Sebastien Ogier on course in Spain to seal second WRC title

Sport360 staff 06:58 25/10/2014
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  • Title within grasp: Sebastien Ogier could clinch his second title in as many years in Spain.

    Sebastien Ogier put one hand on the WRC drivers’ title after build­ing a comfortable lead during a dusty opening day at Rally Spain yesterday.

    He completed six gravel speed tests with a 36.6-second advan­tage in his Polo R as potential chal­lengers dropped time in the morn­ing due to a combination of hanging dust and the low sun.

    Ogier said: “Overall, I’m really, re­ally happy with the day. We pushed hard all day and it paid off.”

    Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, who must finish ahead of Ogier to keep the title race alive into next month’s final round in Wales, leapt to second on the final special to head a quartet of drivers covered by 4.8 seconds.

    Ogier had expected to lose time over the opening loop as he swept loose gravel off the road. However, his disadvantage was offset by the poor visibility which slowed those behind him in the start order.

    Thierry Neuville led briefly in the morning and was just 4.6 seconds behind Ogier until he lost 2 minutes 20 seconds on the final stage. He was distracted by dust inside his Hyundai i20 and hit a bank, puncturing the rear right tyre which he stopped to change.

    Latvala hit a rock on the opening test to begin a frustrating day where he did not have the speed to match Ogier for much of the leg until his final stage charge up the order. Citroen Total Abu Dhabi driver Mads Ostberg was 0.6 seconds behind in third in a DS3, but he was frus­trated after being held up in dust in the morning afternoon. Ost­berg is 0.1 seconds ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen’s Polo R.

    Mikko Hirvonen enjoyed a trou­ble-free run to fifth in his Ford Fies­ta RS, a further 4.1 seconds behind, with Robert Kubica completing the top six despite a final stage spin.

    Dani Sordo dropped 30 seconds wait­ing on the startline of the penul­timate test when co-driver Marc Marti miscalculated their start time.

    Meeke retired after sliding wide on SS3 and dropping two wheels off the road. He damaged two tyres and although he replaced one on the stage, he had only one spare.

    Hayden Paddon became the first New Zealander to win a stage since 1999 after topping the timesheets on SS3. But he lost six minutes after spinning his i20 into a bank. He lat­er also spun and damaged his rear suspension in SS7.

    Teams will convert their cars from gravel to asphalt specification ahead of today’s second leg, when drivers face six stages covering 159.16km.

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