Ogier to drive at own pace in Argentina

Sebastien Ogier won’t be under any orders to attack from the start on Rally Argentina.

Citroen’s event-winning ace has only tackled the South American round once before and admits he’s not a master of the testing stages around the event base in Villa Carlos Paz.

Sven Smeets, who manages the Citroen Total World Rally Team, said the 27-year-old French star would be allowed to drive at his own pace in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

“It’s two years ago since he was last here and it’s only his second time on the rally,” said Smeets. “Because of this he’ll drive at his own pace like in Sardinia, see where he is and see what the best result can be for him. Maybe that will be a little short of victory but he did well in Sardinia driving like this and we would prefer it to be the same in Argentina.”

Ogier has twice tasted victory in the WRC this season alongside co-driver Julien Ingrassia. However, his accident on Rally Guanajuato Mexico back in March means he’s 19 points shy of team-mate and championship leader Sebastien Loeb.

“We’re coming here with much greater ambitions than two years ago,” said Ogier. “The route’s fantastic and very varied. You have to have very accurate pace notes as certain passages are very narrow with big stones on the edge of the line like Mina Clavero and El Condor. Others are more sandy but bumpy as always.”

He continued: “Of course, we’re aiming for the best possible result. We’re going try and score good points and close the gap to the leaders. Like Sardinia it will be difficult and hard on the Tarmac sections with the soft tyre.”