Ogier holds commanding lead in Rally of Australia

Sebastien Ogier won all six speed tests Saturday to more than double his lead in the Rally of Australia heading into the final day of the 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Frenchman, in his  Volkswagen Polo R, will set out on Sunday holding a commanding 45.9sec advantage over Finland's Mikko Hirvonen in a Citroen. Belgian Thierry Neuville, who is Ogier's only rival for the year's WRC title, was third, but a widening 1m 11.4sec behind the Frenchman. Ogier, who could wrap up his first WRC title during the competition this weekend, won all four country stages before rounding the day off with victory in both arena tests in downtown Coffs Harbour. He has won 14 of the 16 stages to date. Ogier started the day with a 20.0sec advantage over Hirvonen, but nobody got close to him on the roads south-west of Coffs Harbour, in northern New South Wales. "Our rally was perfect today but the final leg will be tough so we have to keep our concentration and focus," said Ogier. Kris Meeke was on course to retain fourth until he crashed in the second pass through Nambucca, his Citroen DS3 rolling seven times. "I went into a second gear corner 5-10kph too fast," he said. "I thought I'd got away with it, but the car just slipped off the road. It nearly stopped, but unfortunately there was a very steep bank down into a field and it just kept tumbling." The beneficiary was Jari-Matti Latvala, who came out on top of a three-car fight with Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Ostberg. Sunday's final leg contains six stages to decide the Rally of Australia winner. Source: AFP