WRC

Ogier strikes from the start, Loeb rejected at 16 seconds

The outgoing champion beat his closest rival by more than three seconds despite the low mileage of the special. Loeb stalled and is only 11th.

Published on 25/10/2018 à 19:19

Medhi Casaurang

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Ogier strikes from the start, Loeb rejected at 16 seconds

Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) sonne la charge. Le Français a dominé la première épreuve spéciale du Rally of Catalonia, contested in the heart of Barcelona (Spain) Thursday evening. The defending champion covered the 3,2 km of the winding urban course in 3'33'', and will be able to return to the service park at the head of the penultimate round of the World Rally Championship (WRC).

 

 

Obviously equipped with settings adapted for an asphalt road (little suspension travel, low ride height) and soft tires, the Gapençais, accompanied by Julien Ingrassia, opened up a considerable gap over his rivals given the low mileage of this special. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai, rolled over during the morning shakedown) is 3”7 behind. The third thief in the general ranking, Ott Tänak (Toyota) pointe à 4’’2.

“I think we took a good strategy with the tires, confers the five-time world champion. Tomorrow, let's see, we will have a little less gum than the others but I am sure we can manage that. »

The first Citroën classified belongs to Craig Breen. The Irishman is in seventh place, almost nine seconds behind. The outlay, however, is very substantial for Sébastien Loeb. The nine-time WRC champion lost valuable time by stalling his C3 WRC.

 

The WRC peloton is closed by the returning Ken Block (M-Sport Ford). The king of the gymkhana is making his first appearance in the competition since the 2014 Rally of Catalonia and has not lost his showman side:

 

From 9:30 a.m. Friday morning, follow the first stage of the Rally de Catalunya in real time with our live text.

WRC Catalonia 2018 SS1 ranking:

Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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