Citroen’s tyre tactics pay off on the Super Special

After SS13 Citroen drivers Sebastien Ogier and Sebastien Loeb had begun to doubt their strategy of using worn tyres on the afternoon’s gravel stages, but their gamble paid off on the Super Special, where they annihilated the opposition.

Once again the locals turned out in force to watch the cars tackle the high-speed straights and tight corners on the same gravel tyres they had used on the countryside stages earlier today. But after keeping the same worn rear tyres on their cars for the final group of speed tests, both Sebastien’s were able to exploit the increased grip available on the sealed surface.

Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier was the star - repeating his Thursday evening performance to take victory on both stages and maintain his 100 per cent winning record on the Super Special.

Loeb, meanwhile, was Ogiers’ closest challenger on both stages and narrowed the gap on rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala from 26.7sec to 22.7sec.

Sebastien’s speed, combined with two more disappointing Super Special times from Mikko Hirvonen meant the two swapped places, with Loeb moving to third and Hirvonen slipping to fifth. However with Saturday’s running order decided on SS13, Hirvonen remains third on the road tomorrow. There were no other position changes within the top ten.