Rally Sweden (11 – 14 February 2010) – Day 2
The second day of Rally Sweden was exactly like the first – hotly disputed and full of twists. After243 timed kilometres, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are still in second place 16’’6 behindMikko Hirvonen. The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew are still in the running for victory, andthe outcome of the rally will be decided tomorrow in the last leg. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti wereslowed by various problems and are currently lying fourth.
The Rally Sweden crews left Karlstad at 06:00 and after a brief stop in the Hagfors service park tackledthe specials. The day’s programme consisted of a loop of four stages to be covered twice.In Vargasen 1, Loeb lost a handful of seconds. In the next three the 6-time world champion set threequickest times. His all-out attack enabled him to close the gap to four seconds. “You really have to workhard for each second,” said the Citroën driver. “Overall, Mikko is quicker in the twisty specials but Imanage to catch him in the quicker ones. In the end, the gap is fairly stable. I really want to win this rallyand I’m going to keep pushing hard. The road will have changed a lot for this afternoon after all the carshave been through.”
Dani Sordo was still third after the first loop more than 30 seconds behind the leader: “The car wasundersteering a lot in the first special but I set a good time in the next one. Unfortunately, I lost preciousseconds in the Fredriksberg stage. I came into a corner a bit too quickly and I had a 360-degree spin.Luckily, I only lost my rear wing. We’ve now fallen back from the first two and I have to keep an eye onJari-Matti Latvala if I want to hold on to third place.”
After a 30-minute halt in the Hagfors service park, the rally resumed in bright sunshine, a pleasantchange from the -20° in the morning! The layer of snow had given way to gravel and tyre managementwas going to be crucial, so all the crews started with two spare wheels.
After a good performance in Vargasen 2 (24,63 km), Loeb decided to keep the same tyres in Sagen 2(14,23 km). “We made a tactical error,” the driver of the no. 1 C4 WRC admitted. “Mikko, who put ontwo new tyres at that moment, pulled out eight seconds on us. I then changed my tyres for Fredriksberg2, but the car felt unbalanced and I lost another eight seconds. I managed to pull back six in HagforsSprint 2, as Mikko in turn was in trouble with his studs.” Loeb is 16’’6 behind the Finn, but his hopes ofwinning are not yet dashed: “We’ll see what happens tomorrow, the road conditions will determine theoutcome. The gap’s beginning to open up, but I’ll do everything in my power to go for the win.”Dani Sordo who was doing his utmost to fight off Jari-Matti Latvala for third place was obliged torelinquish his position in SS15: “We chose the right tyre strategy, but in Fredriksberg 2 I had to stop tolet Marc remove a heat shield which hadn’t been taken off before the start of the special. We’ve lost thirdplace and it’s a real shame.”
THE RALLY IN FIGURES
Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Dani Sordo / Marc MartiSS9: Vargasen 1 (24,63 km) 2nd +4’’6 2nd +10’’8 3rd +9’’7 3rd +20’’3SS10: Sagen 1 (14,23 km) 1st 2nd +6’’9 4th +4’’2 3rd +20’’6SS11: Fredriksberg 1 (18,15 km) 1st 2nd +6’’7 6e +16’’1 3rd +36’’5SS12: Hagfors Sprint 1 (1,87 km) 1st 2nd +4’’2 4th +1’’9 3rd +35’’9SS13: Vargasen 2 (24,63 km) 3rd +4’’1 2nd +6’’9 4th +11’’0 3rd +45’’5SS14: Sagen 2 (14,23 km) 5e +8’’9 2nd +14’’8 4th +2’’7 3rd +47’’2SS15: Fredriksberg 2 (18,15 km) 3rd +8’’7 2nd +23’’0 19e +1’00’’6 4th +1’47’’3SS16: Hagfors Sprint 2 (1,87 km) 3rd +3’’6 2nd +16’’6 10e +8’’9 4th +1’46’’2
Fastest times in the specialsDay 1 – SS1: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) – SS2 and 3: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS4 and 5: MikkoHirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS6: Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS7: Hirvonen – SS8: Loeb.Day 2 – SS9: Hirvonen – SS10 à 12: Loeb – SS13: Latvala – SS14: Marcus Grönholm (Ford Focus) –SS15: Latvala – SS16: Martin Prokop (Ford Fiesta).Best performers: Loeb, 6 scratch times – Hirvonen, 4 – Latvala, 3 – Sordo, Grönholm and Prokop, 1.Leaders: SS1: Sordo – SS2 and 3: Loeb – SS4 to 16: Hirvonen.
Overall classification at the end of the second day1. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus 2h14’48’’32. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 +16’’63. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +51’’44. Sordo / Marti Citroën C4 +1’46’’25. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +2’42’’16. H. Solberg / Minor Ford Focus +3’47’’97. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +5’44’’18. Östberg / Andersson Subaru Impreza +5’57’’39. Solberg / Mills Citroën C4 +8’35’’210. Andersson / Fredriksson Skoda Fabia +8’48’’1
Hagfors, 13th February 2010
