Until late this afternoon, the ding-dong duel between nine-time world champ Sébastien Loeb and the reigning champion Sébastien Ogier lived up every bit to its promise. Indeed, after this evening’s penultimate test, Ogier had a narrow edge, with an eight-second advantage…
The end of today’s final stage was located just four kilometres from the Ogier family’s home, so that makes it even more ironic that it was here that Citroën’s Kris Meeke and, more significantly, his team-mate Sébastien Loeb both hit trouble. The Frenchman clouted something on the inside of a corner and broke a steering arm, throwing away six minutes in the process, but Meeke was unable to continue any further.
Suddenly, after a day of intense competition, Ogier found himself with an assertive lead over fellow VW drivers Jari-Matti Latvala (+1m45.4s) and Andreas Mikkelsen (+2m34.8s). “It’s been an incredible day,” declared Ogier at this evening’s end-of-leg press conference. “The fight with Seb was exciting and it was important to stay calm. When I heard about his impact, I felt I could relax a bit, but not too much because there’s still a long way to go. It was an amazing sensation driving through the village where I lived for 20 years. I could really feel everyone willing me on. It was one of the most memorable moments of my career.”
Andreas Mikkelsen’s footing on the podium doesn’t look totally safe, however, since Estonian Ott Tanak (Ford) is only 9.6 seconds behind. Meanwhile, the only Citroën survivor Mads Ostberg (5th) is locked in a fight with Welshman Elfyn Evans (6th, Ford, +12.3s) which should keep spectators entertained during the final day of action in this part of the French Alps.
The third day’s menu features two attempts at ‘Prunières-Embrun’, a single visit to the rally’s longest test (51.70km) and, finally, the legendary ‘Sisteron-Thoard’ test (36.85km) before the long drive to Monaco.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville (7th) and Dani Sordo (8th) figure ahead of Martin Prokop (Ford) and Sébastien Loeb in tonight’s order.
Stéphane Lefebvre (DS3 R5/Michelin) is on top in WRC-2 despite a spin on SS1 which damaged his exhaust, but rival Martin Koci (Ford Fiesta R5) is only 6.5s behind in second place, a fine performance from the Monte Carlo rookie. Quentin Giordano (Citroën) lost time when he hit a wall and damaged a damper.
Quentin Gilbert (Citroën/Michelin) has a comfortable lead in the Junior standings, ahead of Veiby and Folb, while François Delecour is the best-placed R-GT runner in his Porsche/Michelin, ahead of Romain Dumas.