2009 WRC Round 3 : Day 1 - Sebastien Loeb leads Cyprus Rally

Sebastien Loeb - Daniel Elena : CITROEN TOTAL WRT

GERAKIES, Cyprus : March 13, 2009 - Sebastien Loeb holds the overnight lead of the Cyprus Rally after a dominating performance through the opening day’s asphalt stages in his Citroen C4 WRC.


Loeb was fastest on five of the six stages, thanks in part to a shrewd gamble on using part worn tyres for the whole morning loop and declining the offer of fresh rubber. The Frenchman will start Saturday’s second day of the competition - and the first on gravel - with a rally lead of 41.8sec over his team-mate Dani Sordo, and more than one minutes ahead of the leading Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen.

Loeb drove more cautiously as rain fell on the final stage, allowing Dani Sordo to take the stage win, but otherwise nobody else got close. As ominously dark clouds gathered over Limassol Loeb said his was pleased with what he’d achieved.

“I said maybe one minute [lead over the Fords] is not enough on the gravel but to have that after one day is probably more than we could have expected - I’m very happy,” he said. “This afternoon, again, we chose some different tyres and I think it was a good strategy. Tomorrow we have to clean the road but if it’s raining it shouldn’t be too bad. We’ll try and continue like this,” he added

Sordo had a trouble-free day in the second Citroen Total Team car. “I’m happy with the performance but I’d prefer to have driven today’s stages on tarmac tyres,” said the Spaniard. “We learned a lot, though. This afternoon I tried with new tyres at the rear only and that’s the best balance for me. Hopefully it rains a little tonight - that’s my preference, but either way I’ll try to keep this position now.”

Mikko Hirvonen - BP FORD ABU DHABI WORLD RALLY TEAM

Holding overnight third, 18.4sec behind Sordo, is Mikko Hirvonen. The Focus RS WRC driver struggled to match the pace of the Citroens for much of the day, but felt his afternoon had been a slight improvement. “It wasn’t totally as bad as this morning, but it was bad anyway,” he acknowledged. “We should have known better before the rally what to do, how much we could wear the tyre - when it works better.

“Okay, I was lost with my driving in the morning too. The afternoon was better but still not good enough. In the afternoon I used worn tyres, but I wasn’t sure how long they were going to last. Citroen had the right tactics with tyres and that shows with the results. Tomorrow it looks wet and damp and Seb is far ahead. Unless we have a miracle I don’t think we can catch him by driving but for sure I’ll give it all I can,” he added.

Jari-Matti Latvala ended the day fourth, 8.1sec behind his team-mate, but feeling more upbeat. “We can be happy that we were able to improve and learn some things,” he said. “We lost out in the morning when I played a risky game with the tyres - I tried to use worn tyres for all three stages but I drove until they were completely worn out. I also learned that the best strategy is to fit new tyres to the rear and used ones on the front; the used ones give you grip and help the turn in under braking. Tomorrow we will try to catch Sordo and keep Loeb under pressure. A lot depends on the weather. If it’s dry I’ll have a good starting position - but if it’s wet it will be a disadvantage.”

Petter Solberg rounded off the top five places in his privately run Citroen Xsara WRC. “This morning we struggled a bit with a lack of grip and a lack of testing,” said Petter. “The car was set up too hard so in service we went for softer springs and dampers and after that the times we good - on SS4 we were as fast as the Fords. We had full rain on the next one and broke a left-hand front damper - so the two afterwards were difficult. I honestly don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I’d prefer dry weather - the stages will be much more enjoyable if they’re not muddy.”

Day 1 : Top 20 - Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Stage	Pen	Total	Diff
1	1	Sebastien LOEB (F)	CITROEN C4	1:37:46.3	0	1:37:46.3	0.0
2	2	Dani SORDO (E)	CITROEN C4	1:38:28.1	0	1:38:28.1	+41.8
3	3	Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN)	FORD FOCUS RS WRC 08	1:38:46.5	0	1:38:46.5	+1:00.2
4	4	Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN)	FORD FOCUS RS WRC 08	1:38:54.6	0	1:38:54.6	+1:08.3
5	11	Petter SOLBERG (N)	CITROEN XSARA	1:40:13.4	0	1:40:13.4	+2:27.1
6	12	Sebastien OGIER (F)	CITROEN C4 WRC	1:40:49.6	0	1:40:49.6	+3:03.3
7	7	Evgeny NOVIKOV (RUS)	CITROEN C4 WRC	1:41:02.3	0	1:41:02.3	+3:16.0
8	5	Matthew WILSON (GB)	FORD FOCUS RS WRC 08	1:42:12.2	0	1:42:12.2	+4:25.9
9	8	Conrad RAUTENBACH (ZW)	CITROEN C4 WRC	1:42:21.6	0	1:42:21.6	+4:35.3
10	9	Federico VILLAGRA (ARG)	FORD FOCUS RS WRC 08	1:42:48.3	0	1:42:48.3	+5:02.0
11	14	Khalid AL QASSIMI (UAE)	FORD FOCUS RS WRC 08	1:43:05.5	0	1:43:05.5	+5:19.2
12	147	Armindo ARAUJO (P)	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX	1:45:22.1	0	1:45:22.1	+7:35.8
13	38	Martin PROKOP (CZ)	CITROEN C2 S1600	1:45:42.3	0	1:45:42.3	+7:56.0
14	146	Patrik SANDELL (S)	SKODA FABIA SUPER 2000	1:45:55.3	0	1:45:55.3	+8:09.0
15	139	Simone CAMPEDELLI (I)	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX	1:46:57.0	0	1:46:57.0	+9:10.7
16	144	Nasser AL-ATTIYAH (QA)	SUBARU IMPREZA N14 2009	1:47:14.8	0	1:47:14.8	+9:28.5
17	133	Toshi ARAI (J)	SUBARU IMPREZA 2007	1:48:16.8	0	1:48:16.8	+10:30.5
18	137	Frederic SAUVAN (F)	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX 2008	1:48:18.6	0	1:48:18.6	+10:32.3
19	160	Charalambos TIMOTHEOU (CY)	SUBARU IMPREZA N12b	1:49:03.3	0	1:49:03.3	+11:17.0
20	159	Nicos THOMAS (CY)	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX	1:49:15.6	0	1:49:15.6	+11:29.3

[Source : WRC, CITROEN, FORD]