Sebastien Ogier leads in the Rally of Poland.
Last Updated: 04/07/15 8:48pm
France's two-time world champion Sebastien Ogier claimed the lead after Friday's eight stages in the Rally of Poland.
The 31-year-old, who leads this season's championship standings by 66 points from Mads Ostberg, has a 2.1-second lead over VW Polo team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen of Norway with a third team member, Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala, in third spot, 10.8 seconds adrift.
Ogier, who won in Poland last year, took command by winning the sixth and seventh stages, although he is now wary of being first on the road on Saturday.
"If finishing at the head of affairs is good news, the bad news of the day will be to set off first tomorrow," he said.
Ogier may have finished the day on top but the star of the show on Friday was Estonian Ott Tanak who began the day in 11th but swept three straight special stages - the third, fourth and fifth - to at one point hold the overall lead.
He finished the day in fourth, over 16 seconds off the pace, in his Ford Fiesta and giving them a strong chance of claiming only their second podium finish of the campaign.
Tanak's team-mate, former Formula One driver and home favourite Robert Kubica, whose right arm was almost severed in a serious rally accident in 2011, drove steadily but still finished the day in sixth place, over 37 seconds behind Ogier.
Leading standings:
1 S Ogier (Fra) Volkswagen 1hr 17mins 42.5secs
2 A Mikkelsen (Nor) Volkswagen +2.10secs
3 J-M Latvala (Fin) Volkswagen +10.8
4 O Tanak (Est) Ford +16.7
5 H Paddon (Nzl) Hyundai +35.9
6 R Kubica (Pol) Ford +37.4
7 T Neuville (Bel) Hyundai +41.3
8 K Meeke (NIrl) Citroen +1:07.1
9 D Sordo (Esp) Hyundai +1:15.0
10 M Ostberg (Nor) Citroen +1:15.5
