Rossel’s chances of winning the WRC2 title were already slim before Chile, but they finally collapsed due to a technical fault.
This allowed Toyota’s Oliver Solberg to drive to a clear victory and secure the class championship.
Although Rossel’s season and title battle ended in disappointment, the Frenchman was able to take it calmly.
“It’s part of the sport,” he shrugged.
“For sure, it’s coming at the wrong moment, but we don’t have a solution for that,” Rossel continued.
Rossel already knew before arriving in Chile that only a perfect performance – combined with Solberg’s complete misfortune or failure – could keep his championship hopes alive. But thinking about all that is, in itself, pointless speculation. Nobody could do anything about the oil leak that struck Rossel’s Citroën.
“When you push at 120 per cent, you know what can happen. I have no regrets about this year,” he said.
Rossel contested his final rally in Chile with the Citroën C3 Rally2. The car was good, but not good enough to challenge Toyota. The issue was the same as that faced by Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä in the top category.
“For sure, the [new for 2025] tyres don’t help me and the car to be fast,” Rossel said frankly.
“We need to adapt that with more tests and to understand what we can do to fight with Toyota. But for sure, the gap is too big for the moment,” he added.
