Rallying: Ogier hopes vanish at Rally of Argentina
Sebastien Ogier failed to finish Friday's second special stage with a technical problem.
VILLA CARLOS PAZ (AFP) - World champion Sebastien Ogier saw his chances of winning the Rally of Argentina go up in smoke after he failed to finish Friday s second special stage with a technical problem.
"Everything went fine but after 10 km, we started losing power, like we were running on just three cylinders," the French driver told journalists.
"That s sport, there s an element of luck. This time, it wasn t for us."
The Frenchman s Volkswagen Polo stopped 46 kilometres into the stage, with a team spokesman telling AFP it wasn t an accident.
"The team will have to determine the source of the problem and if it s an electronic failure or a breakdown in the fuel supply, I will most likely be able to continue," added Ogier who has won all three of the championship rallies so far this year.
"If it s engine-based, I ll probably have to head home."
If the Polo is repaired, Ogier will be able to restart on Saturday, but with a 25-minute penalty, which would rule out any chance of him finishing high up the standings save for an enormous surprise.
Britain s Kris Meeke, at the wheel of a Citroen DS3, took full advantage to finish top of the standings at the halfway mark.
He has a 1min 08.8sec lead over teammate Mats Ostberg with Volkswagen s Jari-Matti Latvala in third at 1:23.5 off the pace.
