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SS11: Ogier leads as Solberg slows

Ogier leads as puncture wrecks Solberg’s bid

By Franck Drui

1 October 2011 - 10:04

Petter Solberg’s bid to win Rallye de France Alsace has suffered a huge blow after a front-right puncture slowed his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC.

The Norwegian’s delay has allowed Sebastien Ogier to snatch top spot in his factory Citroen. Ogier, from France, won the stage and is now 3.3s ahead of MINI ace Dani Sordo, while Solberg is now 41.3s off the lead.

“It was okay, it’s not easy to take maximum risks but we try to drive well,” said Ogier. “It’s difficult to make a difference. Now we are in a fight with Dani and we try to continue like this.”

Jari-Matti Latvala was the quickest Ford driver in third, 4.7s slower than Ogier. Kris Meeke was fifth fastest, Mads Ostberg sixth and Dennis Kuipers seventh best for the FERM Power Tools World Rally Team.

Evgeny Novikov is understood to have stopped in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	1h47m58.1s
02	D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO	MINI WRC	+3.3s
03	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+41.3s
04	K. MEEKE / P. NAGLE	MINI WRC	+1m12.5s
05	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m21.1s
06	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+1m36.7s
07	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+3m19.3s
08	D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+3m44.7s
09	A. ARAÚJO / M. RAMALHO	MINI WRC	+4m03.6s
10	H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+4m16.7s
11	P. CAMPANA / S. DE CASTELLI	MINI WRC	+5m33.2s
12	K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+5m33.4s
13	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+5m45.7s
14	O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK	Ford Fiesta S2000	+5m46.3s
15	K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+6m53.4s