Ogier wins Rally Italia

Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier has won Rally Italia Sardegna after three punishing days of rallying on the island’s rough gravel stages.

Mads Ostberg finished second in his Citroen DS3 WRC, albeit 1m 23.1s off Ogier’s rally-winning pace. Early rally leader, Jari-Matti Latvala, completed the top-three in his VW Polo R WRC. He was only 9.7s behind the Norwegian.

With bonus championship points up for grabs on the ’Cala Flumini’ Power Stage, the top contenders didn’t slow. After 8.8km of hard driving, it was a VW clean sweep. Andreas Mikkelsen was fastest and took a maximum of three championship points, while Latvala took two points and Ogier took one for setting the third fastest time.

Mikkelsen wins three extra points with Power Stage win

Sebastien Ogier’s VW Polo R WRC was greeted by rapturous applause and cheers as it reached the stop line on the Power Stage. The Frenchman had set the third fastest time, but more importantly, he had won the seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship. “I had a very tough beginning on this rally and had to put pressure on Jari (Matti Latvala) yesterday. Luckily that paid off and this is a really good feeling,”he said.

Andreas Mikkelsen also had reason to celebrate after setting the fastest Power Stage time – a feat that netted him three bonus championship points. He was 1s ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala and a further 1.5s ahead of rally winner Ogier. The Power Stage result gave VW its 25th one-two-three stage finish since it entered the WRC in 2013.

Lorenzo Bertelli secured victory in the WRC 2 category after guiding his Ford Fiesta RRC to a trouble-free run on the final Rally Italia Sardegna Power Stage. The Italian, who had taken the WRC 2 lead when rival Nasser Al-attiyah rolled on Saturday’s final stage, was thrilled to take maximum championship points on home soil. “First place in Italy is amazing for me – I’m really happy,” he said.