2009 WRC : Rally Norway

Sunday, February 15, 2009

2009 WRC : Rally Norway - Day 2

Sunday, February 15, 2009 [ ที่ 10:06 AM | Leave a Comment | Filed under Motorsport ]

Sebastien Loeb - Citroen Total World Rally Team

DAY2 : February 14, 2009 - Loeb and Hirvonen set for Sunday showdown

After two days of intense competition, Rally Norway leaders Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen will begin Sunday’s third and final day separated by exactly 15 seconds.

Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen set the second and third fastest times respectively and with just the 1.15km Hamar spectator stage remaining, Loeb’s lead over Hirvonen stood at 13.2sec. “It’s been a good day,” said Loeb. “Maybe on that one I lost one or two seconds in the last few kilometres - I made a few mistakes when the grip changed and that put me wide and into a ditch a bit. But it’s okay.”

Sure enough, Hirvonen was quicker through the final split but crossed the line 2.2sec slower. “We found a lot of snow near the midpoint,” he said. “That’s a shame but the fight is not over, there is still a long way to go tomorrow.”

Henning Solberg set the fourth fastest time - despite making a mistake in the stage. “I overshot a junction,” he explained. “I had to reverse back and then hit a bank! The whole thing cost me about eight seconds but the gap to Dani is okay.” Sordo, however, had not given up hope on reclaiming fifth place from Solberg on Sunday. “Now we are pushing very hard and tomorrow is a very long day - we will see,” he said.

End of the day comments:

Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4)

“Yes it was very hard today and I will have to push very hard again tomorrow. I couldn’t have driven much better today and I have made no mistakes but I will have to go flat out to keep Mikko behind me. It is better that he is a few seconds behind instead of just one second.”

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“It has not been a great day for me today. I have had such a big fight with Seb but he is just that little bit faster all the time. I have to make myself go flat out tomorrow to try to catch him back.”

Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Antilla (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“My car is better for me this afternoon. We have put on softer springs which suits my driving style more. Now the plan for tomorrow is to try to put a little pressure on the two in front of me and at the same time make sure I don’t lose third place.”

Petter Solberg/Phill Mills (Citroën Xsara)

“This has not been my best afternoon I can tell you. I had the engine on two or three cylinders and we had to stop in a stage to see what it was but we couldn’t fix it. Then there has been the problem with the throttle sticking as well. It has not been fun. “

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“Everything is working well on the car and I am going to push very hard tomorrow to please the fans. Wherever I go in the world I always drive for the fans you know!”

Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“I think I will like the stages tomorrow more than these today. I don’t have much experience of these because I retired last year and didn’t do many of them but it will be a big battle with Petter I am sure.”

Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“I am happy with this afternoon but the rhythm is not there yet.”

Day 2 : Driver Overall Standing

Pos.	No.	Driver/Car	Cl	Time	Diff Ldr
1	1	Sebastien LOEB (F) Citroën C4	A8	2:22:11.1	0.0
2	3	Mikko HIRVONEN (FIN) Ford Focus RS WRC 08	A8	2:22:26.1	+15.0
3	4	Jari-Matti LATVALA (FIN) Ford Focus RS WRC 08	A8	2:22:54.3	+43.2
4	6	Henning SOLBERG (N) Ford Focus RS WRC 08	A8	2:24:52.4	+2:41.3
5	2	Dani SORDO (E) Citroën C4	A8	2:25:04.4	+2:53.3
6	11	Petter SOLBERG (N) Citröen Xsara	A8	2:27:02.0	+4:50.9
7	16	Matthew WILSON (GB) Ford Focus RS WRC 08	A8	2:27:04.3	+4:53.2
8	5	Urmo AAVA (EE) Ford Focus RS WRC 08	A8	2:27:29.6	+5:18.5
9	18	Mads ØSTBERG (N) Subaru Impreza WRC 2008	A8	2:29:08.9	+6:57.8
10	12	Sebastien OGIER (F) Citroen C4	A8	2:31:21.3	+9:10.2
11	8	Conrad RAUTENBACH (ZW) Citroen C4	A8	2:33:10.4	+10:59.3
12	7	Evgeny NOVIKOV (RUS) Citroen C4	A8	2:35:09.9	+12:58.8
13	46	Patrik SANDELL (S) Skoda Fabia Super 2000	N4	2:35:23.4	+13:12.3
14	49	Eyvind BRYNILDSEN (N) Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX	N4	2:37:25.1	+15:14.0
15	31	Martin PROKOP (CZ) Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX	N4	2:38:24.3	+16:13.2
16	59	Andreas MIKKELSEN (N) Subaru Impreza WRX STi	N4	2:38:45.0	+16:33.9
17	47	Armindo ARAUJO (P) Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX	N4	2:38:58.4	+16:47.3
18	40	Andis NEIKSANS (LV) Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX	N4	2:39:47.6	+17:36.5
19	20	Anders GRØNDAL (N) Subaru Impreza WRC	A8	2:41:14.0	+19:02.9
20	22	Peter jr. VAN MERKSTEIJN (NL) Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A8	2:44:48.0	+22:36.9