PORTUGAL -- A year after scoring their first victory in the FIA World Rally Championship in Portugal, Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia racked up win number two in the same event. The Citroen Total World Rally Team crew came first in the Algarve after driving a perfect race.

The DS3 WRC scored the first double of its fledgling career thanks to Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who are now tied with Mikko Hirvonen for the lead in the drivers’ world title chase.

The Citroen Total World Rally Team started the third and last day of Rally Portugal with a lead of more than four minutes over its rivals, and controlled the race until the end. Over the whole of the 31.04 kilometers making up Santana de Serra 1, the two crews got down to validating their pace notes to prepare for the second passage rewarded by the points for the Power Stage.

They spent the rest of the morning nursing their cars and tires until the start of the final run.  Beyond the fact of consolidating the expected double of the Citroen DS3 WRCs, the aim of the last day was to score a few additional points in the final stage.

The latter began in slightly damp conditions and the line dried out as the cars drove through. Petter Solberg led for a long time, but finally it was Sebastien Loeb who set the fastest time. Jari-Matti Latvala came second and third-placed Sebastien Ogier was unable to knock the seven-time world champion off his perch.

When the Citroen Total World Rally returned to the Estadio Algarve, they celebrated this clean sweep and Ogier’s third victory in the world championship from his team-mate, Loeb.

The winner was congratulated by the whole team with whom he shared his joy. “It’s been a perfect weekend. We controlled our first day well and then we pushed at the right moment.  It’s a telling result for the whole team with the double and the points in the Power Stage.”

“After six months without a win I was starting to get a bit edgy. I hope it’s the start of a good series. The points we’ve bagged today will help us relaunch our championship challenge after our disappointment in Rally Mexico. I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work. I’m as happy for them as I am for myself!” Ogier said.

Sebastien Loeb finished second and scored 20 points last weekend thanks to his bonus in the last stage. This means that he now dead-heats for the leads in the Drivers’ World Championship with Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen.

“Our victory hopes were dashed yesterday when we lost thirty seconds in the dust thrown up by Mikko’s car,” Loeb said. “Second was the best we could hope for. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to score the three bonus points in the Power Stage – but we did! ”