WRC – Ogier indomitable at Rally Portugal

After seeing Mads Ostberg and Dani Sordo make mistakes, Sébastien Ogier no longer seemed to be able to be worried after he built up a solid lead over his rivals. But the last step of Rally of Portugal reserved its share of unpleasant surprises for the Volkswagen drivers with clutch problems for the Frenchman and a loss of traction on the front wheels for his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. The leader of the event was nevertheless able to maintain his position even if Mikko Hirvonen moved up to second place ahead of the second Polo R WRC (video summary of the first pass).

The two drivers of the German team were no longer worried by mechanical problems during the second pass of the special stages of the last stage and Sébastien Ogier can now celebrate a third consecutive victory to which is added the three points from the Power Stage from Almodovar (52,3km). The Championship leader signs his third success in Portugal (after his victories in 2010 and 2011) even though he was unwell at the start of the event. “I was lucky to get better and better”, comments the winner. “The team did a very good job because this rally was very testing. We thought it was all over this morning with the clutch slipping and finally we got there. It was a very difficult week for us, I was afraid we wouldn't be able to be at the start. »

Mikko Hirvonen takes second place for the second consecutive time after Rally Mexico. The Finn climbs into second place in the Championship but the Citroën driver is 54 points behind the French driver after only four events contested. The Scandinavian could be satisfied with his performance but he seems rather frustrated by his helplessness against the Polo R WRCs. “I am satisfied with my result but we still have to work because we are not yet fast enough”, declares the driver of the manufacturer with rafters who narrowly missed the top three in the Power Stage but who has the satisfaction of finishing ahead of his compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala. The latter takes his first podium of the season at the wheel of the Polo R WRC. “I finally got behind the wheel of the Polo and I'm really happy. »

Evgeny Novikov took a very good fourth place after posting consistent results at the end of the three stages. The Russian is ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah who completes the top five in the final ranking. For his first rally at the wheel of the Polo R WRC, Andreas Mikkelsen took sixth position after adopting a cautious approach. Dennis Kuipers looked set to take seventh place but the Dutchman suffered an engine problem in his Fiesta RS WRC on the final link of the stage. Martin Prokop thus inherits seventh place ahead of Mads Ostberg who could clearly have fought at the best level if he had not gone off the road. The Norwegian recovers two points at the end of the Power Stage which are added to those obtained with his eighth place. Khalid Al Qassimi took ninth position, 13 seconds behind the Qatar WRT driver. Esapekka Lappi completes the top in his Fabia S2000 by taking victory in WRC2. Robert Kubica managed to reach the finish line in fifth position in the category for his first gravel rally. His DS3 RRC encountered numerous mechanical issues as he battled for top spot in WRC2. Bryan Bouffier wins in Citroën Top Driver ten minutes ahead of Sébastien Chardonnet.

In the Manufacturers' Championship, Volkswagen Motorsport takes the lead with a 14-point lead over Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT. Qatar M-Sport WRT follows in third place with 66 units behind the German team.

Discover the analysis of the Rally of Portugal in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.