Ogier takes control in Spain to boost title hopes

Sebastienogier

The Frenchman went into the year's penultimate event 27 points clear of Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala in the standings and leads his title rival by 36.6 seconds after a strong opening day in Spain.

Having already prevailed in six of the 11 events held this season, Ogier is firmly on course to clinch top spot again before next month's concluding leg in Wales.

The 30-year-old capitalised on those in behind him struggling with poor visibility to turn in a dominant display on the gravel speed tests.

Latvala, who kept the title race alive by winning in France last time out, enjoyed his best performance on the closing stage and will go into Saturday's asphalt leg in second spot.

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville led briefly early on and was still going well until hitting a bank on the day's final stage after being distracted by dust, leading to a puncture and tyre change.

That incident allowed Citroen's Mads Ostberg to move up to third, with Andreas Mikkelsen of Volkswagen in fourth.

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