Ogier dedicates latest WRC win to Sean Edwards

2013 World Rally Champion has dedicated his win at Rally de Espana to the memory of Sean Edwards after a storming drive which also netted Volkswagen the manufacturers’ title.

An emotional Ogier over turned a 45-sec deficit to climb from fourth to his eighth win of the season. The Frenchmen immediately dedicated his win to Edwards, leader of the Porsche Supercup championship, who died at Queensland Raceway just shy on two weeks ago. Edwards was Ogier’s team-mate during his guest appearance in the Supercup race at the Monaco Grand Prix in May.

“I realise sometimes that there are more important things in life. I lost a really good friend and I want to dedicate this victory to him and to his family,” said Ogier.

After losing almost a minute and the lead with a broken wheel rim on Saturday, Ogier began the third and final leg on maximum attack. Gravel tracks replaced the asphalt of the opening two days, and his lower start position guaranteed faster roads as his rivals ahead swept them clean of stones. However, dust hanging in the still morning air negated the advantage and combined with blinding low sunshine to restrict visibility.

Ogier set an incredible pace, overhauling Dani Sordo early in the afternoon before moving ahead of overnight leader Jari-Matti Latvala in the penultimate test. He sealed victory with another crushing performance in the final stage.

“It was a fantastic day. We pushed really hard. We didn’t know if it would be possible because we knew dust would be a problem but we took risks this morning. We were fast and I trusted my pace notes 100 per cent,” Sordo said.

Team-mate Latvala survived late dramas to finish 32.9sec behind Ogier and Mikko Hirvonen completed the podium in a Citroen DS3, another 40.8sec behind. Former leader Dani Sordo’s hopes of victory in his home rally ended in the penultimate test with broken suspension in his DS3.

Latvala was lucky to finish after completing the penultimate stage with a fire in the engine bay of his Polo R. Marshals reacted quickly to extinguish the flames, caused by a leaking fuel pipe, but the Finn also had a differential problem, which he carried through the final stage.

Kiwi Hayden Paddon kept things clean on his World Rally Car debut coming home eighth after next to no testing in the powerful WRC Ford. The experience on an event which featured both sealed and loose surface running a massive learning experience.

“Of course it is good to get to the finish as that was obviously one of our goals,” said Paddon.

“This weekend has been a big learning curve for us though. We were a bit disappointed with how today went because we never really got a feeling for the car and struggled for confidence. We made some improvements this afternoon and made some good progress, but there is still a long way to go.

“We just need to go home, do some homework, and figure out what the answers are.”

VIDEO: Morning stages

VIDEO: Afternoon stages

FINAL RESULTS :  Rally de Espana 

STANDINGS – Drivers

STANDINGS – Manufacturers