SS11: Ogier still pushing

Sebastien Ogier might have been told to hold position behind Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb in the battle for victory on ADAC Rallye Deutschland but that hasn’t stopped him from claiming his fifth stage win.

Ogier was 3.5s faster than Loeb through the test to trim the world championship leader’s overall advantage to 1.3s.

“It was a bit more easy on this stage than this morning because it was more clean,” said Ogier. “It was a good clean drive.”

Loeb, who was fourth quickest, said: “We are in a position where it is stupid to fight with a two-minute lead on the other drivers. We are driving through with no risks so it’s okay.”

Jari-Matti Latvala was disappointed not to have won this stage for a second time in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. He was second fastest, 1.8s quicker than team-mate Mikko Hirvonen, who is attempting to reclaim the third place he lost to MINI’s Dani Sordo on stage 10.

“The puncture has given me something to fight for but Sordo and MINI are doing well,” said Hirvonen, who is 31.9s behind the Spaniard in fourth. “It’s hard to catch them but we changed some springs [in service] and the car is really good.”

Sordo said: “It’s not so bad but it’s a long rally with long stages and it’s easy to make mistakes in the hairpins. I try to push him but it’s not easy. The car is working really well for a young car.”

Dennis Kuipers has moved back into seventh place in his FERM Power Tools World Rally Team Fiesta, while Henning Solberg has demoted Kimi Raikkonen to ninth after the ICE 1 Racing driver lost time with a spin when his Citroen momentarily lost power hitting a bump.

Standings after SS11: