Ogier rekindles title bid with home win

Citroen driver Sebastien Ogier rekindled his bid for a first world championship title by winning the Rally of France yesterday while former champion Petter Solberg was controversially disqualified.

Overnight leader Ogier finished six seconds ahead of Spaniard Dani Sordo in a Mini Cooper with Norway’s Solberg third, over a minute off the pace, in his privateer Citroen.

But Solberg, the 2003 champion, was later disqualified when his car was found to be four kilos too light.

“We don’t understand, we weighed the car many times. It is a catastrophe for Petter and our team because we have already had problems with a budget to finish the season,” team manager Ken Rees said.

The decision meant that Ford Focus driver Mikko Hirvonen was promoted to third in the race standings and now has 196 points in the championship standings, the same as leader Sebastien Loeb with two races left in Spain and Great Britain.

The 27-year-old Ogier claimed his seventh rally victory and is three points behind Loeb and Hirvonen.

“It was a very long weekend with a lot of pressure,” said Ogier before Solberg’s disqualification.

“Dani and Petter made life difficult for me, it was hard to take the rally lead and hold it. I feel relieved and happy to have managed this race well without taking too many risks.”