Ogier continues to dominate WRC
Ogier heads into the final day of competition with an lead of 11.8 second
By : c. santhosh kumar
Update: 2014-09-14 06:04 GMT
COFFS HARBOUR (AUSTRALIA) : A gamble on tyre choice paid off for Sebastien Ogier as he consolidate his position on top of the leaderboard in the second leg of the Rally Australia here on Saturday. Picking the right compound made the difference. Ogier will now head into the final day of competition with an 11.8 second lead over his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. Andreas Mikkelsen. Only four-tenth of a second separated the top two when the day began, but Ogier slipped back in the morning handing over the lead to his teammate Latvala who emerged on top in Saturday’s first two stages, to build a 4.1 second cushion. However, Ogier came back roaring with a stunning drive through the Nambucca stage, a marathon 48.92km run. He not only wiped out the deficit, but also went on to add another nine seconds.
Latvala opted for two hard compound tyres on the front of his VW Polo and two softs on the rear. But the roads were dry and Ogier’s option of three hard and one soft tyre proved more suitable. “Choosing three hard and one soft wasn’ t a perfect choice but I guess it was better than my teammate. The ideal choice would have been four hard tyres. We had a clean stage and avoided the small mistakes we made earlier,” said Ogier.