Ogier wants to take over Hirvonen

Sébastien Ogier, trapped by spectators on Wednesday, still hopes to achieve a second consecutive victory at the Rally Monte Carlo. The performance is possible and the feat would be significant, as the Frenchman lost two minutes on Wednesday by slipping on snow thrown by careless spectators. Despite this hitch, Ogier is still in the race for victory and struck a big blow this Friday morning between Montauban-sur-Ouvèze and Eygalayes.

In 30 kilometers, the pilot of the Peugeot 207 Super 2000 n°4 took 18 seconds from Juho Hänninen (Skoda Fabia S2000), second overall, and 22 seconds from Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Fiesta S2000), leader of the event. He pushed back the one with whom he was fighting this Thursday, Nicolas Vouilloz (Skoda Fabia S2000), at 44??5. “ I tried to push, I started slowly at first, then I started to attack », commented the Peugeot driver upon his arrival. Asked about his objective, the Frenchman is clear: he is aiming for Mikko Hirvonen's first place and a second consecutive victory.

The Finn, still leader with a comfortable lead, knows however that the evening will be difficult. A margin of 45 seconds before facing the terrible descent of the Col de Turini is not a guarantee of victory, so the vice-world champion was disappointed with his time when he arrived in Eygalayes. “ I tried to go as fast as possible, I tried a lot “, confessed ?Hirvo?.

For many drivers, this special proved difficult, notably for Frenchman Stéphane Sarrazin (Peugeot 207 S2000), who went from fifth to sixth place even though he was more than a minute ahead of Guy Wilks ( Skoda Fabia S2000) at the start of the day. “ I don't know what's going on but I can't get the car to turn. I'm not happy », commented Sarrazin upon arrival.

Nicolas Vouilloz (Skoda Fabia S2000) was also disappointed with his performance, he who was still fighting for the podium this Thursday. But in SS11, the 2008 IRC winner lost a lot of time in the top three overall. “ It was really difficult, I woke up badly and was still sleeping at first, I just tried not to make any mistakes », declared the former mountain bike world champion.

The hardest part now remains to be done for the drivers remaining in the race in this Monte-Carlo Rally. Four special stages, and not the least, are on the program for the evening to come. 75 kilometers to be competed at night, tackling the technical and winding route between Lantosque and Luceram (SS13 and 15), as well as the difficult climb and demanding descent of the Col de Turini (SS12 and 14).