SS6: First DS3 stage win for Ogier

Sebastien Ogier has given Citroen’s DS3 WRC its first stage win as Mads Ostberg continues to lead Rally Sweden in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Ogier headed team-mate and defending world champion Sebastien Loeb with Swedish hero PG Andersson third quickest in his Fiesta.

Event leader Ostberg was more than 13 seconds slower than Ogier but his M-Sport Stobart engineers insisted afterwards that the Norwegian had eased his pace slightly rather than encountering any problems. His gap to Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen in the overall standings is 29.5s.

Citroen DS3 WRC pilot Kimi Raikkonen suffered a front-left puncture and dropped more than one minute.

There were reports that sections of gravel were becoming exposed on parts of the stage as the surface begins to deteriorate during the second pass.

Crews are now heading to the Lovhaugen stage, which crosses into neighbouring Norway and makes the final stage of the opening day of Rally Sweden.