Young Frenchman Sebastien Ogier has for the second consecutive year finished ahead of the rest of his peers in Rally Portugal – this year managing to hold off a concerted effort by Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen.
Despite having been a top runner all weekend, Ogier played it safe in the early stages, putting his foot down at the right moment, and then defending his lead early on Sunday. Having crashed out late in the season’s second round in Mexico, Ogier learnt his lesson and played it safe to ensure victory.
“We controlled our first day well and then we pushed at the right moment. It’s a telling result for the whole team with the double and the points in the Power Stage. After six months without a win I was starting to get a bit edgy. I hope it’s the start of a good series. The points we’ve bagged today will help us relaunch our championship challenge after our disappointment in Rally Mexico,” Ogier said.
Defending champion Sebastien Loeb had been pushing hard to duplicate his victory in Mexico, but running in thick dust kicked up by Hirvonen’s Fiesta WRC lost him a crucial 30 seconds, he had to settle for second – but not after managing to score bonus points by winning the last Power Stage, and bring him level with Hirvonen in the driver’s championship
Despite showing promising pace early on, the unfortunate Finnish duo of Latvala and Hirvonen were delayed by mechanical maladies and punctures the entire weekend. Matthew Wilson of Stobart M-Sport managed to bring his WRC Fiesta home in fifth, followed by another unfortunate Scandinavian, Petter Solberg. The former champion turned privateer was in contention for a podium spot had he not lost a lot of time because of numerous punctures.
The next round of the season heads a little east for Rally Jordan, and instead of a traditional Friday start, the event starts on Thursday 14 April, to finish on Saturday 16.