Rally: Ogier leads the way in Sardinia

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Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen) leads rally Sardinia at the end of day one, after his team mate Jari-Matti Latvala suffered a puncture.

The Finn, who won rally Acropolis, was fastest of the qualifying stages on Thursday, but he suffered a puncture in the very first special stage of the race, which destroyed his front left wheel, and cost him about two minutes.

Photo: Volkswagen Motorsport

Sebastien Ogier, who was fastest in three special stages on Friday, stands in first position on Friday evening, 46,6 seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen’s Citroën, the Finn being under pressure from Thierry Neuville, who stands in third position after he secured two special stages wins.

Latvala was back on track after his misfortune, and was fastest in third special stages, moving up to 5th position at the end of the day, right behind Dani Sordo’s Citroën.

Evgeny Novikov (Ford), who was standing in third position after ES1, had a huge crash in ES2, his car being destroyed after it rolled several times, forcing the Russian driver to retirement.

In WRC2, Robert Kubica (Citroën DS3 RRC) was again dominant, with an advantage on more than one minute over his closest follower, Al Kuwari’s Ford Fiesta RRC.