Latvala and Ogier launched into a duel

Leader this morning before the first real stage of the Rally Finland, Sébastien Ogier had dominated the first loop, but had to give in to the attacks of Jari-Matti Latvala.

Published on 31/07/2015 à 19:10

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After the first morning loop, Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen Polo R) took the lead at Rally Finland, during this first stage contested without mid-day assistance, and which notably took the famous 34 km from Ouninpohja.

It is in the second passage in this myth of rally world championship that the World Champion was forced to give in in the afternoon, the controls of the event to his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, the latter signing his 400th special victory in passing WRC. The Finn has a 2″6 lead over the Frenchman this evening, in what promises to be a new duel between the two men for Saturday.

Behind the VW duo, Kris Meeke, hampered this morning by the transmission of his DS3 WRC, was given a ten-second penalty for showing up late for the start of SS9. The Briton, for a long time on the heels of the two leading Polos, has slipped slightly and finds himself in third position, 24″ behind Latvala. Mads Ostberg remains within reach of his teammate with just over ten seconds left.

Derrière les DS3, l’écart est plus important puisque les Hyundai i20 Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo are more than 1'49" from the lead of the race. The Spaniard encountered an exhaust problem during the second loop. Juho Hänninen places the first Ford Fiesta in seventh position, while the cars on the blue oval experienced a dark day with mechanical problems affecting Robert Kubica, forced to retire, Ott Tänak (shock absorber) and Elfyn Evans (Suspension after a touch).

Worse for Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo R) and Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20) who missed any chance of a good result by going off the road this Friday. Volkswagen confirmed the Norwegian's retirement, just as Hyundai indicated that Paddon would not return to Super Rally.

In WRC-2, the Skoda Fabia R5s demonstrate their speed with Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemand leading the category, Lappi having a comfortable lead of 1'08”. Stéphane Lefebvre (DS3 RRC) moved up to third position throughout the day and is 33″9 behind Tidemand. Eric Camilli (Ford Fiesta R5) was forced to retire earlier in the day after going off the road in SS3, but hopes to restart in Rally 2.

In Junior WRC, Quentin Gilbert dominates the category.

The third day of the Rally Finland will begin tomorrow morning at 7:08 a.m. with the 13,84 km of Mökkiperä 1. The stages will be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr. Photos of the event can be viewed here, and the videos here.