Paris (AFP)
Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) wants to take advantage of the rally in Great Britain, the 12th round of the WRC World Championship, played on the often muddy tracks of Wales to further reduce his gap on the current leader of the world championship Ött Tänak (Toyota ).
The Frenchman has won five times the event, a record, on the last six editions (four times on Volkswagen, one on Ford). After his victory in the last rally of Turkey, he is only 17 points behind Tänak, who has dropped out, while there are three more races to race with this weekend.
"The goal in Wales will be to keep pace with Turkey and put as much pressure on Ött as possible, something that I have always been good at," said the six-time world champion.
The unknown remains however Citroën who has not won this event since 2010 (Sébastien Loeb) and whose C3 have often lagged behind the Toyota Yaris this year. But the French manufacturer has come to test on site and relies on the experience of Ogier but also the Finnish Esapekka Lappi, 3rd last year on ... Toyota.
On the side of the Japanese manufacturer, the goal is to see Ött Tänak return from the field to the championship. "Last year we were very strong here, the roads are smooth and fast and that's good for us, but slippery conditions still make things difficult, but our drivers like that," said WRC boss Tommi Mäkinen.
The Estonian does not want to be discouraged after his retirement in Turkey: "The gap in the championship is smaller now but we still have three rallies to play and we were fast on each of them last year. Now we have to finish the job starting with Wales ". However, it has never won in the WRC and was forced to retire last year.
He will be supported by his usual Finnish teammates Jari-Matti Latvala and British Kris Meeke.
- Evans' return to Ford -
On the side of Hyundai, Thierry Neuville is out of the league at 30 points of Tänak and 13 of Ogier. His team manager and compatriot, Alain Pénasse, also recognized in an interview with Speed Magazine: "I think it's dead for the title" for Neuville, he lamented, saying "disappointed ".
The Belgian, who could not do better than 8th in Turkey, highlights "appreciate" the slippery roads Welsh recalling that it is often the most wet event of the championship.
The South Korean brand can still play the constructor title and leads the championship with 19 points ahead of Toyota. In addition to Neuville, she will join Norwegian Andrea Mikkelsen and local Craig Breen, 4th last year on Citroen, Sébastien Loeb ignoring this event.
Remains Ford, winner of the last two editions and whose flagship driver and Welsh Elfyn Evans, winner in 2017, is back after jumping the last three rallies due to an injury received at the rally of Estonia in July.
"I'm really looking forward to getting behind the wheel, especially at home in Wales, it's the highlight event of the year for me and when you see all these Welsh flags, it's an incredible feeling," he says.
The event begins Thursday night with a super special stage on the famous Oulton Park circuit. In total, she has 22 stages totaling 312.75 km with an finish judged Sunday after the "power stage" - important points for the championship - around 14:30 (13:30 local, 12:30 GMT)
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