SS13: Ogier extends his lead

A fourth consecutive stage win for Sebastien Ogier enabled the Volkswagen Polo R driver to extend his rally lead over Mads Ostberg to 12.4 seconds.

Ogier judged his pace perfectly in the rutted conditions, to go quickest by 2.3 seconds. “Yeah, it’s okay but we backed off a little bit where we needed to,” he said. “You have to concentrate in the ruts, it’s very easy to get a puncture.”

Kris Meeke was Ogier’s closest rival on the Mokkipera repeat, the Brit taking his best stage result of the rally so far. “We raised the car a lot and it’s a lot better now. We still have to be so careful in the ruts but I have a big smile on my face,” he said.

Ostberg was third fastest, two-tenths slower than Meeke, to remain well cushioned in second.

Behind him, Neuville was in trouble – the Belgian losing almost 15 seconds with a left-hand front puncture. “It happened near the beginning, I first felt it when we landed after a jump. But this is rally and sometimes it happens. What can we do?”

Mikko Hirvonen also had problems – the Finn completing five seconds slower than Meeke. “I think we damaged the right-hand rear damper or something in the suspension when we spun earlier,” he said. “The car is difficult to drive in left-hand corners now - it slides a lot.”

Hirvonen’s team-mate Dani Sordo meanwhile produced the best stage result of his miserable rally so far. The Spaniard was fifth fastest, less than one second behind Ostberg. “I enjoyed this stage because I know it well and I can push,” he said. “I think my problem is the pace notes, because I can only really push when I know where I am.”