VILLA CARLOS PAZ, Argentina: Reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier saw his chances of winning the Rally of Argentina go up in smoke on Thursday after he failed to finish the second special stage because of a technical problem.

The Frenchman’s Volkswagen Polo stopped 46 km into the stage, with a Volkswagen spokesman telling AFP: “It is not an accident. We are waiting for the vehicle to be towed in order to determine the origin of the problem.”

If the Polo is repaired, Ogier will be able to restart on Saturday, but with a 25-minute penalty, which would rule out any chance of him finishing high up the standings save for an enormous surprise.

The second special stage, which was the first held on Friday, was won by Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke in his Citroen DS3, more than 30 seconds in front of Spain’s Dani Sordo in a Hyundai and Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen).

Meanwhile, Belgium’s Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) also saw his chances of victory effectively ended as he came home more than four minutes behind Meeke after suffering a puncture.

Ogier, the winner of the first three races of the season, won the first special stage ahead of Meeke on Thursday in the tourist center of Merlo, 234 kilometers south of the race’s Villa Carlos Paz base camp.