Ogier hangs on in Argentina lead
Sebastien Ogier is clinging on to his Rally Argentina lead in a damaged car, as Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen close in with two stages to go
Following his roll on Ascochinga earlier today, Ogier was able to carry out basic repairs and keep going, albeit without any power steering on his Citroen.
Loeb and Hirvonen both took 8s out of Ogier on the following 3.9-kilometre Cabalango stage, meaning Ogier's lead is down to 12.8 seconds over Loeb and 15s over Hirvonen. He now has to negotiate the 3km Carlos Paz superspecial and another run through Cabalango to reach the finish.
Ogier said his priority was to reach the finish, but that he would do his utmost to resist Loeb and Hirvonen and take his third win of the year.
"I had no power steering, but I do what I can," said Ogier. "I tried to fix the car as best I can. And now it's not too bad.
"It will be okay to go to the end. That's the most important thing now.
"I think it will be difficult [to win]. We will see. We will try."
Petter Solberg remains fourth ahead of Mads Ostberg and Federico Villagra. Jari-Matti Latvala is up to seventh after the engine in Matthew Wilson's Ford cut out following a watersplash on Ascochinga.
Leading positions after SS17: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Ogier Citroen 3h58m57.4s 2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 12.8s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 15.0s 4. Petter Solberg Solberg Citroen + 46.5s 5. Mads Ostberg Stobart Ford + 5m22.5s 6. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford + 6m52.9s 7. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 11m45.6s 8. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford + 13m40.1s 9. Hayden Paddon Symtech Subaru + 25m29.5s 10. Patrik Flodin Uspenskiy Subaru + 33m17.7s
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