Emilia Romagna GP || May 19 || 15h00 (Local time)

SS17 : Drama for Ogier in Sardinia

As Solberg closes on Hirvonen

By Franck Drui

8 May 2011 - 09:49

Sebastien Ogier’s bid for a podium finish on Rally d’Italia Sardegna could be over after he lost more than one minute when he broke his Citroen DS3 WRC’s rear suspension hitting a rock.

The Frenchman, Junior world champion in 2008, has fallen to fourth overall with stage winner Petter Solberg up to third and now just 1.3s behind second-placed Mikko Hirvonen.

Hirvonen, in a factory Ford Fiesta RS WRC, is now 18.5 seconds behind leader Sebastien Loeb with one stage, the 8.24-kilometre Power Stage, remaining.

Jari-Matti Latvala, fastest on stages 15 and 16, opted for a more cautious approach through stage 17 in his Fiesta due to the presence of several large rocks by the side of the road.

Crews are now heading back to Olbia for a regroup and 30-minute service halt.

The Power Stage gets underway at 12:00hrs local time.

Standings after SS17:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	S. LOEB / D. ELENA	Citroën DS3 WRC	3h39m22.9s
02	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+18.5s
03	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+19.8s
04	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+1m31.2s
05	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+2m34.4s
06	D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO	MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS	+3m15.4s
07	O. TANAK / K. SIKK	FORD FIESTA S2000	+6m41.9s
08	J. HANNINEN / M. MARKKULA	SKODA FABIA S2000	+7m17.0s
09	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+7m44.6s
10	N. AL ATTIYAH / G. BERNACCHINI	Ford Fiesta S2000	+12m06.2s
11	A. ARAÚJO / R. MIGUEL	MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS	+12m41.9s
12	K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+13m15.5s
13	E. NOVIKOV / S. PREVOT	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+13m58.9s
14	M. PROKOP / J. TOMANEK	FORD FIESTA S2000	+15m09.0s
15	P. ANDERSSON / E. AXELSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+18m35.2s