SS7: Solberg moves in front

Petter Solberg has snatched the lead of Rallye de France Alsace after winning the seventh stage of the world championship qualifier in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC.

Solberg was 7.6s faster than former pacesetter Sebastien Ogier through the 36-kilometre test to lead by 2.6s with one stage of the opening day remaining.

“I’m very happy about that, it’s really good fun,” said Solberg. “When the car is like this and you can really push I can tell you it’s good fun. It’s a very good feeling. The most important thing is we are fast.”

Ogier was far from happy at the end of the stage. The factory Citroen driver said: “Something is wrong on the car. I drive not so bad but it’s impossible to go quickly. I’ve got a bad feeling with my engine.”

Dani Sordo remains in third overall in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC after going third quickest. However, he has now closed to within 3.0s of Ogier.

Jari-Matti Latvala was second quickest and has moved ahead of Mads Ostberg into fourth. Ostberg was 1m25.5s slower than Solberg through the stage after his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta picked up a suspected rear-left puncture.

Mikko Hirvonen lost ground when he overshot a junction in his Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta. “I lost the rhythm a little bit but it wasn’t too bad,” said the Finn.

Standings after SS7: