Citroen Total World Rally Team's Sebastien Ogier has won the Jordan Rally by the narrowest of margins from BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver Jari-Matti Latvala.
The Frenchman, 27, came from half a second behind to set the fastest time on the closing stage and overhaul Latvala by two tenths of a second.
It is the narrowest victory margin in the history of the World Rally Championship - beating the previous record of 0.3s when Marcus Gronholm pipped Sebastien Loeb on the 2007 Rally New Zealand.
“Incredible,” said Ogier. “An incredible day. I had to push like hell today. It’s an amazing feeling. Jari-Matti was so fast today and I had to drive flat out. I’m so happy to end like this.”
Ogier started the day with a lead of 31.6 seconds after making a tactical gamble to go flat out on the final stage of the first day, risking the possibility that he would be hindered by running first on the road during day two. Latvala duly overhauled Ogier to lead by 0.5 seconds going into the final stage.
Today’s win is Ogier’s second consecutive victory in the 2011 World Rally Championship, and the first time a driver has taken a maximum score from a rally this year - with 25 points for the overall win plus three bonus points for leading the Power Stage.
Credit: World Rally Championship (www.wrc.com)
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