Sébastien Ogier did not experience his best event at the Ypres RallyBut the Frenchman once again showed his intelligence in optimizing his results in pursuit of the WRC title. The Frenchman has minimized damage compared to his direct rivals, to the point of having 38 points of advantage over Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville with one less date to dispute. The positive part for the Gap driver is that he has one more point of income than when he started the Ypres Rally, although it is true that he now has two pursuers at the same distance. Thierry Neuville’s victory in Belgium tightens the fight for the WRC and draws an alternative to the duel between the Toyota drivers.
With four rallies to go, provided Rally Japan goes ahead, Sébastien Ogier is 38 points ahead of Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville, both tied at 124 points after Hyundai’s Belgian driver’s first win of the season. Away from them, but signing a memorable season, Kalle Rovanperä occupies fourth place overall with 99 points. Ott Tänak, totally ruled out of the fight for the title, is fifth with 87 units. The Japanese Takamoto Katsuta is sixth with 66 points, while Craig Breen occupies the seventh place with 60 points with only four rallies contested.
As a result of the 1-2 achieved by the Hyundai Motorsport drivers, the fight for the WRC marks title has also been compressed. The victory of Thierry Neuville in the Belgian stages and the second place of Craig Breen have allowed the South Korean firm to leave Belgium with a great booty of points. All in all, Toyota adds 348 points to the 307 that Hyundai has. A difference of 41 units that can still be covered in the last rallies of the season considering the discreet performance of M-Sport. In fact, both Ford Fiesta WRCs were out of the game at the first change in Belgium.