Sébastien Ogier (Citroen DS3) wins Acropolis Rally, in Greece, in front of Sébastien Loeb. But the seven-time world champion was very upset with his team mate after the race.
Ogier who dominated the second leg, deliberately slowed down in the last stage of the day in order to let Loeb move up in first position, and clean the road on Sunday. Loeb, who was only leading by 2 seconds on Sunday morning, could not resist to Ogier, who quickly took the lead and eventually won the rally by 10.5 seconds at the end of the day.
Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Fiesta) takes third position ahead of Petter Solberg (Citroen DS3), who dominated the first leg, but struggled to stay in front on Saturday as he started first on the road. His brother Henning Solberg (Ford Fiesta) took 5th position.
Sebastien Loeb was very angry at the end of the rally, as his Citroen team indicated to Ogier the time he has to set in order to let his team mate in front at the end of the day.
"The team did not have the split times from Ogier, so they told him what time to do to move down just behind me in overall classification, he explained to daily paper L’Equipe. That’s a great team strategy, it makes me laugh a bit… The team preferred to help Ogier to win the race instead of helping me to win the championship. It’s a good information for the future. Now, we know who is the number one : it’s Ogier !"
Meanwhile, Sebastien Ogier denied any help from his team: "I don’t see why there will be team orders. Moreover, last time we had team orders (Rally Mexico), we all know what was Loeb reaction". (Loeb refuses team orders and put the pressure on Ogier, who went off on the last day).
Final classification:
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3 WRC) in 4h04’44”3
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 10”5
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 13”5
4. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 38”8
5. H. Solberg-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 5'24”7
6. Wilson-Martin (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 6’54”7
7. Raikkonen-Lindstrom (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 8'39”4
8. Hanninen-Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000 + 11'34”7
etc.
Championship:
1. Loeb 146 points, 2. Hirvonen 129, 3. Ogier 124, 4. Latvala 76, 5. P. Solberg 73, 6. Ostberg 48, 7. Wilson 36, 8. Raikkonen 24, etc.
Ogier who dominated the second leg, deliberately slowed down in the last stage of the day in order to let Loeb move up in first position, and clean the road on Sunday. Loeb, who was only leading by 2 seconds on Sunday morning, could not resist to Ogier, who quickly took the lead and eventually won the rally by 10.5 seconds at the end of the day.
Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Fiesta) takes third position ahead of Petter Solberg (Citroen DS3), who dominated the first leg, but struggled to stay in front on Saturday as he started first on the road. His brother Henning Solberg (Ford Fiesta) took 5th position.
Sebastien Loeb was very angry at the end of the rally, as his Citroen team indicated to Ogier the time he has to set in order to let his team mate in front at the end of the day.
"The team did not have the split times from Ogier, so they told him what time to do to move down just behind me in overall classification, he explained to daily paper L’Equipe. That’s a great team strategy, it makes me laugh a bit… The team preferred to help Ogier to win the race instead of helping me to win the championship. It’s a good information for the future. Now, we know who is the number one : it’s Ogier !"
Meanwhile, Sebastien Ogier denied any help from his team: "I don’t see why there will be team orders. Moreover, last time we had team orders (Rally Mexico), we all know what was Loeb reaction". (Loeb refuses team orders and put the pressure on Ogier, who went off on the last day).
Final classification:
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3 WRC) in 4h04’44”3
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 10”5
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 13”5
4. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 38”8
5. H. Solberg-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 5'24”7
6. Wilson-Martin (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 6’54”7
7. Raikkonen-Lindstrom (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 8'39”4
8. Hanninen-Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000 + 11'34”7
etc.
Championship:
1. Loeb 146 points, 2. Hirvonen 129, 3. Ogier 124, 4. Latvala 76, 5. P. Solberg 73, 6. Ostberg 48, 7. Wilson 36, 8. Raikkonen 24, etc.