The Hyundai Motorsport's engineering consultant, Christian Loriaux, believes that Toyota feels the pressure of his team and this is the reason that they want desperately Sebastien Ogier to compete with the Yaris while he predicts that the Frenchman will take part in the remaining four rounds of 2024.
Hyundai Motorsport managed to increase its lead over the second Toyota from one to twenty points at the end of Rally Finland after Kalle Rovanpera's and Elfyn Evans's crashes in Stage 19 earlier this month. Ogier is being considered one of the title contenders for this year despite his partial programme with Toyota taking advantage over Ott Tanak's and Evans's poor performances in some rallies this season. Moreover, it must be mentioned that Ogier has won three rallies and has finished in second place three times while he does not have any DNF nor a finish outside the top three so far this season. After the end of the eighth WRC round, Ogier moved ahead of Tanak and Evans on the championship standings and is 27 points behind the first Thierry Neuville who remains at the top since Rallye Monte Carlo. Last but not least, Ogier's next outing with the Yaris is Acropolis Rally next week while it is rumored that his name will be at the entry list of the final three WRC rounds of the season.
"I can’t see any point worrying about things you can’t control", Loriaux said.
"I can’t control whether Séb will do all the rallies or not.
"I do expect Séb to do all the rallies.
"If he went to a rally he doesn’t like [Finland], it clearly shows that Toyota are on the back foot, that they really are stressed and that the only way to get back at us is to bring all the Armada.
"In that sense, it’s very clear that the reaction is a reaction of people desperate and under pressure.
"So, it’s good: we pressurize them.
"For sure it’s not easy and I don’t want to sound big-headed, but it’s good for me to see them pressurized and that’s our job, to try to fight the opposition.
"But it’s not easy and if it was easy, everybody would do it.
"We’re fighting, we’re trying everything we can".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credts: Hyundai
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