Sebastien Ogier admits the Acropolis Rally was a decisive moment in his championship campaign after scoring the maximum 35 points in Greece.
Ogier claimed the maximum 35 points available by winning Acropolis Rally, Super Sunday and the Power Stage. The impressive haul reduced his deficit to championship leader and Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans from 61 points to 33, while also moving the reigning world champion up to third in the standings with six rounds remaining. The victory was far from straightforward. Greece’s notoriously rough gravel stages pushed both drivers and machinery to their limits, with punctures playing a decisive role throughout the weekend. Ogier was locked in a thrilling battle with Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville until the penultimate stage, where the Belgian suffered two punctures that ended his hopes of victory. Ogier capitalized on the opportunity, managing the difficult conditions perfectly to secure the 69th WRC victory of his career.
"It was a perfect weekend in the end and it was exactly what we needed for our championship to bring us back in the game", Ogier said.
"We are still many points behind so we still need to perform much more than that.
"Arriving here I knew it was a turning point of the season, when I knew I needed to outscore Elfyn and in my head I was targeting a minimum of 10 points that we needed to catch to slowly get back.
"Catching 28 points at the end of the day is perfect.
"I was not expecting that much and it is a really positive move.
"It was a rally where many things could happen with this roughness and the luck needed to change a bit from the first half of the season.
"I knew if it was not going our way this weekend it would probably have been the end of the hope to fight for a championship, so the pressure was high.
"We tried our best.
"I think we had a good strategy the whole weekend to try and stay out of trouble and everyone is trying that.
"But obviously here more than another event it was very difficult to manage with the roughness, so I’m glad the Greek gods were with me this time".
Source: Motorsport.com
Photo Credits: Toyota
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