Sebastien Ogier’s pace through the Mulhouse town centre run could prove decisive in the battle for victory on Rallye de France Alsace, which concludes with six stages on Sunday.
Citroen factory driver Ogier was 2.5s quicker than MINI pilot Dani Sordo through the short 3.09-kilometre test, which gives him an advantage of 9.5s starting day three. “It’s a little bit more but it’s still not comfortable because there are 40 kilometres still to go,” said Ogier.
Petter Solberg was third fastest, despite reporting that his privateer Citroen was a handful due to the suspension damper problem he is nursing.
In the battle for 10th spot Monster World Rally Team’s Ken Block has taken 1.1s out of Pierre Campana’s MINI.
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA | Citroën DS3 WRC | 2h42m24.3s |
| 02 | D. SORDO / C. DEL BARRIO | MINI WRC | +9.5s |
| 03 | P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON | Citroën DS3 WRC | +51.9s |
| 04 | J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +1m36.4s |
| 05 | M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +3m01.0s |
| 06 | D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +5m59.3s |
| 07 | A. ARAÚJO / M. RAMALHO | MINI WRC | +6m08.8s |
| 08 | H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +6m25.6s |
| 09 | M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +7m16.4s |
| 10 | P. CAMPANA / S. DE CASTELLI | MINI WRC | +7m44.2s |
| 11 | K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +7m51.2s |
| 12 | M. WILSON / S. MARTIN | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +9m32.3s |
| 13 | O. TÄNAK / K. SIKK | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +9m58.6s |
| 14 | K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | +11m17.4s |
| 15 | E. BRYNILDSEN / T. ALANNE | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +12m36.3s |