Full season of Ogier vs Rovanpera is the fizzing rivalry that WRC needs

Young WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä taking on a legend of the sport in Spain showed what rallying is missing now that Sebastién Ogier is competing part-time. What chance he'll reconsider? asks Damien Smith

Sebastien Ogier drifts past a crowd at the 2022 WRC Catalunya Rally

Near-perfect run in Catalunya saw Ogier beat new champion Rovanperä

TGR

The killjoys at the FIA saw fit to fine Sébastien Ogier €1500 for flinging his Toyota into some celebratory donuts after clinching victory on Catalunya Rally Spain last weekend. But the Frenchman’s exuberance was wholly appropriate on a weekend in which it could be suggested he put the new world champion firmly in his place.

The astonishing Kalle Rovanperä, just turned 22, defeated Ogier hands down on New Zealand’s gravel stages a few weeks back to confirm a first title that has looked certain for months. But on Spanish asphalt Ogier was always likely to hit back, and so it proved as the eight-time World Rally Champion scored a comfortable 55th victory and his first of this new hybrid era. In a part-season during which he has chosen not to defend his eighth title and pitch to equal Sébastien Loeb’s record of nine, Ogier had good reason to celebrate.

The rivalry between the callow new champion and the 38-year-old had fizzed from the start as the WRC crews headed for the sinuous roads in the hills above seaside resort Salou. Although as Toyota sporting director Kaj Lindström pointed out, there’s plenty of mutual respect between the pair. “There is a sense of ‘I will show you, son’ and the son says ‘I will show you’,” he said at the end of day one. “That kind of thing, but in a healthy way. The atmosphere is good. They are still today sharing their set-ups and tips for each other.”

A cloud of tyre smoke around the WRC Toyota of Sebastien Ogier as he performs donuts

€1500 up in smoke — to the delight of spectators

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Ogier had a near-perfect run over the three days, whereas Rovanperä suffered a brief problem with his settings that affected hybrid power, which allowed Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville to get between the GR Yaris duo. Still, a 1-3 was more than enough to clinch a sixth WRC constructors’ title for Toyota, which allows the manufacturer to head for the final round in Japan next month for a no-pressure happy homecoming.

Beyond Ogier’s familiar victory, the main takeaway from the Spanish rally is just how much the WRC needs juicy rivalries – and more pertinently what we have missed out on following Ogier’s plucky decision to focus on trying to crack sports car racing this year. Rovanperä has risen from merely a promising second-generation racer (as the son of ex-Peugeot WRC ace Harri Rovanperä) to the new sensation, in the wake of six victories across all surfaces. But would he have ascended quite so quickly had Ogier stuck around to fight in every rally?

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We can’t answer that one, but boy, wouldn’t it be great if Ogier was to about-turn on his decision to throttle back and commit fully for 2023? The new champion versus the eight-time master, across a full season rather than the rounds Ogier chooses to turn up for, could be just the boost this new hybrid era deserves. The WRC has been great this year – but Rovanperä just hasn’t been given enough of a hard time by his Toyota team-mates, including Elfyn Evans, who seems to have wilted a little in the new king’s searing afterglow.

“Yes, it’s been a difficult year for Elfyn,” admitted Lindström. “There were quite strong expectations from everybody, that you’ve been the [championship] runner-up two years in a row, so now it’s your turn. Unfortunately it doesn’t go that way automatically. That, together with quite a difficult start to the season for him – a few unfortunate retirements – makes it difficult to come back and be on the [highest] level.

“Obviously Kalle going up to the level he has is not easy for any of our drivers. You have to understand you have a competition inside your own team as well. But Elfyn has scored points for us and that’s the other side. You are happy to have the drivers’ title, but for us as a team, for Toyota, the manufacturers’ title is also important and to bring that home needs the support of all our drivers.”

Sebastien Ogier on the twisting tarmac of 2022 WRC Catalunya Rally

Ogier showed his superiority on the asphalt of the Spanish hills

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Instead of Evans, Rovanperä’s biggest challenger has been Ott Tänak, the 2019 champion who appears to have been rejuvenated this season – to a degree. His three victories for Hyundai, including a sensational defeat of Rovanperä in Finland, couldn’t mask his frustrations with life at the South Korean manufacturer. A pre-season management shake-up led to the departure of boss Andrea Adamo – the man who had hired him – and Hyundai’s relative lack of readiness for the hybrid era meant neither reliability nor performance was where it should have been at the start of the season. How the team has recovered to contend for wins, under deputy team principal Julian Moncet, deserves credit. But it’s not been enough for unsettled Tänak, and it didn’t help when the team refused to aid his long-shot title bid by choosing not to implement team orders when Neuville won the Acropolis in Greece. After weeks of rumour, Tänak confirmed his departure from Hyundai a year before his contract expires, after finishing fourth in Spain on Sunday night.

Where he goes next is crucial for the WRC – and he was giving no hint on Sunday. There’s talk of a sabbatical for the 35-year-old, but might he return to Toyota with whom he claimed his title three years ago? Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala points out he isn’t fully responsible for driver hirings, but the Finn has indicated he has little motivation to change the line-up he’s already got, given the double title success this year. So how about M-Sport’s Ford Puma? That might just be wishful thinking. Unlike the Toyota and Hyundai outfits, the Cumbrian team does not have the full weight of Ford manufacturer support and is commercially funded. It might not be able to afford Tänak – and that’s a shame. The new Puma is a rally winner, but only in Sébastien Loeb’s hands – the legend won the hybrid era opener in Monte Carlo back in January – and the team clearly needs a top-line star to bring out the best in the car. Sadly, Irishman Craig Breen, Frenchmen Adrien Fourmaux and Pierre-Louis Loubet, plus Brit Gus Greensmith don’t fit that bill on the evidence of 2022.

Ott Tanak behind the wheel of his 2022 WRC Hyundai

Where will Tanak turn next?

Hyundai

So without a fully committed Ogier and potentially Tänak sitting out the 2023 season, the WRC could well find itself in a crisis of top-line talent. Hell, perhaps 48-year-old Loeb should be talked into a full-time return… It doesn’t bode well for the series if we’re even suggesting such a thing, given the great man’s advanced age.

But without something drastic, who is going to step up and stop Rovanperä becoming the ‘new Sébastien’ and scorching to a string of world titles before he’s even 30? Neuville? How about Evans? Both can be near-unbeatable when everything falls their way, but they’ve both fallen short too often this season. The WRC has three great manufacturers and teams in the top hybrid Rally1 class and a decent field of mid-range talent. But it desperately needs a shot of someone special to bottle what we saw in Spain last weekend and keep it flowing through 2023 and beyond. So how about it, Monsieur Ogier? Forget about Le Mans. Stick to what you’re fantastic at – and give the new kid a proper headache.