Sébastien Ogier took all the risks

After the first stage, Jari-Matti Latvala seemed well established at the head of the Rally from Italy to Sardinia. But the Finn saw this devil come back Sébastien Ogier throughout the second stage with the famous Monte Lerno special (over 59 km). With the pressure put on by the Frenchman back to 12″ before the second pass in this SS, Latvala had to contain the return of his teammate, but a collision with a stone decided the outcome of the event by pushing back the Volkswagen n #2 of the Nordic driver more than 1'50 from the sister car flanked by #1. Ogier explained after the finish that he had done everything to get back on Latvala's heels. 

“In this heat, and with very slippery conditions on the roads, we risked everything to put Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila under pressure, declared Ogier. It finally paid off, and we won. We are leading the World Championship halfway, but that is no reason to relax. Jari-Matti is in great shape at the moment. However, we also have an eye on others. »

The Frenchman, author of his 20th career success (now tied with a certain Didier Auriol, world champion 20 years ago, with the Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD) did not hide its satisfaction. “I’m delighted, it’s one of the hardest wins of my career. » With this fourth victory of the year, the Habs have a lead peaking at 33 points before the next round of the WRC, from June 26 to 29 in Poland.

Find the report of the Rally of Italy, produced by our special correspondents in Sardinia in the 1964 issue of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and next Wednesday on newsstands.