Sebastian Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia are the winners of the first WRC race in Croatia after beating team-mates Elfyn Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin in a tense fight for just six tenths of a second.
In the dramatic finish of the Wolf Power Stage, Toyota’s crew defeated their team-mates Evans and Martin by just 0.6 seconds, while Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe at Hyundai were 8.1 seconds behind the winner after three days of spectacular road action in impressive scenery of Karlovac, Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb counties and also the City of Zagreb.
After the exciting end of the first Croatia Rally in Kumrovec, trophies were awarded in all categories. The winning crew Ogier / Ingrassia was awarded the trophy by FIA President Jean Todt, the second-placed Evans / Martin crew was awarded the trophy by the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Nikolina Brnjac, and the third fastest Neuville / Wydaeghe crew was awarded the trophy by Davorin Štetner, Psresident of Croatian Auto and Karting Association.
Ogier’s 0.6-second lead over second-placed Evans is the third-closest win in WRC championship history, knocking out Evans from third place, who beat Neuville by 0.7 seconds in 2017 Rally Argentina.
The closest victories are still the races in New Zealand Rally in 2007 (0.3 seconds advantage) and Jordan Rally in 2011 (0.2 seconds advantage).
“I thought it wasn’t going to be enough,” said Ogier.
“It seemed like it was going to be tense in the final meters, and maybe Elfyn’s mistake brought us victory. But I think the team did an amazing job all weekend.”
“Of course, the emotions are super strong for us right now, it was like a crazy carousel of emotions this weekend after a flat tire on Friday and problems this morning [incident on Dubrovnik Avenue with a BMW driver] and I’m happy I stayed in the race.”
“That’s why we love and compete in this sport, because of those emotions.”
2021 RALLY CROATIA RESULTS
| 1 | 1 | Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia |
Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | 2:51’22.9 | 2:51’22.900 | |
| 2 | 33 | Elfyn Evans Scott Martin |
Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | 2:51’23.5 | 2:51’23.500 | 0.600 |
| 3 | 11 | Thierry Neuville Martijn Wydaeghe |
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | 2:51’31.0 | 2:51’31.000 | 8.100 |
| 4 | 8 | Ott Tanak Martin Jarveoja |
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | 2:52’48.0 | 2:52’48.000 | 1’25.100 |
| 5 | 16 | Adrien Fourmaux Renaud Jamoul |
Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | 2:54’32.6 | 2:54’32.600 | 3’09.700 |
| 6 | 18 | Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt |
Toyota Yaris WRC | RC1 | 2:54’54.7 | 2:54’54.700 | 3’31.800 |
| 7 | 44 | Gus Greensmith Chris Patterson |
Ford Fiesta WRC | RC1 | 2:55’21.7 | 2:55’21.700 | 3’58.800 |
| 8 | 42 | Craig Breen Paul Nagle |
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | RC1 | 2:55’51.1 | 2:55’51.100 | 4’28.200 |
| 9 | 24 | Mads Ostberg Torstein Eriksen |
Citroën C3 Rally2 | RC2 | 3:01’23.7 | 3:01’23.700 | 10’00.800 |
| 10 | 25 | Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula |
Ford Fiesta Rally2 | RC2 | 3:01’52.2 | 3:02’02.200 | 10’39.300 |
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 3/12 RACES
| 1 | Sébastien Ogier | 61 | 30 | 1 | 30 |
| 2 | Thierry Neuville | 53 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| 3 | Elfyn Evans | 51 | 21 | 10 | 20 |
| 4 | Ott Tänak | 40 | 27 | 13 | |
| 5 | Kalle Rovanperä | 39 | 16 | 23 | – |
| 6 | Craig Breen | 24 | 16 | 8 | |
| 7 | Takamoto Katsuta | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | Adrien Fourmaux | 12 | 2 | – | 10 |
| 9 | Gus Greensmith | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Dani Sordo | 11 | 11 | ||
| 11 | Andreas Mikkelsen | 6 | 6 | – | – |
| 12 | Oliver Solberg | 6 | 6 | ||
| 13 | Teemu Suninen | 5 | 4 | 1 | |
| 14 | Mads Østberg | 2 | 2 | ||
| 15 | Eric Camilli | 1 | 1 | ||
| 15 | Esapekka Lappi | 1 | 1 |
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 138 | 52 | 36 | 50 |
| 2 | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 111 | 30 | 47 | 34 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford WRT | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 |
| 4 | Hyundai 2C Competition | 28 | 8 | 14 | 6 |
