SS18: Ogier dominant on Ouninpohja

Rally leader Sebastien Ogier threw caution to the wind on the first pass through Ouninpohja, taking victory on the legendary stage by 2.5 seconds and extending his rally lead to almost 40 seconds.

The Frenchman put his morning’s cautious approach on hold for 33 kilometres to fully appreciate the thrill of driving the legendary test at full chat.

“It’s long been a dream of mine to do this stage in a World Rally Car and it was amazing,” he said at the stop control. “Just perfect. And I think we can go faster this afternoon…”

Mikko Hirvonen was second quickest in his Citroen DS3. “It was okay, it went pretty well, although the car was moving around a little too much,” he said. “It looks like the boys behind have done their homework though - they’re fast too.”

Sure enough, Thierry Neuville was just one-tenth slower than Hirvonen and moved back into second. The Belgian’s Fiesta arrived at the stop control with some light rear damage. “We went slightly wide in one place and lightly clipped a barrier but otherwise it was a good stage,“ he explained. “I took it carefully here and there so I know there are places where I can go faster this afternoon.”

Now 0.3sec behind Neuville in third, Mads Ostberg was left ruing an overly cautious approach. “I don’t think I pushed enough,” he said. “Okay, you lose time on this stage if you push too much, but maybe I held back more than I should have. It wasn’t a bad stage but I should have been faster. I’ll try to do a better job this afternoon.”

Kris Meeke set the fifth fastest time and arrived at the finish control in a state of euphoria. “Give me a Citroen,” he grinned. “That was the best 15 minutes 42 seconds of my life. It was my first time here in seven years and my first time in a World Rally Car. Superb. Like sitting in the front seat of a roller coaster.”