Jordan Rally (1–3 April 2010) – Day 2
Ogier and Ingrassia second before the final sprint
Sébastien Ogier, Julien Ingrassia and the Citroën Junior Team – who were in the top three of everystage held today – have finished day two of the Jordan Rally in second, behind Sébastien Loeb andDaniel Elena. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström have continued to improve throughout the dayand they occupy a provisional eighth place overnight.
Two loops of three stages were on the menu for day two, the longest day of the Jordan Rally comprising138.28 competitive kilometres. After Suwayma and Kafrain, the crews faced one of the most challengingspecial stages in the entire World Rally Championship: the 41.45 kilometres of Jordan River.“The first two stages didn’t really present us with many problems in terms of road sweeping, but thelongest stage was tricky,” commented Sébastien Ogier halfway through the day. “Conditions got worseand worse with each of the 41 kilometres. The roads were extremely slippery. Our Citroen C4 WRCworked perfectly though and the tyres showed no signs of weakness at all.”
Kimi Räikkönen took advantage of some slightly softer settings in order to make consistent progress.“We’re just trying to find the right pace,” he said. “The first two stages passed without any problems. Atthe start of the long stage, I was held up by the dust from the competitor in front of me and I wentstraight on at a junction. The surface is slippery but I’m very pleased with the adjustments made by theteam. The car is softer and I feel a bit more comfortable with it. ”
During the second loop of stages, Sébastien continued his exemplary progress to return to the servicepark at the end of the day in second overall. “We’ve been on the right road for a few events now andthat’s really positive,” he said. “We stuck firmly to our plan throughout the day by staying behind Latvala.There’s a slight feeling of frustration because I think we deserved our strategy to succeed all the way tothe end. But it’s nobody’s fault. The team did their job and we did ours.” Sébastien Ogier will startsecond on the road tomorrow, 3.1 seconds ahead of Latvala.
Kimi was sixth-fastest and then seventh-fastest on the two runs through Suwayma, gaining a bit moreexperience today. “It was a bit better than yesterday,” he reported. “Right from the start of the recce, weknew that this would be a particularly tricky rally. We just need to learn and rack up more kilometres onall the different surfaces. We had a spin at the end of the day but the important thing is still to be here inthe evening. ”
Citroën Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier concluded: “Today has picked up from where we left offpreviously. Starting from second on the road this morning, Sébastien was a little quicker than Latvala.We would have preferred him to start from a slightly more favourable road position tomorrow, butcircumstances worked against us. Kimi showed himself to be consistent, setting times that were close tothose of other more experienced competitors. It’s important to remember that this is only his secondgravel event in the car on the WRC. It’s also worthy of note that neither of our C4 WRCs have sufferedfrom the slightest mechanical problem. The cars are both quick and reliable. ”
THE RALLY BY NUMBERSSébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia Kimi Räikkönen / Kaj LindströmSS8 : Suwayma 1 (10.49 km) 3rd +2’’3 3rd +29’’2 6th +14’’6 9th +4’01’’8SS9 : Kafrain 1 (17.20 km) 2nd +5’’4 4th +25’’8 8th +35’’9 9th +4’28’’9SS10 : Jordan River 1 (41.45 km) 2nd +9’’0 3rd +14’’1 10th +1’38’’5 8th +5’46’’7SS11 : Suwayma 2 (10.49 km) 3rd +1’’6 3rd +11’’0 7th +14’’3 8th +5’56’’3SS12 : Kafrain 2 (17.20 km) 3rd +5’’2 3rd +11’’6 8th +43’’1 8th +6’34’’8SS13 : Jordan River 2 (41.45 km) 3rd +13’’0 2nd +24’’6 10th +1’34’’2 8th +8’09’’0
Fastest stage timesDay 1 – SS1 and SS2: Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS3: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) – SS4: PetterSolberg (Citroën C4) – SS5: Latvala – SS6: P. Solberg – SS7: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4).Day 2 – SS8: Loeb – SS9: P. Solberg – SS10 and SS11: Loeb – SS12: P. Solberg – SS13: Loeb.Best performers: Loeb, 5 fastest times – P. Solberg, 4 – Latvala, 3 – Sordo, 1.Leaders: SS1 to SS10: Latvala – SS11: Loeb and Latvala – SS12 and SS13: Loeb.
Classification at end of day two
1. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 2h41’06’’72. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +24’’63. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +27’’74. P. Solberg / Mills Citroën C4 +43’’25. Sordo / Marti Citroën C4 +48’’86. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +5’05’’77. Villagra / Perez Companc Ford Focus +6’51’’08. Räikkönen / Lindström Citroën C4 +8’09’’09. H. Solberg / Minor Ford Focus +10’04’’010. Pons / Haro Ford Fiesta +10’17’’7…
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