WRC – Latvala resists Ogier in Sardinia

Jari-Matti Latvala got off to a flying start again in the second stage of the Rally from Sardinia. The leader of the event increased his lead to almost half a minute by signing a new scratch in the 19,27km of Monte Olia (SS10) before engaging in the 59,13km of Monte Lerno, the longest long weekend special. But the Finn found himself faced with overheating problems, forcing him at times to activate road mode on his Polo R. WRC. Despite these concerns, the Scandinavian only gave up 11 seconds to his opponent Sébastien Ogier which came back to less than 18 seconds before the regrouping in Alghero. However, the reigning world champion was frustrated since he could have attacked more if a message from his team had not mistakenly informed him of his teammate's withdrawal.

The hierarchy has not changed in the rest of the peloton since Mads Ostberg still completes the provisional podium. If the Citroën driver does not seek to retake the leading Polo R WRCs, the Norwegian is concentrating on that of Andreas Mikkelsen who remains less than ten seconds behind. Robert Kubica still completes the top five without being really worried by his teammate Ekfyn Evans who is now 42 seconds behind. Martin Prokop is still in seventh position ahead of Henning Solberg. Hayden Paddon moved up to ninth place on his Hyundai. Nasser Al-Attiyah completes the top ten by occupying the lead in WRC2. The Qatari won his duel against Yazeed Al-Rajhi who rolled over.

The crews will only compete in the second pass of the day's specials from 16:54 p.m. The videos of the event can be viewed on this link.