SS17: Clean sweep for Ogier

Sebastien Ogier secured his third consecutive win of the morning to further strengthen his grip on the lead of Rallye de France - Alsace.

The large crowds in Haguenau were disappointed not to see hometown hero Sebastien Loeb after he rolled out earlier today, but Ogier warmed them up in the drizzle by going fastest in his Volkswagen Polo R by 0.4sec.

“A perfect morning,” smiled the Frenchman at the finish. “But it’s going to be tough and muddy this afternoon, especially in the first stage.”

Mikko Hirvonen claimed his best result of the weekend in his Citroen DS3 behind Ogier. After a subdued performance to date, the Finn was on form through the streets. “I don’t know why that happened!” he joked. “When the roads are good and clean, I finally had a good time.”

Thierry Neuville was third in his Ford Fiesta RS, only three-tenths of a second further back despite visibility problems. “Yesterday when we had the puncture we got a hole in the car. There s a lot of water coming in and it’s very wet. The windscreen is misted up, but I can just see enough,” explained the Belgian.

Jari-Matti Latvala was next up in his Polo R, four-tenths of a second ahead of Dani Sordo and the Finn reduced the gap to the second-placed Spaniard to 3.4sec

“It’s a difficult day, the most difficult of the rally,” said Latvala. “There’s more water today and the grip levels are changing a lot. Even the Hagueanu stage is slippery in places, but it’s all going according to plan.”

Sordo vowed to continue his pursuit of Ogier, even though the gap is now 13.7sec. “It will be difficult to catch him this afternoon as conditions will be muddy, but we will try,” he said.

Mads Ostberg was fifth in his Fiesta RS, but the Norwegian was concerned about a problem with the front brakes. With no mid-leg service, it’s something he must either live with or try to rectify himself before the afternoon stages.

The stage spelled the end of the rally for Czech driver Martin Prokop. He retired from ninth after his Fiesta RS hit a kerb, breaking a spigot holding the front wishbone to the suspension upright.

WRC 2
Citroen DS3 driver Robert Kubica remains out front in the WRC 2 category. The Pole was fastest on all three stages, with second placed Elfyn Evans his closest challenger in a Ford Fiesta R5. Kubica will take a lead of 3min 49 sec into the afternoon.

WRC 3
Quentin Gilbert remains on course for victory in the WRC 3 category, after his chief rival Sebastien Chardonnet dropped 18.9sec in the rain on today’s opening test. Title hopeful Chardonnet fought back with fastest times on stages 16 and 17, but with three stages to go Gilbert has a 37.5sec advantage in his Citroen DS3 R3.