Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Frenchman Sebastien Ogier secured his second victory at World Rally Championship level yesterday as he sealed the win in the final stage in Japan.
Ogier had gone into the final day trailing fellow Citroen driver Petter Solberg but rallied to came out on top following the superspecial stage in the Sapporo Dome.
The Citroen Total team driver was one of four competitors who entered the final day separated by 15 seconds. The 26-year-old, racing in the Japanese event for the first time, won by 15.7 seconds from Solberg after the Norwegian's private entry Citroen suffered a steering problem in the closing stages.
Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala finished 10.3secs further back in third and Citroen's Dani Sordo was another 9.2secs back. World championship leader Sebastien Loeb was a distant 53.3secs behind the winner but still remains on course to retain his title as he leads Ogier by 43 points with just three races of the season remaining.
Ogier's win meant that Loeb could not wrap up a seventh consecutive world title in Japan and he will have to wait until his home round in France next month for his next chance to secure the series win.
Ogier, who had started the final day in third place, said: "I knew it was a difficult rally because I don't like stages that are very rough. But quickly I found a good rhythm."
Solberg had risen from ninth on day one to take the lead but a steering problem on the 23rd stage dropped him back. Solberg admitted: "I was terrible at the start of the rally. But I had a very good feeling. It's just unfortunate we had a problem with the car."
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen also suffered technical problems and finished sixth. The next four places were also filled by Ford drivers as Henning Solberg led home Federico Villagra, Jari Ketomaa and Martin Prokop.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments