SS1: First strike to Ogier

World Championship leader Sebastien Ogier began ADAC Rallye Deutschland with a convincing win in the opening stage, topping the time charts by 4.6sec from Volkswagen Motorsport team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala.

However, the Frenchman was rather animated at the wheel of his Polo R at the stop line. “It wasn’t so good. I’m not so happy with the car because there was a lot of understeer. We’ll try to change something in the set-up because it’s hard to drive the car like that,” he said.

Fastest by nearly five seconds but unhappy with his car’s handling – an ominous prospect for his rivals……

Latvala also reported set-up issues after a clear run. “The car was a bit too stiff and I couldn’t get the grip as much as I was hoping,” the Finn told WRC Live.

Thierry Neuville was third in a Ford Fiesta RS, 9.2sec behind Ogier. Although only the two Volkswagen drivers were ahead of the Belgian in the running order, the effects of corner cutting were already apparent.

“The road is getting more and more dirty,” said Neuville. “I was understeering like hell all stage. I had no confidence at all and drove very badly.”

Dani Sordo was fourth in his Citroen DS3, the Spaniard 15.4sec off the lead and 4.3sec ahead of downbeat team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. His DS3 completed the test with a dent in his front right wheel rim.

“In a cut there was a big hole. I didn’t expect to hit it so hard and it was vibrating afterwards. I’m not on the pace at all. I wasn’t brave enough over the cuts and in the slippery corners,” admitted the Finn.

Mads Ostberg rounded off the top six in his Fiesta RS, 21.7sec behind Ogier and the Norwegian reported massive understeer in the high speed sections.

Evgeny Novikov didn’t make it to the first split after 4.90km. The Russian slid his Fiesta RS into the trees and although the car was not badly damaged, he could not regain the road. He was nearly joined by P-G Andersson, the Swede almost hitting Novikov’s car before bouncing back onto the asphalt.

Of more concern to Andersson was a high water temperature in his Fiesta RS, which had caused concern since leaving the start at Cologne Cathedral.

Khalid Al Qassimi overshot the first junction and used the handbrake to spin his Citroen DS3 around, while Martin Prokop reported braking issues in his Fiesta RS.