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WRC - Ogier snatches the lead

15.10.16

WRC - 2016 Rally de España - Saturday

FIA, Motorsport, Mobility, Road Safety, F1, WRC, WEC, WTCC, World RX

Sébastien Ogier has taken one step closer to a fourth consecutive world title during the second day of Rally de España

After a titanic battle with Dani Sordo on Rally de España, Frenchman Sébastien Ogier has inched ahead of the Spaniard in the penultimate stage of the day. His position, coupled with the retirement of team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen, means he simply has to pick up one point from this round of the Championship to claim a fourth consecutive world title. Sordo admitted to being unable to match Ogier’s charging pace and overnights 5.8 seconds adrift with four stages remaining on Sunday. Behind second-placed Sordo, Thierry Neuville has moved into third following Mikkelsen’s earlier roll and, unless the Belgian wins the event and the Power Stage, he is the only one able to deny Ogier the title in Spain.

Today’s route was the longest of the event and, after the mud and rain of Friday’s gravel stages, clear skies and sunshine greeted the crews for today’s eight Tarmac stages and 139.18 competitive kilometres. Sordo started the day 17 seconds ahead but the expected charge from Ogier came almost immediately and by the midday service - and two fastest times by the Frenchman - 7.7 seconds was all that separated them, Sordo unhappy with persistent understeer. This afternoon the Spaniard continued to suffer with the car set-up and made a small mistake in the penultimate stage, where another fastest time by Ogier saw him inch into the lead.

Mikkelsen was holding station in third all morning but struggled to get a good feeling with the car. However in the first of the repeated stages he drifted wide and slammed the rear of his Polo into a barrier sending him into a roll. His exit elevated Neuville to third, both he and team-mate Haydon Paddon also suffering with understeer throughout the day. A wrong pace note also unsettled Neuville and Paddon spent the day looking for better grip and some confidence. They overnight third and fourth respectively and split by 16.1 seconds. Kris Meeke has moved up to fifth, overhauling Mads Østberg this morning, but the Northern Irishman has had a puncture and also made a string of small mistakes that need to be eliminated, by his own admission. Behind sixth-placed Østberg, Ott Tanak, Kevin Abbring and Martin Prokop are all inside the top nine. Jari-Matti Latvala, starting under Rally 2 regulations this morning, managed to make some inroads, two fastest stage times aiding his charge, but the Finn is still down in 19th position. Craig Breen dropped time with a broken driveshaft, and Eric Camilli was forced out when his Fiesta RS WRC got stuck in fifth gear.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Jan Kopecky - 10th overall - has retaken the lead from Pontus Tidemand, the Czech Škoda driver fastest in all four stages this morning. He kept the pace up this afternoon with three more stage wins and overnights 14.3 seconds ahead of his Swedish team-mate. In the FIA WRC 3 Championship, Fabio Andolfi continues unchallenged and has a lead of more than seven minutes, all his rivals dropping time with punctures yesterday.

RallyRACC – Rally de España – Unofficial Classification after Section 7

1.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

2hr 35min 12.8sec

2.   Dani Sordo/Marc Marti

Hyundai i20 WRC

2hr 35min 18.6sec

3.   Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul

Hyundai i20 WRC

2hr 36min 16.7sec

4.   Hayden Paddon/John Kennard

Hyundai i20 WRC

2hr 36min 32.8sec

5.   Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle

DS3 WRC

2hr 37min 10.7sec

6.   Mads Østberg/Ola Fløene

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

2hr 37min 48.5sec

7.   Ott Tanak/Raigo Molder

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

2hr 39min 37.5sec

8.   Kevin Abbring/Sebastian Marshall

Hyundai i20 WRC

2hr 41min 35.5sec

9.   Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

2hr 42min 26.1sec

10. Jan Kopecky/Pavel Dresler

Škoda Fabia R5

2hr 42min 54.4sec