VW tops Swedish WRC qualifying
2013-02-08 08:13
TOP IN THE SNOW: Steven Ogier (VW) set the fastest time during qualifying for the 2013 Swedish WRC stage.
KARLSTAD, Sweden - Sebastien Ogier continued Volkswagen's promising start to its debut World Rally championship season in 2013 by setting the fastest qualifying time for the Swedish rally.
Ogier, behind the wheel of his Polo R WRC, completed the 3.99km snow track in 1m51.357, 0.9sec quicker than Mads Ostberg (Ford Fiesta RS). That means Ogier will be able to choose where he wants to start on Friday (Feb 8).
'WON'T BE FIRST'
Ogier told wrc.com: “I couldn’t expect any better, so I’m happy. It’s a good start and in these conditions it means a lot to have first choice of starting position.
“There was quite a lot of [road] cleaning, the times were getting quicker and quicker and we expect the same for Friday. I’m not saying where I’d like to be, but let’s just say I will not be first on the road.”
Third-fastest was Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen DS3), 1.564sec behind Ogier: “I’m quite happy, maybe a bit surprised how fast Ogier was, but it’s OK and we can still choose a good road position."
2013 Swedish Rally qualifying:
1 Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R WRC 1min51.357
2 Mads Ostberg Ford Fiesta RS WRC 01min52.257 (+0.900)
3 Mikka Hirvonen Citroen DS3 WRC 01min52.921(+1.564)
4 Pontus TidemandFord Fiesta RS WRC 01min53.803 (+2.448)
5 Juho Hanninen Ford Fiesta RS WRC 01min53.918 (+2.561)
6 Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R WRC 01min54.062 (+2.705)
7 Thierry Neuville Ford Fiesta RS WRC 01min54.394 (+3.037)
8 Sebastien LoebCitroen DS3 WRC 01min54.825 (+3.468)
9 Evgeny Novikov Ford Fiesta RS WRC 01min55.550 (+4.193)
10 Dani SordoCitroen DS3 WRC 01min56.144 (+4.787)
