Ogier had been running well throughout the rally, but Hyundai’s Ott Tänak had been untouchable. That was, until the final forest stage of Saturday. Tänak lost his power steering and dropped down to third place due to the issue.
That handed Ogier the overall lead – an unexpected gift he hadn’t asked for.
“That’s the way it goes sometimes in motorsport – especially when conditions were rough like this afternoon. We knew things could happen,” Ogier commented.
Before Tänak’s misfortune, Toyota had been somewhat on the back foot.
“We didn’t quite have the pace; he was always having a little extra. But I was also feeling that to drive at that speed, you definitely need to push very hard all the time. And in this moment, you just try to stay as close as you can to still keep a bit of pressure,” Ogier added.
Still, Ogier acknowledged clearly that he wouldn’t be leading the rally without Tänak’s bad luck.
“At the same time, quite unlucky for him. It’s not the way we’d like to end any fight, but it’s part of the game. Sometimes it goes one way, sometimes the other,” Ogier reasoned.
Heading into the final day of the rally, Ogier has a clear objective. His teammate Kalle Rovanperä is in second place but already nearly half a minute behind.
“And now we have a target tomorrow to try to secure this place,” Ogier said.
