Sébastien Ogier held his nerve through a dramatic final day at Rally Islas Canarias to claim his first FIA World Rally Championship win of the season after team-mate Oliver Solberg crashed out of a gripping victory fight.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais reached the finish in Las Palmas 19.9sec clear of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, with Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen completing an all-Toyota podium after three days on Gran Canaria’s fast, smooth and at times unforgiving asphalt.
The result also delivered a major landmark for Toyota Gazoo Racing, which locked out the top four places and reached 300 podium finishes in the WRC.
For much of Sunday morning, however, Ogier looked set for a final-stage showdown with Solberg. The 24-year-old began the day 3.8sec behind the nine-time world champion and immediately went on the attack in greasy, foggy conditions on Ingenio – Valsequillo.
Solberg was fastest on the opening stage by 0.6sec, then took another second from Ogier on Santa Lucía – Agüimes to reduce the gap to just 2.2sec with two stages remaining.
But the fight ended abruptly on the second pass of Ingenio – Valsequillo. Solberg went off 14.7km into the stage and struck an armco barrier, leaving his GR Yaris Rally1 too badly damaged to continue. He and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were unharmed.
“The first pass this morning was quite wet and now it was much drier,” Solberg explained. “I was too optimistic with this right-hander that had a jump and we went into the armco unfortunately.”
Ogier admitted the ending was not the one he wanted, but the Frenchman had done enough across the weekend to add another event to his list of WRC victories.
“It is not the way we wanted to see it go,” he said. “Oliver was doing a great job up until that point. Rallying is tough. Being fast is important but being at the end even more. I never panicked when I saw him pushing and I kept my rhythm.”
At the finish, Ogier added: “It’s been, first and foremost, very enjoyable. We had a great car to drive again and it was good fun, so well done to all the team. It’s been extremely close the whole weekend with my team-mates, especially with Oliver.
“It’s a shame we could not all finish together and bring this show up to the end, but on our side, I think we did what we had to do and I am pretty happy to win a new rally on the list.”
Evans inherited second after Solberg’s retirement and made the most of the opportunity. The Welshman was fastest on the Wolf Power Stage and also topped the Super Sunday classification, a haul that moves him back to the head of the drivers’ championship by two points over Takamoto Katsuta.
“It’s been a solid weekend,” said Evans. “I think it was a poor start. Unfortunately, that put us a bit out of the fight for the win, so mixed feelings. But congrats to Seb, he’s driven an exceptional weekend and he deserves the win here.”
Pajari continued his impressive run of form by securing a fourth consecutive podium, while Katsuta completed Toyota’s top-four sweep. The Japanese driver, winner of the previous two rounds in Kenya and Croatia, admitted he had not been satisfied with his own performance but still leaves Gran Canaria firmly in the title fight.
Adrien Fourmaux was Hyundai’s leading finisher in fifth despite a 10sec jump-start penalty on the final stage. Thierry Neuville finished sixth after another difficult weekend in the i20 N Rally1, while Dani Sordo brought the third Hyundai home seventh on his return to Rally1 competition.
Josh McErlean completed a clean rally in eighth for M-Sport Ford, while team-mate Jon Armstrong finished 11th after an eventful weekend aboard his Puma Rally1.
Yohan Rossel rounded out the overall top 9 and sealed back-to-back WRC2 victories for Lancia with a composed drive alongside co-driver Arnaud Dunand. Alejandro Cachón finished second in the category on home soil, while Eric Camilli inherited third after Léo Rossel suffered a late transmission issue.
After five of 14 rounds, Evans leads the drivers’ championship on 101 points, two ahead of Katsuta, with Pajari third on 72. Toyota Gazoo Racing heads the manufacturers’ standings on 265 points, 98 clear of Hyundai.
The championship resumes on gravel next month at Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round six of the season from 7 – 10 May.
Rally Classification:
1. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2h 43m 18.9s
2. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +19.9s
3. S Pajari / M Salminen FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1m 40.8s
4. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1m 51.2s
5. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3m 29.5s
6. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3m 41.0s
Drivers’ Championship (After round 5 of 14):
1. E Evans 101pts
2. T Katsuta 99pts
3. S Pajari 72pts
The World Rally Championship (WRC) is the FIA’s premium rally series. It showcases high-performance cars and the world’s best drivers competing in dramatic surroundings, ranging from Sweden’s freezing winter to Kenya’s heat and rocky tracks. Participants battle for drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles at 14 rallies. More information can be found at www.wrc.com.
Words & Images courtesy of www.wrc.com
