At the beginning of June, Ogier was on his way to victory in Rally Sardinia, but a puncture on the final special stage dropped the French Toyota star to second place. The win eventually went to Hyundai driver Tänak by a narrow margin of 0.2 seconds.
That same margin reappeared on Sunday between Tänak and Ogier, this time in Rally Latvia. Both Tänak and Ogier were chasing the largest points haul from Super Sunday and started the rally-ending Power Stage on equal footing.
This time, neither suffered a puncture, but Tänak beat Ogier in a fair fight by 0.2 seconds. Thus, the Estonian collected two more points for himself and his team than Ogier.
“I said to Ott, well done. It was a good fight, and this time it’s not as painful as in Sardinia, where we really deserved the win,” Ogier said.
“Here it was a big push up to the end. It was good fun. And two tenths obviously is nothing, and someone needs to win and be in front at the end of the day,” Ogier added.
For Ogier and Toyota, the weekend was a success overall. Toyota secured a one-two finish with Kalle Rovanperä and Ogier leading the way. Ogier, for his part, collected the largest points haul of the event, earning 25 points.
Read also: Thrilling situation in the WRC championship battle – what will Sebastien Ogier do?
Thanks to the excellent performances of Ogier and Rovanperä, Toyota rose to within one point of Hyundai in the manufacturers’ championship battle. Ogier himself received an important affirmation from the rally.
“I had a lot of fun in the car, and I’m pleased with my performance because it’s been almost three years since I’ve competed in this kind of very fast rally, and it looks like I still have some good speed,” Ogier smiled.
Ogier will compete in another fast gravel rally in a couple of weeks when the World Rally Championship caravan heads to Finland.
