Ogier nets back-to- back Poland wins
Second for Mikkelsen earns 1-2 for Volkswagen
Ogier: Tyre error almost tripped me up
Sébastien Ogier feared his wrong tyre choice on Saturday could have allowed team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen to snatch victory at 72nd LOTOS Rally Poland.
Temperatures soared to 33˚C during the afternoon’s special stages and Ogier’s mix of soft and hard compound Michelin rubber proved less suited to the sandy gavel tracks in the heat than Mikkelsen’s hard tyres.
The Norwegian clawed back valuable seconds in their fierce fight for victory, but it was not enough to dislodge Ogier from top spot and the Frenchman went on to secure his 29th career victory and fifth of the season.
“Before the loop I thought Andreas was doing a mistake and I was going for a more clever choice. But we learned the limit of the soft tyres and when it was too hot they was not working and in fact he had the right choice.
“I was worried how much time I would lose and what that would do to my lead. But I managed not to lose much and that was well done after the mistake of the tyre choice,” Ogier told wrc.com.
The pace was as blistering as the heat and Ogier’s victory came at an average speed of 121.41kph. Amazingly he spent more than 60 per cent of the near 300km stage distance with his Polo R at full throttle.
“We saw on the recce how fast it was, but it was more than I expected during the rally. It’s a fantastic feeling to drive these roads at this speed. Some friends were telling me they watched the live stage on the television feed and we were faster than the helicopter!” he added.
