Sébastien Ogier strong leader

Sébastien Ogier (Citroen C4 WRC), who had the advantage of starting in fourth position this Friday on the roads of Rally from Portugal, finished with a comfortable lead at the end of SS7. Impressive in certain sectors, the Citroën Junior Team driver was faster than Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg, both equipped with Citroën C4 WRCs and who started after him.

Author of the scratch in SS3, Sébastien Ogier took the lead in the general classification in the following special, setting five consecutive best times (SS3 to SS7). In the last special of the day, he was even able to take advantage of a loss of time by Dani Sordo to significantly widen the gap at the head of the rally. “ It's a good day », Commented the Frenchman. “ We attacked and the car was perfect »

He now finds himself with a lead of 26??6 over Dani Sordo, who will only have a very slim advantage starting Saturday in second position on the Portuguese roads. Next, at 45 seconds, Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4 WRC), Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus WRC) and Petter Solberg (Citroën C4 WRC). The six-time French World Champion, who opened the road, was “trapped” by his two rivals, having moved up from fifth to third place in this last special following the slowdown of Solberg and Hirvonen.

Fifth, Petter Solberg will be able to take advantage of swept roads to set good times. The Norwegian having already suffered from the opener position this season, this time he will play the role of the chaser. Just like Mikko Hirvonen and Sébastien Loeb, who will try to catch up with the leading drivers on Saturday, in a slightly less advantageous position. Everything will depend on the level of scanning of the different drivers according to their starting order?