World champion Sebastien Ogier in a Volkswagen Polo won the Rally of Italy for the second straight year on Sunday. Sébastien Ogier managed to deal perfectly with the difficulties of the day. He was focussed, stayed tough and managed his tyres well, and began to close the gap to his rival on the first run on the giant Monte Lerno test. After clawing back 11s on SS11 and 5.4s on the next stage, the French ace only had another 12.3s to make up on the day’s final and very long stage. Latvala lost two minutes after a minor impact, however, taking all the pressure off Seb who took over as the rally leader.
This evening, he holds a comfortable 1m 40s advantage over his nearest challenger, Mads Østberg. His lead means he can approach Sunday’s short final leg in a relatively relaxed frame of mind; there are four stages left, with just 46.84km of timed sections. Sébastien Ogier remains his usual cautious self, however, refusing to underestimate the difficulty of the Sardinian course. The rally is scheduled to finish at around midday after the Cala Flumini Power Stage.
Overall standings after SS13:
1. S. OGIER 3:30:15”8
2. M. Østberg +1’40”2
3. JM. Latvala +2’01”5
4. A. Mikkelsen +2’37”8
5. E. Evans +4’24”3
It was Ogier’s 20th overall victory on the rally circuit and his fourth this season, having already secured victories in Monaco, Mexico and Portugal this term. The Frenchman now heads the drivers’ standings with a 33-point lead over Latvala.
