Ogier calls out Pirelli at Rally Japan
15th November 2022Toyota’s outgoing champion, Sebastien Ogier, called out the WRC’s tyre provider as the Frenchman hopes the sport will talk about the ‘really s*** job Pirelli is doing.’
At the end of Rally Japan’s Wolf Power Stage, Ogier slammed Pirelli for tyre issues which plagued and hindered Toyota’s chances to secure a win on home soil.
The defending world champion, who lost his crown to his teammate Kalle Rovanpera this season, was slapped with a puncture on the first stage of Friday morning which put him to the back of the leaderboard.
Fortunately, the Frenchman was able to climb back up the order to finish in fourth place
Speaking to the WRC press, at the end of the Power Stage, Ogier said:
“It’s been a great time, [its the] usual story. Maybe one day we are going to finally talk about the really s*** job Pirelli is doing and maybe something is going to change.
“But, at the moment, its just about the job they are doing. It’s puncture all-around, all the time and it’s just about lottery.”
Ahead of the final day, the fight looked to go down between Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. However, the Toyota driver suffered a puncture and cost Evans two minutes compared to Neuville, ahead of him.
The Welshman dropped to fourth in the overall times as a result before he was later overtaken by Ogier. By the end of the rally, Evans finished P5.
Neuville managed to secure the final win of the season one-minute ahead of his teammate, Ott Tanak (in P2) as Toyota’s home hero, Takamoto Katsuta took third.
That’s all for the article; Ogier calls out Pirelli at Rally Japan! What do you think of Ogier’s outburst? Let us know in the comments!
Read more WRC here:
- WRC Rally Japan: Neuville tops rally to hinder Toyota’s chances
- WRC Rally Japan: Evans leads as Sordo sees fiery exit
- WRC Rally Japan: Sordo’s blazing car brings SS2 to a stop
- WRC Rally Japan: Ogier puts Toyota on top in day one
- WRC Rally Japan: Rally returns to Land of the Rising Sun
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
