WRC Rally Catalunya: Ogier leads, Ostberg and Kubica find trouble
Volkswagen's Sebastien Ogier reclaimed the Rally Catalunya lead on Friday morning, after Mads Ostberg and Robert Kubica hit trouble

Ogier had led the field overnight after setting the pace in Thursday's opening stage in Barcelona, but dropped time to Ostberg on SS2 with the Norwegian setting the pace on the stage.
A stellar run from Ostberg on SS3 saw him leapfrog the world champion, but
Kubica got the jump on the pair after a blistering assault on the Caseres stage in his Ford Fiesta RS saw him set the fastest time by three seconds, to hand him a 3.6-second advantage.
Ostberg reclaimed a small amount of that lead as Ott Tanak went fastest in SS4, the Estonian himself moving in front of Ogier on the leaderboard, along with Hyundai's Dani Sordo.
But the order changed once again on Terra Alta, the final stage of the morning, as first Ostberg and then Kubica found trouble.
Ostberg had rivalled Jari-Matti Latvala's split times in the opening three checks, but dropped off massively towards the end of the stage after picking up a slow puncture and forfeited the best part of half a minute to the Volkswagen driver, whose tyres held up well on the longest stage in the rally.
Ill-fate also affected Kubica, who picked up a puncture in the opening split before suffering another later on.
The effect those had on Kubica's rally were far more detrimental, the Pole dropping more than five minutes on SS5.
Those problems were enough to hand the overall lead back to Ogier, although the Frenchman's advantage over team-mate Latvala is a slender 0.8s after an strong run from the Finn.
Tanak holds an impressive third after the first loop and was the only man close to either of the leading Volkswagen drivers on SS5, while a quiet but productive morning for Sordo places him fourth.
Ostberg's problems nevertheless leave him in the mix for a podium in fifth, just clear of Hayden Paddon, who had been fast all morning, and a subdued Andreas Mikkelsen in the third Volkswagen.
M-Sport's Elfyn Evans completed the loop in eighth, ahead of Citroen's Kris Meeke - who admitted he had plenty to learn about the morning's stages - and Thierry Neuville, who had started the day in second.
Lorenzo Bertelli was an early casualty, crashing not far into the opening stage of the day.
Pontus Tidemand leads the WRC2 field, by 30.9s from Jan Kopecky, with Teemu Suninen occupying third ahead of overnight leader Nasser Al-Attiyah.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER SS5:
-
WRC Rally Catalunya: Sebastien Ogier wins opening stage
WRC Rally Catalunya: Ogier overcomes Latvala and Tanak to lead

Latest news
Double F1 race winner Jean Pierre Jabouille has died
Former French Formula 1 driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille has died on Thursday at age 80, French media have reported.
IMSA champion Jarvis to contest full ELMS season with United Autosports
Reigning IMSA Sportscar Championship title-winner Oliver Jarvis will contest the European Le Mans Series with United Autosports alongside Formula 2 convert Marino Sato, in addition to the World Endurance Championship.
20 years on: Porsche’s 911 GT Daytona 24 Hours giant-killing relived
IMSA’s new GTP class for LMDh cars had a more auspicious debut last weekend than the Daytona Prototypes that arrived in 2003. Back then, they were humbled by a GT Porsche 911, which won the Floridian sportscar classic by nine laps.
Entries open for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award story
Entries have opened for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award, with budding motorsport engineers invited to apply for the revamped prize.
Why Monte Carlo success could spark another past master’s WRC revival
Some 39 years on from his Monte Carlo Rally debut, World Rally Championship legend Francois Delecour continues to pick up silverware. Proving that age is purely a number, the 60-year-old's desire to compete against the WRC’s latest young talents could be the start of a new chapter in the Frenchman’s storied career
How fired-up Ogier became the WRC's ultimate Monte master
He may only be contesting a part-time campaign in the World Rally Championship these days, but Sebastien Ogier underlined that he's lost none of his speed in the 2023 season opener. Storming to yet another victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the eight-time world champion rewrote the history books again as Toyota served notice of its intentions with a crushing 1-2
How Lancia pulled off its famous Monte Carlo giantkilling
Audi should have been invincible in the snowy conditions that typically greeted the World Rally Championship paddock in Monte Carlo. But unexpectedly warm weather for the 1983 season opener, combined with some left-field thinking from the Lancia crew turned the tables. Forty years on, team boss Cesare Fiorio reflects on a smash and grab
Why M-Sport has pinned all its efforts on a WRC reunion
M-Sport had a disastrous 2022 with its Rally1 Ford Pumas following Sebastien Loeb’s first-time-out win on the Monte. But now things are looking up with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak leading its attack, and the Cumbrian operation has optimism that it can challenge for a first title since Sebastien Ogier's departure at the end of 2018
The contenders seeking to take Rovanpera's WRC crown
As Kalle Rovanpera begins his World Rally Championship title defence in Monte Carlo, the Finn knows he has a target on his back. But who is best placed to knock the Toyota ace off his perch?
Why Rovanpera is anticipating a fight to defend his WRC title
Question: what could be harder than becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion? Answer: becoming the youngest-ever two-time World Rally champion. That's quite the challenge facing Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera in 2022, particularly against rejuvenated opposition in the second year of the WRC's hybrid regulations
From F1 to WRC: Why Hyundai's new boss could be an inspired signing
OPINION: New Hyundai WRC team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s got a lot to learn as he leads the marque's efforts to dethrone Toyota. But could his Formula 1 experience and evident strengths mean he turns out to be an inspired choice?
The ultimate rally car project the WRC is glad COVID killed
Toyota was unstoppable in the 2021 World Rally Championship, with an excellent 75% strike rate from 12 rallies. But in a scary proposition for its rivals, the Japanese marque had built a car for the final year of the previous regulations set which it believes was much faster and could feasibly have crushed the opposition completely. Here the story of its mothballed world-beater
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.