Sebastien Ogier beat Citroen team mate and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Loeb to win the Rally of Portugal for the second year in a row on Sunday and make amends for a costly crash in Mexico.
Seven-times champion Loeb finished second, 31.8 seconds behind, in a repeat of last year’s result. Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala was a lonely third for Ford, with team mate and compatriot Miko Hirvonen a long way back in fourth.
The result was the Citroen factory team’s first one-two finish of the season, making up for the one that got away in Mexico this month, when Ogier crashed out on the final day after leading overnight.
“They (the team) showed trust in me since the start of the season and following my mistake in Mexico,” Ogier said.
“It is the best way to come back. It is a long way to go in the championship but I’m in a better position.”
Loeb had already effectively conceded defeat after the morning stages when he decided not to attack, given his team mate’s time advantage.
The champion could, however, take consolation in three bonus points from the final 31.04km “power stage” over gravel roads in the southern Algarve region, which lifted him level with Hirvonen at the top of the standings on 58 points from three of the 13 rounds.
Latvala, second in that stage and on the podium for the third rally in a row this year, bagged two extra points and is third overall on 48.
Ogier, celebrating his third win in the world championship, took one bonus point for the third fastest time and is fourth with 41.
Britain’s Matthew Wilson finished fifth on Sunday in a Ford, ahead of Citroen pair Petter Solberg and former F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen, who had started the day ahead of the Norwegian.
“I knew Petter would push like hell but it was okay,” Raikkonen told the wrc.com website.
“We learned a lot with this car on this rally after just a little test. We improved the car, now we have to pick up the speed a bit.”
The next rally is in Jordan on April 14-16.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
