Sebastien Ogier‘s chances of winning the Tour de Corse, round 11 of the FIA World Rally Championship, suffered a massive blow on the first leg of the event today. The 2015 World Champion lost over a minute and half on the final stage of the day when he had to stop and change a puncture on his Volkswagen Motorsport Polo WRC in the 36 km Francardo – Sermano 1 stage.
The Frenchman and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia plummeted down the order to tenth but things got even worse for the VW crew when they were forced to stop on the road section back to Parc Fermé with a gear selector issue. The problem forced them to retire for the day and they will restart under Rally 2 regulations tomorrow.
“The conditions are a bit like playing roulette: anything can happen,” said Ogier. “However, although victory would appear to be out of reach for now, all is not lost. A lot can still happen at this Tour de Corse.”
The Volkswagen Motorsport driver clinched his third world title in a row at the last round in Australia.
