French veteran Ogier wins Rally of Portugal

Matosinhos, Portugal: Eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier chalked up the 63rd victory of his WRC career in the Rally of Portugal on Sunday, the fifth of 14 rounds of the World Championship.

The 41-year-old French Toyota driver finished 8.7 seconds ahead of Hyundai´s Ott Tanak (Hyundai) with Ogier´s Finnish teammate Kalle Rovanpera completing the podium a further 3.50sec behind.

Filling out the top five were reigning world champion Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Japan´s Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) while the provisional championship leader, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) could only finish sixth.

Ogier, who garnered a record seventh victory in Portugal, spent a long time trailing in the rally behind Tanak before hitting the front late on Saturday when the Estonian suffered a mechanical problem.

He went into Sunday´s race with a 27-second advantage and was able to take control to claim his third podium in three races this season. He won the season-opener in Monte Carlo at the end of January and took second in the Canaries at the end of April.