Toyota’s possibilities of successful the World Rally Championship producers’ crown are “just about gone” after Hyundai scored a 1-2-3 on the Acropolis Rally, reckons workforce boss Jari-Matti Latvala.
The reigning producers’ champions endured a weekend to neglect, leaving Greece 35 factors behind Hyundai within the championship standings with solely three rounds of the season remaining.
Toyota’s rally unravelled on Friday when all three of its drivers, Sebastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta encountered issues.
Evans suffered a puncture and turbo failure on the opening stage which price the Welshman virtually 10 minutes, earlier than retiring on Saturday following a sluggish velocity roll. Katsuta crashed out on stage three whereas occupying second, having received the earlier stage.
Eight-time world champion Ogier led the rally till stage 5 when he suffered the same turbo failure to Evans, conceding greater than two-and-a-half minutes.
Plans to get well the misplaced floor by way of Tremendous Sunday factors had been thwarted when Ogier suffered a puncture and rolled whereas heading the Sunday classification. Ogier did nevertheless end the occasion to say 13 Saturday factors, whereas Evans added 18 factors to the pot with eight of these from Sunday’s motion.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Picture by: Toyota Racing
After witnessing the factors deficit to Hyundai improve, Toyota’s Latvala believes the workforce ought to put title ideas apart and deal with successful the remaining occasions in Chile, central Europe and Japan.
“It is good that he [Sebastien Ogier] can get the [Saturday] factors, however the actuality is that we lose the Sunday factors, we lose the Energy Stage factors for each championships, that are principally gone,” Latvala instructed Motorsport.com.
“Hyundai begin to be able, that with present [points] system, they are going to defend it [the lead] now for the final three remaining occasions, so they will not take such danger to lose these [titles].
“For us, the Toyota’s WRC title probabilities “just about gone” likelihood is just about gone and we have to change the goal to strive, to any extent further, to start out successful occasions.
“We have to neglect about each championships for slightly bit. Now we have been in a scenario the place we have now been attempting to power it and we won’t power it anymore.
“We will solely do it by driving effectively by successful the occasions with out strain for the drivers. That’s the solely method and if one thing goes mistaken with Hyundai, then it may be an enormous bonus.
Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Picture by: Purple Bull Content material Pool
“However on the finish of the day, we have to neglect the targets and simply attempt to loosen up the drivers. And if one thing nice occurs, then it might be a Cinderella story. However in the intervening time, we have to neglect fascinated about the championship factors.”
Latvala described the opening day of the rally as ‘Black Friday’ and when reflecting on how the occasion unfolded, he added: “It began to go mistaken from the start, and it saved going within the mistaken route, however that is the way in which it’s when it goes.
“In life you will have good occasions and you’ve got unhealthy occasions, you may’t have every thing excellent yearly. Now we have had three wonderful seasons, so for certain, in some unspecified time in the future comes the unhealthy moments, and now we’re having it.”
He added: “There’s nothing else we may do, for me Sebastien needed to exit within the stage and he needed to attempt to go flat out as a result of we wanted Sunday factors and we wanted Energy Stage factors. With these factors, we’d have been in a position to maintain ourselves connected within the championship.
“Sadly, it did not work out. We needed to pay the penalty.”
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