The Citroën Total World Rally Team crews improved their positions on the second day of RallyFinland. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in their first race for the works team, finished in amagnificent second place a few seconds in front of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. This doublepodium has helped the Citroën Total World Rally Team to increase its lead in the FIAManufacturers’ World Championship.
After a short night, the crews left the Jyväskylä service park in pouring rain. Around 100 kms from there,the stages of the first of the three loops were also soaking wet. Sébastien Ogier was on the pace straightaway in the rally setting the fastest time in Kolonkulma (SS12). In Väärinmaja, the longest stage of theevent, it was Sébastien Loeb’s turn to stun the onlookers. By setting the second-best time, Ogier tooksecond place from Petter Solberg and got to within 15s of the leader, Jari-Matti Latvala! The latter foughtback in the following stage, but the C4 WRC drivers were more than pleased at the end of the first threestages.
“I’m trying to keep up the pace while leaving myself a small safety margin. My aim’s not to go after Jari-Matti, but to see the finish in the best possible position,” underlined Ogier. As for Loeb he had thirdplace in his sights: “The gaps between Sébastien, Jari-Matti and me are fairly small this morning. On theother hand, Petter Solberg has lost time and I’m only a few seconds behind him. We’re going tocontinue to push to overtake him.”
The six-time world champion achieved his objective with two more fastest times in Leustu 1 and Himos 1(SS15 and 16). Ogier was also setting a searing pace and he closed the gap to Latvala. After posting thefastest time in SS17 (Surkee 2), the Frenchman reduced the Finn’s lead to only 10 seconds!The rally ended with a second passage through the Leustu and Himos stages. Ogier kept up the pressureon Latvala right till the end: “Even if it’s difficult for me to be satisfied with second place, I have to saythat this result is even better than I expected. For our second Rally Finland, we were able to up the pacewithout overdoing it. I’m very satisfied with the second day as we’ve finished only ten seconds behind thewinner. I’d really like to thank the whole team, which helped to fight right up till the finish.”Loeb, who came home third, was also satisfied: “Bravo to Jari-Matti and Sébastien who drove greatrallies. It’s good for the sport that the team didn’t give any orders at the end of the race. The fifteenpoints I scored today are a precious help in view of the championship. I’ve achieved my aim in this rally.”“With our crews finishing in second and third places, we’ve increased our lead of eight points in theManufacturers’ Championship,” summed up Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal.“Citroën loves the sport and again we chose not to ask our drivers to reverse their positions. Bravo to thetwo Sebs as they knew how to drive very quickly without making any mistakes.”
THE RALLY IN FIGURESSébastien LoebDaniel ElenaSébastien OgierJulien IngrassiaSS12: Kolonkulma (10,35 km) 3rd +1.3s 4th +32.3s 1st 3rd +20.8sSS13: Väärinmaja (29,29 km) 1st 4th +25.0s 2nd +1.7s 2nd +15.2sSS14: Surkee 1 (19,59 km) 3rd +8.1s 4th +33.1s 2nd +7.3s 2nd +22.5sSS15: Leustu 1 (21,35 km) 1st 4th +25.6s 2nd +1.1s 2nd +16.1sSS16: Himos 1 (20,63 km) 1st 3rd +21.4s 2nd +0.4s 2nd +12.3sSS17: Surkee 2 (19,59 km) 4th +3.9s 3rd +23.6s 1st 2nd +10.6sSS18: Leustu 2 (21,35 km) 4th +2.6s 3rd +26.2s 2nd +0.5s 2nd +11.1sSS19: Himos 2 (20,63 km) 2nd +0.8s 3rd +26.0s 1st 2nd +10.1s
Fastest times in the stages
Day 1 – SS1: Petter Solberg (Citroën C4) – SS2 and 3: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS4: SébastienOgier (Citroën C4) – SS5: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) – SS6 and 7: Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS8:Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS9: Latvala – SS10: Loeb – SS11: Solberg.Day 2 – SS12: Ogier – SS13: Loeb – SS14: Latvala – SS15 and 16: Loeb – SS17: Ogier – SS18:Latvala – SS19: Ogier.Best performers: Latvala and Loeb, 5 fastest times each– Ogier, 4 – Hirvonen and Solberg, 2 each –Sordo, 1.Leaders: SS1: Solberg – SS2 and 3: Hirvonen – SS4 to 6: Solberg – SS7 to 19: Latvala.
Provisional Final General Classification
1. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus 2h 31m 29.6s2. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +10.1s3. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 +26.0s4. P. Solberg / Patterson Citroën C4 +30.7s5. Sordo / Marti Citroën C4 +1m 45.0s6. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +5m 43s7. Ostberg / Andersson Subaru Impreza +5m 50.8s8. Kankkunen / Repo Ford Focus +7m 49.0s9. Hänninen / Markkula Skoda Fabia +9m 05.0s10. Andersson / Fredriksson Skoda Fabia +10m15.7s
