Sebastien Ogier’s drive to title repeat stalls in France

STRASBOURG, France // Defending world rally champion Sebastien Ogier lost nearly nine minutes on rival Jari-Matta Latvala when his engine cut out during the second stage of the Rallye de France on Friday.

Ogier, who clinched his title last year at this race, which is held in and around the Alsace capital Strasbourg, has six wins for Volkswagen this season and entered the race with a 50-point lead over Latvala with only two races to go.

The Frenchman could clinch the title by finishing six points ahead of Latvala, but unless the Finn has a massive setback, Ogier must wait until the next race in Spain in three weeks.

“I had a big failure with the engine, and I don’t know why,” Ogier said. “I tried to catch up but it was impossible.”

Latvala, looking to win his fourth race of the season, led Andres Mikkelsen by 8.5 seconds after winning four stages.

Kris Meeke and his Citroen Total Abu Dhabi racer is 22.7 seconds behind in third.

Latvala started the day strongly, winning the first special – a mostly uphill grind of about 11 kilometres up Col de la Charbonniere – with Ogier finishing second.

“It wasn’t a great start for us, and I’m not particularly happy with the car,” Ogier said after Stage 1.

Mikkelsen, who is third in the overall standings, won the second and longest special stage of the day, about 34 kilometres from Vosges to Pays d’Ormont ahead of Meeke and Latvala, with Ogier losing more than four minutes. Latvala clinched the third stage ahead of Mikkelsen to regain the lead as things got even worse for Ogier, who was hit by a time penalty.

Mikkelsen trimmed Latvala’s lead by winning the fourth, with Ogier getting some satisfaction by finishing second.

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