2009 WRC : Day 1 - Latvala leads after day one of Rally d’Italia - Sardegna

Jari-Matti Latvala - Ford Focus WRC - BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

CRASTAZZA, Italy : May 22, 2009 - Friday’s final stage brought good news and bad news for the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.


On one hand, a one-two placing for team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen gave the team something to celebrate, but on the other, both drivers have given themselves the worst possible road positions for Saturday’s competition.

As expected, both Ford and Citroen employed tactics on the final stage to try and secure the best places on the day two start order. In the end the strategic battle went Citroen’s way. Sebastien Loeb was the first to play his hand, stopping close to the finish line for 23 seconds in an effort to drop back behind Hirvonen.

Unsurprisingly Mikko responded by slowing too - but not enough - and at the end of the stage he remained 3sec ahead. “I seriously messed up - I couldn’t have got it any more wrong,” said a distraught Hirvonen. “This is a completely my fault - I can’t believe Sebastien slowed so much. I made a massive mistake.”

In the circumstances Ford told Latvala to drive the stage at full speed and hold the lead. He will take a 39.8 sec advantage into day two, and will sweep at least some of the loose gravel off the road for his team-mate.

At the finish control, Latvala put a brave face on the situation. “If you want to win rallies you have to learn to drive as first car on the road - so we’ll see,” he said. “It’s not going to be an easy situation tomorrow, but the road hasn’t been cleaning as much as we through it might today. All I can do is keep a clear head and try to stay cool.”

Petter Solberg ended the day fourth in his Citroen Xsara WRC, 3.6sec adrift of Loeb, while Citroen Junior team driver Evgeny Novikov is fifth, 18.3sec behind Petter.

Day 1 : Top 20 - Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Time	Diff. next	Diff. 1st
1.	4	Jari-Matti LATVALA	1:24:14.5	0.0	0.0
2.	3	Mikko HIRVONEN	1:24:54.3	+39.8	+39.8
3.	1	Sébastien LOEB	1:24:57.3	+3.0	+42.8
4.	11	Petter SOLBERG	1:25:00.9	+3.6	+46.4
5.	7	Evgeny NOVIKOV	1:25:19.2	+18.3	+1:04.7
6.	6	Henning SOLBERG	1:25:22.7	+3.5	+1:08.2
7.	21	Mads ÖSTBERG	1:25:31.1	+8.4	+1:16.6
8.	2	Dani SORDO	1:25:51.8	+20.7	+1:37.3
9.	5	Matthew WILSON	1:26:48.3	+56.5	+2:33.8
10.	10	Khalid AL QASSIMI	1:27:14.4	+26.1	+2:59.9
11.	8	Conrad RAUTENBACH	1:27:25.8	+11.4	+3:11.3
12.	145	Patrick FLODIN	1:31:25.5	+3:59.7	+7:11.0
13.	146	Patrik SANDELL	1:31:26.2	+0.7	+7:11.7
14.	150	Nasser AL-ATTIYAH	1:31:31.5	+5.3	+7:17.0
15.	147	Armindo ARAUJO	1:31:41.7	+10.2	+7:27.2
16.	39	Alessandro BETTEGA	1:32:16.3	+34.6	+8:01.8
17.	32	Michal KOSCIUSZKO	1:32:32.0	+15.7	+8:17.5
18.	63	Jarkko NIKARA	1:32:36.7	+4.7	+8:22.2
19.	38	Martin PROKOP	1:32:38.1	+1.4	+8:23.6
20.	132	Bernardo SOUSA	1:33:04.7	+26.6	+8:50.2

[Source : WRC, CITROEN, FORD]