Till the end…

Once again, this WRC round was epic. Rally Catalunya is the only event of the season to be driven on mixed surfaces: the first day on gravel and the following two on tarmac.

With the thick layer of dust that covered the stages, we knew being first on the road would prove very difficult.

And that was the case. Despite a huge attack, no matter the risks we were taking, we couldn’t follow the pace of the quickest crews. All we could do was limit the damage and get ready to restart with the bit between our teeth on Saturday morning.

And then, stage after stage, avoiding all the traps on a really tricky wet surface, Thierry and I moved up the board to finish this second leg in fifth position.

Once again, the last day would be decisive.

After 3 pretty good times on Sunday, we were back on the podium behind Seg Ogier and an incredible Sébastien Loeb (who still has it)! Well decided to keep that third place and score extra points, we went flat out once again in the Power Stage. The first splits were good and things were going well… until a rear-right puncture decided otherwise, allowing Elfyn Evans to pass us for… 0.5 second!

Of course it is disappointing, but such rallies make us even stronger. And most of all, we are well decided to fight till the end to catch up these three points that now separate us from the M-Sport driver.

See you in Australia, it’s gonna fly!

Playing with the limits.

You can’t win a World Championship by keeping a safety margin. To reach that goal, you have to take risks all the time, go flat out, play with the limits. This edition of Wales Rally GB was no exception. We were driving 100% from the very first stage despite our road position.

Conditions were especially tricky: slippery stages, a really high rythm and difficult tyre choices. Everything was going fine and we were second overall after the tenth stage… But in Sweet Lamb Hafren –and for the first time in a long while– we went off.

In a long right curve, our Hyundai went wide to end up in a ditch. Consequence: 50 seconds lost (… thanks again to the spectators! 💛) and our hopes to fight for the podium gone. But we all know that’s also part of rallying.

From that moment, we had to stay focus on our main target and score as many points as possible to stay in lead of the championship. Together, we managed that rally end perfectly with 2 bonus points in the Power Stage and a fifth place overall.

We have 2 rounds left to keep our position in the Championship… and reach our final goal.
So the least we can say is that we can’t wait to be in Catalunya and that we will need your support for this season end more than ever!