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Colmar, France - Citroen driver Sebastien Ogier will have a nine-second lead over Dani Sordo on day three of the Rally of France on Sunday to help him shatter a victory charge by a Mini Cooper.
Sordo began day two (Saturday) leading by one second in his Mini but Ogier dominated Saturday's later action by winning four stages.
FOURTH EVENT
"The lead is still not comfortable so we will have to drive well until the end," Ogier said. "I will clean the road a bit in the morning because there is some gravel but if it's foggy like it has been on all the mornings then it can be difficult for everybody - and maybe a small advantage for me because of the dust."
Sordo, whose Mini team is racing in only its fourth event of the season, said he would push for an unlikely victory on Sunday, having already captured three stages in the race.
"We are so close - we will see. It's a short day on Sunday but difficult because we have some gravel and there could be some dust," he said. "I will still push for the win because we have nothing to lose. We did a big push on Saturday but it was not enough at the end."
Petter Solberg was leading when a puncture slowed his private Citroen on Saturday's third stage and is now 51.9sec behind the leader though third overall.
'HE'S CONSCIOUS...!'
Earlier, Brazilian driver Daniel Oliveira crashed out in a spectacular accident. He and his co-driver Carlos Magalhaes came to grief in the 15th stage and a rescue crew had to cut them out of their wrecked Mini Cooper.
One of Oliveira's entourage told France Bleu Alsace radio: "He is conscious and that's the most important thing."
Sebastien Loeb, chasing an eighth world title, was forced out of this the 11th rally of the 2011 World championship season when his Citroen’s engine gave up the ghost on Friday.
Loeb is still leading the title race with 196 points, 15 clear of Ford's Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen, who was way down in fifth place on Saturday and more than three minutes off the pace.
Rally of France overall standings after Day 2 – Saturday
1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Citroen 2hrs42mins24.3
2 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Mini +00min09.5
3 Petter Solberg (Norway) Citroen +00min51.9
4 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford +01min36.4
5 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford +03min11.0
6 Dennis Kuipers (Netherlands) Ford +05min59.3
7 Armindo Araujo (Portugal) Mini +06min08.8
8 Henning Solberg (Norway) Ford +06min25.6
9 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Ford +07min16.4
10 Pierre Campana (France) Mini +07min44.2
Sordo began day two (Saturday) leading by one second in his Mini but Ogier dominated Saturday's later action by winning four stages.
FOURTH EVENT
"The lead is still not comfortable so we will have to drive well until the end," Ogier said. "I will clean the road a bit in the morning because there is some gravel but if it's foggy like it has been on all the mornings then it can be difficult for everybody - and maybe a small advantage for me because of the dust."
Sordo, whose Mini team is racing in only its fourth event of the season, said he would push for an unlikely victory on Sunday, having already captured three stages in the race.
"We are so close - we will see. It's a short day on Sunday but difficult because we have some gravel and there could be some dust," he said. "I will still push for the win because we have nothing to lose. We did a big push on Saturday but it was not enough at the end."
Petter Solberg was leading when a puncture slowed his private Citroen on Saturday's third stage and is now 51.9sec behind the leader though third overall.
'HE'S CONSCIOUS...!'
Earlier, Brazilian driver Daniel Oliveira crashed out in a spectacular accident. He and his co-driver Carlos Magalhaes came to grief in the 15th stage and a rescue crew had to cut them out of their wrecked Mini Cooper.
One of Oliveira's entourage told France Bleu Alsace radio: "He is conscious and that's the most important thing."
Sebastien Loeb, chasing an eighth world title, was forced out of this the 11th rally of the 2011 World championship season when his Citroen’s engine gave up the ghost on Friday.
Loeb is still leading the title race with 196 points, 15 clear of Ford's Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen, who was way down in fifth place on Saturday and more than three minutes off the pace.
Rally of France overall standings after Day 2 – Saturday
1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Citroen 2hrs42mins24.3
2 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Mini +00min09.5
3 Petter Solberg (Norway) Citroen +00min51.9
4 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford +01min36.4
5 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford +03min11.0
6 Dennis Kuipers (Netherlands) Ford +05min59.3
7 Armindo Araujo (Portugal) Mini +06min08.8
8 Henning Solberg (Norway) Ford +06min25.6
9 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Ford +07min16.4
10 Pierre Campana (France) Mini +07min44.2