setelah kecelakaan hebat di Rally Chile. Yuki Yamamoto selamat, namun beberapa kru lain juga dirawat intensif.
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