Toyota’s probabilities of successful the World Rally Championship producers’ crown are “just about gone” after Hyundai scored a 1-2-3 on the Acropolis Rally, reckons staff 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 value the Welshman nearly 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 an identical turbo failure to Evans, conceding greater than two-and-a-half minutes.
Plans to get well the misplaced floor through Tremendous Sunday factors have been thwarted when Ogier suffered a puncture and rolled whereas heading the Sunday classification. Ogier did nonetheless 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 points deficit to Hyundai increase, Toyota’s Latvala believes the staff ought to put title ideas apart and give attention to 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’ll defend it [the lead] now for the final three remaining occasions, so they will not take such threat 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 attempt, to any extent further, to start out successful occasions.
“We have to neglect about each championships for just a little bit. We have now been in a state of affairs the place we now have been making an attempt to power it and we won’t power it anymore.
“We are able to solely do it by driving effectively by successful the occasions with out stress for the drivers. That’s the solely means and if one thing goes improper 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 could be a Cinderella story. However in the mean time, we have to neglect excited 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 improper from the start, and it stored going within the improper path, however that is the way in which it’s when it goes.
“In life you’ve got good occasions and you’ve got dangerous occasions, you possibly can’t have every thing good yearly. We have now had three superb seasons, so for positive, sooner or later comes the dangerous moments, and now we’re having it.”
He added: “There’s nothing else we might do, for me Sebastien needed to exit within the stage and he needed to attempt to go flat out as a result of we would have liked Sunday factors and we would have liked Energy Stage factors. With these factors, we’d have been capable of preserve ourselves hooked up within the championship.
“Sadly, it did not work out. We needed to pay the penalty.”
