Ogier pulls out a cushion in Poland
Volkswagen WRC driver Sebastien Ogier has built a 19-second lead on Rally Poland following Saturday's opening loop.
Ogier began the third day just 0.9 seconds up on team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen after a great battle on Thursday and Friday. However, this morning Ogier pulled away and while he conceded 0.4 seconds initially in SS11, he was quicker than the Norwegian in the following tests - winning three of them - and he now heads into the mid-day service with a comfortable margin.
"We managed to take a bit of an advantage. That last one was not an easy stage [though]. It was not a full attack. There is a long way to go [still] and the weather might be quite bad. Nothing is done yet," Ogier warned.
Mikkelsen meanwhile, after closing up in SS11, lost 10 seconds in SS12 when he made a mistake and then couldn't find reverse. The Volkswagen Motorsport II man then lost his rhythm a bit after that, although he did provisionally take the lead in SS14 - but only because Ogier was held up after Mads Ostberg hit a rock and rolled his Citroen DS3 WRC car. Ogier was later awarded a notional time - along with a few other drivers - and that put the 2013 World Rally Champion back on top.
"I am still trying to push S?bastien," Mikkelsen insisted, "but it is not easy."
Ostberg's was one of a number of drivers to hit trouble in SS14, with Elfyn Evans also sidelined after he clipped a rock and damaged a lower front suspension link. The Welshman was unable to fix his M-Sport WRT Fiesta RS WRC, but is expected to re-start under the Rally 2 rules on Sunday.
Henning Solberg, Robert Kubica and Kris Meeke had issues too - all suffering punctures, something that cost the latter over 2 minutes, while Jari-Matti Latvala damaged the front suspension on his Volkswagen Polo R WRC after hitting a stone. That sent the damper through the bonnet, and while he strapped it in place for SS15, the 'fix' failed and he lost over 1.5 minutes, dropping him from P3 to P7.
"We hit something on the previous stage, we tried to fix it, but unfortunately it hasn't lasted," Latvala lamented.
As a result of all that, Juho Hanninen is now on course for the final podium place for Hyundai, 1 minute 33.3 seconds off Mikkelsen and 15.7 seconds up on team-mate Thierry Neuville in fourth.
M-Sport WRT man Mikko Hirvonen rounds out the top five, just 1.7 seconds back, with Kubica sixth - even though he had to nurse his car through SS15 after picking up a puncture in the previous test. The Pole opted for just one spare tyre this morning and after suffering a puncture early on, was then unable to change it after he picked up a second in SS14.
After Latvala in P7, Hayden Paddon, Henning and Martin Prokop round out the provisional points scorers'. Meeke is now just outside the top ten - 11.1 seconds off Prokop.
In WRC2, Ott Tanak continues to dominate. He won four of the five stages and with his team-mate and closest rival Jari Ketomaa losing over 35 seconds in SS14 with an off, his overnight lead has gone from 14.9 seconds to over a minute. Martin Kangur is third.
Rally Poland now continues with repeat runs through four of today's five earlier tests. The leg is then concluded with a third run through the 2.50 km Mikolajki Arena super special.
SS16, the 6.75 km Chmielewo 2 test, is due to start at 15.50 hours local time [14.50 hours UK time].
Rally Poland: Overall standings after Stage 15 (Top 10):
1. Sebastien OgierVolkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC1hour 31m 00.2s M
2. Andreas MikkelsenVolkswagen Motorsport II Polo R WRC+00m 19.0s M
3. Juho HanninenHyundai Motorsport i20 WRC +01m 52.3s M
4. Thierry Neuville Hyundai Motorsport i20 WRC +02m 08.0s M
5. Mikko HirvonenM-Sport WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC+02m 09.7s M
6. Robert KubicaRK M-Sport WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC+02m 39.8s M
7. Jari-Matti LatvalaVolkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC+02m 53.6s M
8. Hayden Paddon Hyundai Motorsport N i20 WRC +03m 04.2s M
9. Henning SolbergAdapta Motorsport Ford Fiesta RS WRC+03m 32.4s
10. Martin ProkopJipocar Czech National Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC +03m 43.4s M
Others
11. Kris MeekeCitroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT DS3 WRC +03m 54.5s M
12. Ott TanakDrive DMACK Ford Fiesta R5+04m 41.8s WRC2
13. Jari KetomaaDrive DMACK Ford Fiesta R5+05m 44.8s WRC2
14. Martin KangurFord Fiesta S2000+07m 18.9s WRC2
15. Yazeed Al-RajhiFord Fiesta RRC+07m 50.7s WRC2
WRC2 standings after Stage 15 (Top 3):
1. Ott TanakDrive DMACK Ford Fiesta R51hr 35m 42.0s WRC2
2. Jari KetomaaDrive DMACK Ford Fiesta R5+01m 03.0s WRC2
3. Martin KangurFord Fiesta S2000+02m 37.1s WRC2
Notable retirements:
SS5/6. Michal SolowowFord Fiesta RS WRCMechanical
SS9. Karl KruudaPeugeot 208 T16Rolled WRC2
SS13. Krzysztof HolowczycLotto Team Ford Fiesta RS WRCAccident
SS14. Mads OstbergCitroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT DS3 WRC Went off M
SS14. Elfyn EvansM-Sport WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRCSuspension damage M
M denotes Manufacturer entry
all times unofficial
