Advantage Tanak as Ogier title hopes fade in Catalonia

Salou, Spain: Sebastien Ogier's hopes of securing a seventh straight world rally driver's title and denying Ott Tanak his first were dealt a near fatal blow in Catalonia on Friday.

The French rally ace's Citroen suffered mechanical problems resulting in a loss of over three minutes after the Rally of Catalonia's third stage.

Ogier trails championship leader Tanak by 28 points in the standings, with the Estonian only needing to outscore him by two points this weekend to dethrone the French rally king.

Ogier's problems began in the second stage with power steering issues, compounded in the next by a malfunctioning gearbox.

It was only after the third stage that his mechanics could try to get his car back firing on all cylinders. 

The Rally of Catalonia around Salou south of Barcelona is the 13th and penultimate leg of the season which concludes in Australia next month.

Tanak was taking a cautious approach to clinching his maiden title.

"We’ll focus on ourselves and do all we can. If it takes more than that, then there's no need to push it. If we don’t do it here, we can take the fight to Australia," the Toyota Yaris driver said this week.

The only other driver in with an outside shot at the title is Thierry Neuville, the third-placed Belgian who is 41 points adrift in the standings.

Dani Sordi is the early leader in Catalonia, by one second from his Hyundai teammate Neuville with Tanak seven seconds adrift in third.

Ogier is three minutes 36 seconds behind Sordi ahead of Friday's afternoon's three stages.