Ogier dominates in Sardinia
Volkswagen's Sebastien Ogier took a dominant victory on Rally Italia Sardegna this weekend and in the process stretched his lead in the Drivers' Championship.
Ogier was a man on a mission in Sardinia this week, the seventh round in the 2013 World Rally Championship, and after the disappointment in Greece - when a fuel pressure problem put him out in the opening test - the Frenchman was determined to reassert his authority and so he did.
Ogier, who had been third quickest in qualifying, seized top spot in the very first test, when he was 5.3 seconds up on Mikko Hirvonen. He was then second in SS2 and first in SS3 building an initial 20.5 second buffer, which he proceeded to double on the repeat loop before setting the second and third fastest times on the two night time runs through the 13.55 km Gallura test. He concluded day one with a 46.6 second advantage.
On Saturday - the second and final leg - the Volkswagen ace won four more tests, including the Power Stage, and he eventually brought his Polo R WRC home 1 minute 16.8 seconds up on Thierry Neuville. It was his fourth victory of the season and the result sees him stretch his advantage in the title race from 52 points to 64 going into the WRC's summer hiatus.
"It's been a good rally for us, we just managed it perfectly. We pushed when we could and were careful when it was rough. At the end it was just perfect," Ogier said.
Neuville meanwhile took an impressive second for the Qatar World Rally Team, winning two stages on Friday as he hauled himself up from fourth and ahead of both Mads Ostberg and Dani Sordo. It is the Belgian's best result to date in the WRC - and his third rostrum of 2013, after finishing third in Greece and Mexico.
"We had a spin [in the last test] and we had to slow down and turn around. [But] I think our strategy [throughout the event] was quite good," said Neuville. "Now I think we can go for some more speed in Finland."
Jari-Matti Latvala was next up, battling his way back into the top three after a puncture in the very first stage on Friday, which cost the Finn almost 2 minutes and any hope of a second win on the trot. Nevertheless he was delighted with his performance overall and in total he won six stages - just one less than team-mate and rally winner, Ogier: "Speed wise I have taken one more step forward," said Latvala. "I'm pretty happy with the car. I am looking forward to Finland now and at least I have a good result going there."
Volkswagen's 1-3 result also sees the German car giant extend its lead over Citroen in the Manufacturers', with the two now separated by 46 points.
Citroen's best placed finisher was Dani Sordo, the Spaniard coming home in P4, more than 1.5 minutes off Latvala: "It was a good weekend [for us] and important to score points for the team. We would like to do better though in Finland," he conceded.
Behind, Martin Prokop rounded out the top-five in his privately run Ford Fiesta RS WRC car. It was his best result of the year and he has now scored points in all seven events: "It was very important for us to get this very good result," said the Czech driver. "We are working very hard to try to improve. It is going well and I am really happy with all the team and all the work we have done on this rally."
Elfyn Evans, who was standing in for Nasser Al-Attiyah and making his debut in a World Rally Car, shone en-route to sixth, edging out Michal Kosciuszko by just 0.9 seconds. Evans posted twelve top-ten times from a possible 16 - his best a seventh quickest time in SS11 this morning. It was a great performance from the young Welshman and 2012 FIA WRC Academy Cup winner: "It has been a fantastic opportunity - absolutely fantastic," he said.
Further back, Mads Ostberg had to settle for eighth, losing time after having to re-start under the Rally 2 regulations this morning following his off in the final test on Friday. After yet another difficult weekend though, he was bitterly disappointed: "I think I need a few days to think over the rally again," said the Crash.net columnist. "This last day seems to be the same old story and I don't need to go over those things again..."
Robert Kubica and Khalid Al-Qassimi rounded out the top ten, the former also taking the honours again in the WRC2 class.
Kubica took the WRC2 win comfortably, more than 4 minutes up on Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Lorenzo Bertelli was third.
"It is never easy to win," said the Pole. "It was a good rally but difficult. We had troubles with the intercom, the tyres etc, etc, but never lost concentration. We kept the pace to the finish and in the second loop we pushed a little bit more."
In WRC3, Christian Riedemann claimed the victory after Stephane Consani lost over 5 minutes in the final stage and slipped back to third. Keith Cronin was second.
As for retirements, Evgeny Novikov, Mikko Hirvonen and Andreas Mikkelsen were the three 'big' casualties. Novikov crashed out in his Qatar M-Sport WRT-run Fiesta RS WRC car in SS2 on Friday, while Citroen #1 Hirvonen got stuck in a ditch in SS10 this morning. Mikkelsen retired in the final loop when he went off the road in SS14 and damaged the suspension on his VW Polo R WRC.
The 2013 World Rally Championship now resumes at the start of August, when competitors head to Finland.
To view the result for the 2013 Rally Italia Sardegna - CLICK HERE
