SS2: Ogier demotes Hirvonen in Spain

Sebastien Loeb’s bid to win an eighth world title received another boost when team-mate Sebastien Ogier demoted his main rival Mikko Hirvonen to fourth position after winning stage two in Spain.

Although Ogier is only three points adrift of Loeb and Hirvonen in the title race, Citroen team orders require him to play a supporting role to the seven-time champion.

“The dust was better in this one but still there were some places where we had to brake and we lost a couple of seconds because of that,” said Ogier, who climbs from fourth to third in the overall standings. “I was just pushing on the Tarmac, [not worrying about saving the tyres].”

Loeb, who was second fastest through the stage, has increased his overall lead to 8.9s. He said: “It was very tricky on the Tarmac part, the tyres were overheating and for sure we destroyed a lot.”

Jari-Matti Latvala completed the stage with damage to the rear of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC after the Finn reported three “moments” during the stage. Nevertheless he managed to maintain his grip on second place overall.

Hirvonen, meanwhile, is now 35.3s behind Loeb after losing more time. He said: “The dust was not as bad as on the first one but there were still places where I had to slow down.”

Henning Solberg had to complete the closing 25 kilometres of the stage without a working intercom in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.

Ken Block failed to start the stage following his exit on the opening test, the result of possible damaged steering on his Monster World Rally Team Fiesta. Super 2000 World Rally Championship title contender Ott Tanak is also out after taking a wheel off his Fiesta hitting a rock.

Standings after SS2: