Sébastien Ogier loses time in Poland

Pointed 35″ from the leader Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) et à 28″ de la troisième place de Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) au départ de l’étape de ce samedi en Pologne, Sébastien Ogier (Ford) had already seen the leading trio gain a certain advantage yesterday on the wet tracks of the eighth round of the World Championship.

Ce matin, dans l’ES12, le pilote M-Sport a sans doute vu ses espoirs de podium s’envoler après un contact avec un rocher, comme indiqué par le WRC, damaging his left rear wheel. The world champion also arrived at the finish with a missing front bumper, before changing his wheel and continuing towards SS13.

The order of the classification has therefore changed, including at the head of the race, since Ott Tänak (Ford) took control of the rally with a 3″5 lead over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) after his best time in SS12 and despite a small off-track excursion. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) conceded 4″ on Tänak in this SS, and maintains his third place, 7″2 behind the new leader.

Paddon is in fourth place at 41″7 ahead of Sébastien Ogier, 5th at 1’10″9. The Frenchman is under direct threat from Dani Sordo (Hyundai), who is only one second behind the #1 Ford Fiesta. No change in the rest of the top 10, with Teemu Suninen (Ford), Juho Hänninen (Toyota), Stéphane Lefebvre (Citroën) and Mads Ostberg (Ford).