SS18 – Another stage win for Ogier

Volkswagen Motorsport’s Sebastien Ogier upped the pace on the penultimate stage of the 2016 Vodafone Rally de Portugal, taking the stage win in the process. He completed in 14:24.5s, which was just enough to keep fellow Volkswagen driver, Andreas Mikkelsen at bay.

Mikkelsen completed the now dry, though increasingly rough, Vieira do Minho stage for the second time of the day in 14:25.8, just 1.3s slower than Ogier.

Once again, another Volkswagen took third place honours over the stage. Jari-Matti Latvala pushed his Polo WRC as hard as he could, but despite his best efforts he was a mere 0.9s slower than Mikkelsen, which translates to 2.2s of Ogier’s pace.

In terms of the overall event, Kris Meeke continues to lead by 33.5s over second place Mikkelsen. Ogier is in third, 40.3s behind Meeke.

In WRC2 Teemu Suninen continued his charge, bringing his Skoda Fabia R5 of the finish line 14:48.0s, more than enough to secure the stage win in his class. Elfyn Evans also continued to show his impressive pace, completing 5.8s after Suninen. Jan Kopecky took third on the stage in WRC2, 12.2s behind Suninen’s stage time.

Pontus Tidemand continues to lead WRC2 in terms of the event, while Nicholas Fuchs is in second with a 1:18.4s gap. In third, after an impressive charge, is Scott Pedder who is 2:55.9s off the WRC2 leader.