Sebastien Ogier believes his bid for a record-equalling ninth World Rally Championship title is over after retiring from Rally Chile.
The Toyota driver headed into the final gravel round of the season 38 points adrift of championship leader, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, having emerged as a serious title contender after winning Rally Finland in August.
Ogier’s three wins and three second-place finishes meant he led Toyota’s charge in the drivers’ championship, which resulted in the team asking the Frenchman to extend his partial campaign by competing in all the remaining rounds of the year.
Ogier remained in contention despite rolling in the final stage of the Acropolis Rally Greece earlier this month.
The Frenchman again showed impressive pace in Chile before hitting a bank, which knocked a tyre off the rim on Friday, costing him 1m45s.
Ogier managed to climb back from 15th to ninth position before hitting a rock in stage eight, which broke a bolt in his GR Yaris’ front suspension and left him stranded in a ditch.
“It was pretty simple, there were rocks on the line at the braking point and at least very close to the line, something I didn’t have in my notes," said Ogier when explaining the incident.
“At this braking point the problem is when you are on the brake you are fully loaded and then a small impact can make big damage, but actually it wasn’t big damage, it was just a bolt that was broken.
“It was just a broken bolt that is it and then I cannot make the next corner and then we are stuck in a ditch as it was very soft in this place. We didn’t have the bolt to fix it.
“That is the way it goes. I think the frustrating thing at the moment is that I couldn’t make anything from these last two rallies where I had one of the best speeds and have been very dominant in terms of speed but it doesn’t help anything if you don’t bring it home.”
When asked what the retirement meant for his title hopes, he added: “It looks like it [is over] for sure.
“Again at least on this side I’m not even really disappointed because it just became a target maybe two rallies ago, and it wasn’t really one.
“Many people have told me that I would not do the championship a favour if I won it not competing the whole season, so in that way it is positive.
“At the end of the day I am a competitor and as long as the opportunity came up I tried to fight for it.
“I’m pleased with the speed I have had in the last rallies and I have done everything I could, and one time on the team side with the turbo issue in Greece and here on my side, we have both done some mistakes that were too costly.”
Ogier says his focus is now firmly on his original goal of helping Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship, with the Japanese brand sitting 35 points behind rival Hyundai.
“That was my main target this year to help the team for that,” he said.
“Unfortunately in the manufacturers’ championship we are not in a great position, but at the moment my team-mates are doing well and I cross my fingers they can carry on like this and it will be nice to keep it alive as long as we can.”
