Trier (Germany) (AFP)
Estonian coach Ött Tänak came close to winning the world title with Sunday's third successive victory in the 10th stage of the World Rally Championship in Germany, driving his Toyota, which put three drivers on the podium.
Brilliant during special stages around the vineyards of the Moselle Valley, Tänak also benefited from the setbacks of its main competition victims of punctures on Saturday, the Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and the French Sebastien Ogier (Citroën), which gives in Neuville his second place in the world championship standings.
"I have mixed feelings, I'm not really happy, I had brake problems in the previous stage so I could not give it all, but we finished the rally and we're happy to that, "soberly declared the taciturn Estonian, true to his habit.
Tänak finished only eighth in the last stage of the rally, or "power stage", won by Neuville and allows the first five to score extra points at the world championship.
"What can I say? We can not control anything other than ourselves, so I'm doing the best I can," said the 31-year-old, who won his fifth rally of the season, the eleventh, on Sunday morning. of his WRC career.
And when the Estonian does the best he can in Germany, on his favorite rally, it becomes complicated for other drivers to follow him.
For Tänak had performed a near-faultless Saturday on the demanding roads of the Baumholder military camp, unlike Neuville and Ogier, who punctured the formidable armor plates (Panzerplatte) making the reputation of the rally of Germany.
Neuville, in contact with his puncture during the first stage played on the Panzerplatte, then saw his dream of victory almost at home flying, he who was born a few tens of kilometers, just on the other side of the border.
"The left-back tire has broken, it's a lottery and we've been really unhappy, it can happen to everyone, it's a shame," said the Belgian on Saturday in the middle of the afternoon, but now new Tänak dolphin.
- Neuville new dolphin -
If he had confessed that it was "hard to get up in the morning and know that there is no chance of winning," the Belgian still showed his advantage, signing three "scratches" "(best time) Sunday, bringing his total to seven on this rally.
"We probably could have won, but the puncture is part of the game, the victory of Tänak is deserved," relativized Neuville, fifth in the rally and who passes Ogier in the general classification of the world championship.
For the Frenchman, the weekend was more complicated. Usually at ease on the German roads, he accumulated the underperformance, embarrassed throughout the rally by handling problems and complaining of a car "that does not turn".
"I can not run with this car," he said, disappointed after the seventeenth special, putting Citroen in an uncomfortable situation, while the native of Gap has a troubled relationship with the manufacturer.
Returning this year to the French team after six world titles won at Volkswagen and Ford M-Sport, Ogier no longer seems able to win a seventh crown.
"It's not the weekend we were waiting for, but we can not say we have not tried," he concluded after the rally that he finished in 8th place.
The drivers have benefited throughout the weekend from a particularly mild weather during this event, the only round of the world championship with the rally of Corsica played exclusively on the asphalt.
In the constructors' classification, a nice operation for Toyota, which doubles Hyundai with this magnificent treble Tänak-Meeke-Latvala.
The fight promises to be bitter between Toyota and Hyundai, while only four rallies are still to be played by the end of the season (Turkey, Great Britain, Catalonia, Australia).
In WRC2Pro, Jan Kopecky of the Czech Republic won the German stage in the category, while Japan's Takamoto Katsuta, a guest on the rally, finished tenth.
© 2019 AFP