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Ogier had 'strange feeling' with M-Sport Ford on Rally Argentina

World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier said he lacked confidence in his M-Sport Ford as his string of WRC podium finishes came to an end with a distant fourth in Argentina.

Rally Argentina remains the only WRC round four-time champion Ogier has yet to win, and he finished nearly a minute behind team-mate Ott Tanak at the end of a troubled event last weekend.

"This wasn't my weekend," he said. "It was a tough one, but we came away with the lead of the championship still, so that's the positive.

"For much of the rally we had a strange feeling with the car and lacked confidence as a result.

"For the moment, we're not sure what is causing the issue so we'll have to look into that before the next event and ensure we get to the bottom of it."

Ogier's rally did not get off to the best of starts - he went into a ditch on the first gravel stage and damaged the aero on the front of the car.

Running first on the road cost him time on the Santa Rosa stage, where the cleaning effect was at its worst, and he ended day one clouting a rock on the line through stage eight, damaging the Fiesta's steering.

Day two was not much better, Ogier narrowly avoiding a dog and almost spinning in a watersplash on the first stage before he struggled with the balance and set-up.

Midday changes improved the car, but by the end of Saturday Ogier reported excessive wheelspin and felt something had broken in the Fiesta's transmission.

On the final day, he picked up two points for fourth fastest time on the powerstage and admitted the event had not gone his way - his only stage win came on the opener around the streets of Cordoba.

Ogier was still able to leave the rally with a 16-point championship lead over Jari-Matti Latvala and 18 over Argentina winner Thierry Neuville, while M-Sport is 22 clear of Hyundai in the manufacturers' standings thanks to Elfyn Evans and Tanak's second and third places.

M-Sport team principal Malcolm Wilson praised the efforts of his young drivers.

"They have both been fantastic," he said.

"We know about Elfyn and the sensational drive he turned in, but at the same time I'm so pleased with Ott.

"He delivered exactly the drive we wanted."

Fastest on the first stage on the final day, Tanak admitted he had had designs on Neuville's second place.

"We all know that maybe sometimes Thierry is not the smartest guy," Tanak joked.

"Normally he does not go very safe, so it's not easy to close the gap with him.

"I tried my best driving without taking any risks and that is the best we could do. I'm happy.

"Argentina hasn't always been the best for me, but I changed my approach and it worked; maybe I was a bit too safe on Friday, but it was good over the weekend."

Zdroj: autosport.com