In the Rally de Portugal, once again, the winner of the rally did not take home the biggest points haul. Sebastien Ogier won in Portugal, but Hyundai’s Ott Tänak ended up with the most points. The Estonian earned one point more from the rally than the French champion Ogier.
It doesn’t feel right that the value of a victory is so minimal or even negligible, while the top three drivers earn nearly the same amount of points. Making or closing gaps is also challenging with the current system.
Let’s recap: points are now awarded at three different stages. The main conditional points are distributed based on Saturday evening’s standings, while on Sunday, separate daily points and additional Power Stage points are up for grabs.
The same rules and points apply to everyone. The question now is: who can calculate and strategise the best under the new system?
No longer can teams rely on the old, tried-and-true tactic of building time gaps in the rallies on Friday and Saturday, then securing the victory on Sunday and ensuring the weekend’s biggest points haul.
Toyota has clearly stated that the manufacturers’ championship is the most important thing for the team this year. However, this has not been reflected in the drivers’ strategy, given the current system.
At Toyota, Kalle Rovanperä and Ogier share the driving duties in the team’s third car. Toyota has surely calculated that the champions will bring good points to the team – especially since they have good starting positions for gravel events.
But has Toyota understood the core of the points system? Ogier has taken two rally wins and Rovanperä one, but in each of these winning rallies, the champions have played it safe on Sunday. As a result, Toyota has missed out on a bundle of points.
For instance, in the Safari Rally in Kenya, Rovanperä emphasised that he was only driving for the win, even though valuable points were available for the team on Sunday. Ultimately, Rovanperä took only two points from Sunday, even though up to 12 were available.
Hyundai stars Thierry Neuville and Tänak have been much sharper on the final days of events. With their top points haul in the Rally de Portugal, Hyundai moved to the top of the manufacturers’ standings ahead of Toyota, even though Toyota drivers have secured more rally wins this year.
Hyundai has figured out the trick. Toyota, on the other hand, should consider whether its “part-time” drivers, Ogier and Rovanperä, need to change their tactics in upcoming rallies.
Before the Rally Sardinia next week, Hyundai leads the manufacturers’ standings by four points over Toyota.
