SS2: Ogier on top in Germany

Sebastien Ogier has moved into the lead of ADAC Rallye Deutschland after topping the times on the event’s second stage, which took place in increasingly wet conditions.

“It’s a good start for us,” said the Citroen DS3 WRC ace, whose lead is 1.3s over team-mate Sebastien Loeb. “We did a small mistake on the first one but luckily no big damage. We had a good choice of tyre this morning. The start of this stage was a bit dry but in the end it was very wet.”

Like Ogier Loeb opted to use soft compound tyres on his Citroen. After setting the second fastest time Loeb said: “We were not 100 per cent sure what the weather would do but we were not thinking it would be dry. But even with the soft compound tyre it is difficult because there is a lot of water in the stage.”

Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen reported struggling by running on hard compound Michelin tyres, which are designed for use in dry conditions. “We were not expecting any rain really,” said the Finn, who is 31.2s behind second-placed Loeb. “It was all the way damp and in the end it was wet. But there is still a long way to go.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, who partners Hirvonen in the factory Ford squad, led after stage one but dropped back in the damp conditions on stage two. He is almost 40s off top spot in his Fiesta.

“It was a very difficult stage,” said Latvala. “It was dry but then wet. I had to be very careful because I had some moments and had to back off. It’s extremely difficult and you don’t know where you are braking.”

Petter Solberg, the 2003 world champion, reported losing more than one minute after going straight on at a junction and getting stuck on a bank in his privateer DS3 WRC.

Standings after SS2: