Champion begins in style
Rallying: Sebastien Ogier kicked off the defence of his world title with victory in the opening Rallye Monte Carlo as the Frenchman held off Belgian rival Thierry Neuville yesterday.
The Citroen driver started the final stage with a 0.4second advantage over Neuville after the Belgian had won the penultimate stage to increase the pressure on the sixtime world champion.
But Ogier kept his cool to finish second in the final power stage behind Britain’s Kris Meeke, who took top spot with a time of 9min 37.3sec, with Neuville third 1.8sec behind the Frenchman.
Overall, Ogier won his seventh Rallye Monte Carlo by 2.2sec and Estonian Ott Tanak took third place, 2min 15.2sec off the pace in a Toyota. — Reuters