Chinese GP || April 21 || 15h00 (Local time)

SS5: Stage win for French hero Ogier

Ogier wins stage to extend overall lead

By Franck Drui

30 September 2011 - 14:47

Sebastien Ogier has extended his lead of Rallye de France Alsace to 7.7s after he won the opening stage of the afternoon in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

Ogier, who completed the test with a damaged roof vent on his car, said: “The stage was a bit dirty so I did not push so much.”

Jari-Matti Latvala was second fastest in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC with Dani Sordo third quickest in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC to close to within 1.2s of second-placed Petter Solberg.

Mikko Hirvonen was fifth quickest in his Fiesta and is now 1m03.1s behind Ogier as he tries to recover lost time following his off on stage three. “I’m happy with my car now but I need to find a good rhythm,” said Hirvonen.

Standings after SS5:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	47m09.3s
02	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+7.7s
03	D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO	MINI WRC	+8.9s
04	K. MEEKE / P. NAGLE	MINI WRC	+34.7s
05	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+57.2s
06	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m03.1s
07	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m21.8s
08	A. ARAÚJO / M. RAMALHO	MINI WRC	+1m30.8s
09	D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m34.2s
10	K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+2m01.8s
11	H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+2m15.2s
12	O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK	Ford Fiesta S2000	+2m23.3s
13	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+2m32.6s
14	E. NOVIKOV / D. GIRAUDET	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+2m40.3s
15	P. VAN MERKSTEIJN / E. MOMBAERTS	Citroën DS3 WRC	+2m42.4s