WRC – Spain: Ogier’s opponents on the mat

Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen) showed himself to be intractable in the first pass of the second stage of the Rally from Spain, where its position as opener is no longer penalizing with the arrival of asphalt. The three-time world champion won the first three special stages while his direct opponents lost track.

Ott Tänak (Ford) retired after tearing off a wheel in SS11 (La Figuera, 26,26km) while keeping pace with the first Polo R WRC by occupying third place a few seconds behind Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn suffered a puncture on the next course (Poboleda, 10,63km) causing him to lose almost a minute.

Jari-Matti Latvala finds himself in the front row to witness the duel taking place Dani sordo (Hyundai) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen) for second place, the two drivers being separated by 1”5. But the Finn could quickly regain his due since the scratch achieved in SS13 (Capafonts, 19,8km) allowed him to come back to six seconds behind his Norwegian teammate.

The DS 3 WRCs of Mads Ostberg and Kris Meeke follow more than a minute from the head of the race. The Northern Irishman took the advantage Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) slowed down by a puncture when hitting a stone. But the New Zealander is only five seconds behind sixth place, maintaining a lead of seven seconds over his teammate Thierry Neuville more comfortable behind the wheel of his i20 WRC.

Martin Prokop (Ford) took advantage of the misfortunes of the competition, notably those of M-Sport since Elfyn Evans finished in a ditch in SS13, to take ninth place ahead of WRC5 leader Pontus Tidemand (Skoda Fabia R2). The Swede now leads his teammate Jan Kopecky by more than a minute, while title contender Esapekka Lappi (Fabia R5) went off the road. Érc Camilli (Fiesta R5) finds himself on the provisional podium ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah (Fabia R5). Quentin Gilbert leads the JWRC with more than a minute ahead of Terry Folb following Simone Tempestini's puncture.

The second loop of the second stage of the Rally of Spain will start from 14:16 p.m.

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