With half of the season completed, Ogier sits second in the WRC standings, just nine points behind his teammate Elfyn Evans, who leads the championship.
Check out the latest WRC standings here!
Ogier skipped February’s Rally Sweden and also sat out the Safari Rally in Kenya in March. But in the events he has entered, the Frenchman has delivered outstanding results: a win in Monte Carlo, second place in the Canary Islands, victories in Portugal and Sardinia, and most recently, a runner-up finish at last weekend’s Acropolis Rally.
According to Toyota’s assistant team principal Juha Kankkunen, Ogier would be welcome to compete in every remaining rally this season. He’s simply that valuable in the points race.
“Of course we have a car for Seb for every rally he wants to drive. Definitely we need him. He’s in a good form at the moment, and he did a fantastic job in the last three rallies,” Kankkunen said.
Ogier is skipping the upcoming Rally Estonia in two weeks, but earlier this week he confirmed he will compete in Rally Finland at the end of July. Should he choose to continue, a push for the championship title is still very much within reach.
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At the Acropolis Rally, Ogier was only beaten by Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who gave his team their first win of the season. Still, Kankkunen had no complaints about Ogier’s performance.
“You can’t give that anything less than a perfect ten. I have to admit Tänak was fast, but even then, Seb wasn’t far behind,” Kankkunen told RallyJournal.com.
“But Tänak also came close to having gearbox trouble earlier. His pace was just so strong there was no matching it.”
Ogier’s teammates, Evans and Kalle Rovanperä, haven’t quite found their rhythm in recent events. But Kankkunen is confident that both will bounce back in the upcoming high-speed rallies.
“Elfyn’s and Kalle’s speed is still there. They haven’t lost their driving skills in one month. Now the next two rallies Estonia Finland are fast and I think they will be okay,” Kankkunen predicted.
Rally Estonia is scheduled for two weeks from now.
