Ogier was pushing prior to costly spin

Sebastien Ogier has revealed that he was trying to extend his advantage over Mikko Hirvonen when he spun into a tree on the sixth stage of Rally Australia earlier today.

Citroen star Ogier began the 29.03-kilometre Shipmans II test 9.1s ahead of his Ford rival only to slip up a little more than five kilometres from the end of the run.

“We hit something too hard for the car, we hit a tree and we destroy our radiator and we had to stop,” said Ogier. “The stage was tricky with no grip with the hard-compound tyre. There was no pressure on me but I knew I had to take time in the afternoon because tomorrow there will be cleaning. But mistakes can quickly happen.”

Ogier said the error was the result of running too wide into a left-hand corner in the treacherous conditions caused by heavy rain. “I just touched the rear of the car on a small bank,” he explained. “I did a spin but during this spin we hit the tree. It was not such a big mistake but it was easy to make a mistake because the conditions were so difficult.”

It is still not clear whether Ogier will be able to restart under SupeRally on Saturday. “I think the car should be okay to carry on because we stopped quite quickly but I don’t know if it will be possible to score points,” he said. “It’s disappointing.”