Sébastien Ogier has one foot on a fourth World Rally Championship as the Volkswagen driver takes the overnight lead on Day 2 of the 2016 Rally Catalunya – Rally de España.
Ogier took five stage wins on the first of two days of continuous asphalt running to build a +5.8 second lead over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo going into the final day of the rally.
Sordo, who led for much of Day 2 in his Hyundai i20 WRC before the three-time World Rally Champion took the lead on SS14, is second on his home rally.
Ogier’s team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen had retired from the rally on SS12 from third place after hitting a barrier, as well as multiple rolls to his Polo R WRC.
Mikkelsen, who is Ogier’s nearest rival for the 2016 WRC Championship is out of the rally, unless his Volkswagen team-mate crashes out on the final day tomorrow.
This means that the other two Hyundai’s of Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon are third and fourth respectively, while Citroën’s Kris Meeke is fifth.
M-Sport’s Mads Østberg and DMACK’s birthday boy Ott Tänak are sixth and seventh in the Ecoboost Ford Fiesta RS WRC cars.
The final Hyundai of Kevin Abbring, Martin Prokop and Jan Kopecký complete the top ten after Day 2 in Salou.
Credit: Škoda
In WRC2, Jan Kopecký used his experience of asphalt driving to good effect as he leads Day 2 of Rally Catalunya.
The Czech driver took the WRC2 rally lead after SS9 from second-placed Pontus Tidemand for which Kopecký now has a +14.3 second lead over the Swede.
Frigyes Turán is third, while Jim van der Heuvel is fourth, over eight minutes behind the Hungarian.
Teemu Suninen is fifth, while current Junior WRC driver Ole Christian Veiby completes the top six after Day 2 for the WRC2 category.
Meanwhile, in WRC3, Italy’s Fabio Andolfi has extended his lead over Switzerland’s Michaël Burri to over seven and a half minutes on Day 2 in the Rally de España.
Damiano De Tommaso is third, while Michel Fabre and Enrico Brazzoli complete the WRC3 runners for Day 2.
Credit: @World Photography/Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy
Finally, in the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy, Jon Armstrong still remains the rally leader after Day 2 on the asphalt by over a minute of England’s Gus Greensmith.
One of the title contenders for the Trophy, Max Vatanen is third, while Guillaume de Mevius is fourth.
Trophy Leader Osian Pryce still remains tenth as his hopes of becoming the first British winner of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy hang in the balance with one more day to go.
The 2016 Rally Catalunya – Rally de España concludes with Day 3, with the final four stages, beginning with SS16 at 07:24am Spanish time (06:24am UK time).
