Ogier’s pace was strong at Rally Chile, but he suffered a puncture early on. Then on Saturday, he was forced to retire when his Toyota was damaged by loose stone.
Ogier rejoined the rally on the final day and won both Super Sunday and the Power Stage. The Frenchman managed to scrape 12 championship points from Chile.
In the championship standings, Ogier is third, but he has dropped 41 points behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who finished fourth in Chile. While the gap is still theoretically possible to close, Neuville would need to make significant mistakes for Ogier to reclaim the lead in the final two rounds.
After the race, Ogier no longer spoke about the drivers’ championship battle.
“The only thing I can say is that I’m happy to finish on a positive note. But overall, it wasn’t the weekend I was hoping for in terms of results. I had great pace this weekend, but unfortunately, some mistakes were very costly,” Ogier admitted.
“It’s frustrating again to see that we were very dominant in terms of speed, but it didn’t convert into a good result. But at least Sunday was good. We maximised the points for the team, and the manufacturers’ championship looks really alive now,” he added.
Ogier has not yet revealed what he plans to do after this season. His options seem to be continuing as a part-time driver for Toyota or retiring from the sport.
When asked by a local radio station if he would compete in Rally Chile next year, Ogier gave a cryptic response.
“No idea. I would say my attendance is more likely a ‘no’, but you never know. At the moment, I don’t think so, but we’ll see what the future brings,” Ogier replied.
Ogier is confirmed to race in the final two rallies of the season in Central Europe and Japan, where Toyota will continue to challenge Hyundai for the manufacturers’ title. Toyota reduced Hyundai’s lead to 17 points in Chile.
