Paris (AFP)

Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) has "almost" said goodbye to the prospect of a seventh consecutive world title in 2019 losing a lot of time on his rivals Friday at the Rally of Catalonia, dominated by his compatriot Sebastien Loeb (Hyundai).

After the first day, the nine-time world rally champion, who won three of the six stages (ES3, ES5 and ES6), was ahead of the provisional podium with Belgian team-mates Thierry Neuville and Spanish Dani Sordo of 1 sec 7/10 and 7 dry 6/10 respectively.

"Having three cars in front is unbelievable, we did not expect it to start and I did not expect to be in the lead either," said Loeb, holding the event. "But there are still two days left, nobody knows what can happen."

Estonian Ott Tänak (Toyota) - who has a first chance to win his first world title in Spain, after the thirteenth and penultimate round of the 2019 World Rally Championship season (WRC) ) - was fifth at 21 sec 7/10.

Ogier, delayed by a hydraulic problem that deprived him, among other things, of power steering and the gearshift paddle in the second and third stages, was relegated to 17th position at 4: 1 sec 4: 10 from the leader and henceforth almost out of the league.

"My prospects did not look fantastic before the start, now it's even more complicated," conceded the six-time world champion. "We have a very good chance not to score a lot of points this weekend, so I think we can almost say it's over."

"It's frustrating, especially after our good start (he had the fastest time in SS1, ed), admits the Frenchman, it's hard to find motivation."

- Tänak: "still our work to do" -

His misadventure is the business of Tänak who needs to score only two more points qu'Ogier this weekend to eliminate the race for the title.

To be crowned at the end of the 17 stages on Sunday, the 32-year-old driver must not let Neuville take over 11 more units in the drivers' standings.

"There is always the fight with Thierry which is no less important than the one with Seb", so points the Estonian. "No one can say that what happened to him (in Ogier) will not happen to anyone else, we still have our job to do."

For his part, the Hyundai driver, who considers his Friday "almost perfect", "continues to believe" in his chances, even "small" of his own admission.

In the constructors, it is also possible that the title is played Sunday. To be crowned for the first time in the WRC, Hyundai must take its lead over Toyota from eight to 44 units.

Tänak, he needs a mattress of thirty lengths, and not 31, despite the thirty points yet to be awarded in Australia from 14 to 17 November. In the event of an accounting tie at the end of the season, his greatest number of victories (six, against three in France and two in Belgium) guarantees him first place.

The Catalunya Rally, run around the seaside resort of Salou, along the Costa Daurada, south of Barcelona, ​​is the only mixed race of the season.

The mechanics have therefore before them a more busy evening to prepare cars set for the ground Friday to ride on asphalt Saturday, for two loops of three stages followed by a short ES urban.

© 2019 AFP