Corsica: Ogier wins, Loeb crashes
SOUVEREIGN WORLD CHAMPION The preliminary decision at the Rally Corsica was already made on the first day. World champion Sébastien Ogier laid the foundation for his third win of the season in his Ford Fiesta, while former champion Sébastien Loeb in his Citroën missed his chance early on. With three fastest times on the first four stages of the 120km Friday leg, Sébastien Ogier and co [...]
With three fastest times on the first four stages of the 120-kilometer Friday leg, Sébastien Ogier and his co-driver Ingrassia opened up an advantage of half a minute. After that, the Ford driver managed it in a commanding manner on the second and third stages of the French round of the World Rally Championship. He left the SS victories of the second and third day to the competition.
Sébastien Ogier: "Our performance here was really good. Friday went great, so we laid the foundation for victory. But it's never easy to control your pace instead of just going full throttle. I feel more and more comfortable in this car."
At the finish, 36.1 seconds separated Ogier from Ott Tänak in the Toyota WRC. The Estonian started the final stage with a one-tenth lead over Thierry Neuville. However, with engine problems in the Hyundai i20 WRC on the 55km SS11, the Belgian was clearly beaten but managed to salvage third place against teammate Dani Sordo.
Missed chances for the podium
Esapekka Lappi in his Toyota Yaris or Kris Meeke in the Citroën C3 WRC would also have deserved second place instead of just sixth. However, the Finn suffered a slow puncture that forced him to change the wheel on the longest stage. Lappi was fastest on four of the twelve stages. The Northern Irishman went off the right track after an announcement error by his co-driver, but still managed to score two WRC points in ninth place.
Sébastien Loeb's second appearance with the Citroën C3 WRC after the comeback in Mexico started promisingly with the second-best time on SS1. On the next stage, however, the nine-time world champion made a rare mistake.
A few meters after the start, the driver from Alsace slid off the road with cold tires. The time deficit caused Loeb to fall far behind, but he still finished 14th on Sunday with a total of four SS best times and two WRC points for second place on the Power Stage.
In the world championship, defending champion Ogier now leads with 84 points ahead of Neuville (67) and Tänak (45). Among the brands, Hyundai (111) is just ahead of M-Sport Ford (107) and Toyota (97).
Swiss teams did not compete in Corsica this year.
