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Two-time world champion Sebastien Ogier clocked the fastest time in his VW Polo-R in Thursday’s Rally of Sweden ‘shakedown’.

The French driver was 0.2sec faster than Poland’s Robert Kubica and Norwegian Mads Ostberg, who were joint second.

Ogier, winner of the season-opening Rally of Monte Carlo two weeks ago, set the fastest time on his fourth and final passage on the 4km special.

Last year’s winner, Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, was sixth fastest.

Organisers confirmed that an official race photographer was “conscious and in a stable condition” in hospital after being knocked down when Polish driver Michal Solowow lost control of his Ford Fiesta.

The rally gets underway on Thursday evening with a 1.9km special on Karlstad hippodrome with nine specials scheduled Friday mainly in the snow-covered region of Hagfors, 80km north of the city. –Ā Agence France-Presse

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