Rally France – Alsace (30th September – 3rd October 2010) – Day 2
With Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in the lead and Dani Sordo and Diego Vallejo in secondplace, the two Citroën Total World Rally Team crews are still in front in Rally France - Alsace. Withfewer than sixty timed kilometers left to cover on the final day of the event, Citroën, SébastienLoeb and Daniel Elena are en route to more world titles!
Yesterday, there was already a huge crowd lining the stages of Rally France – Alsace and today, Saturday,it grew even bigger. On the second day’s leg in the Bas-Rhin department, Sébastien Loeb and DanielElena were back on roads they had covered some ten years ago in the French Rally Championship.Six World Championship titles later, the crew in the no. 1 C4 WRC n°1 dealt their rivals a body blow inthe Pays d’Ormont stage. “It’s a long stage with a lot of traps,” explained Seb. “You have to control yourpace. I decided to push right from the start where the surface was the least slippery and the roads werewider to be in a position to play it safe in the slipperiest sections.” The split times confirmed that theAlsatian had chosen the right tactic. The gaps opened up very quickly in the early kilometres and thenstabilized in the middle section. By the end, Loeb and Elena had increased their lead. After 35 kilometresDani Sordo was 18.1s behind while Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier were over 20 seconds furtherback!
In the afternoon on roads that had been muddied by the passage of over one hundred cars, Loeb nursedhis lead over his rivals. “There were still several traps. We gave ourselves a couple of major scaresincluding one that could have proved fatal in the second stage,” said Elena.
A concentrated Loeb answered all the questions fired at him by the media and still found the time to signsome autographs for his many fans. “The conditions were really very treacherous out there, but we hadthe right rhythm,” he smiled at the end of the day. “We maintained the gap. With a forty-second leadbefore the last leg, it’s looking pretty good.”
Dani Sordo and Diego Vallejo, second on the road, tried to match their team-mates’ pace early on. TheSpaniards set off at high speed and then decided to defend their second place in the afternoon.“I set out intending to race this morning,” stated Sordo, “but I wasn’t on the pace in the long stage.We’ve managed to widen the gap to Petter Solberg, and that’s the most important thing. You have toremain fully concentrated and not think about the end of the rally. Tomorrow’s stages will be very quickwith a lot of tight apexes. Nothing’s easy here.”
THE RALLY IN FIGURESSébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Dani Sordo / Diego VallejoSS9 : Klevener 1 (10,54 km) 1st 1st 2nd +3.1s 2nd +25.8sSS10 : Ungersberg 1 (15,50 km) 2nd +0.7s 1st 1st 2nd +25.1sSS11 : Pays d’Ormont 1 (35,48 km) 1st 1st 2nd +18.3s 2nd +43.4sSS12 : Salm 1 (13,09 km) 3rd+6.7s 1st 2nd +6.2s 2nd +42.9sSS13 : Klevener 2 (10,54 km) 2nd +0.5s 1st 3rd+0.9s 2nd +43.3sSS14 : Ungersberg 2 (15,50 km) 4th +4.5s 1st 1st 2nd +35.8sSS15 : Pays d’Ormont 2 (35,48 km) 4th +3.8s 1st 5th +10.9s 2nd +42.9sSS16 : Salm 2 (13,09 km) 4th +3.8s 1st 3rd+3.7s 2nd +42.8sFastest times in the stagesDay 1 – SS1to 4: Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS5: Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS6: Loeb – SS7: Sordo (Citroën C4)– SS8: Latvala.Day2 – SS9: Loeb – SS10: Sordo – SS11: Loeb – SS12: Latvala – SS13: Ogier – SS14: Sordo – SS15and 16: P. Solberg (Citroën C4).Best performers: Loeb 7 fastest times, Latvala and Sordo 3, P. Solberg 2 and Ogier 1.Leaders: SS1 to 16 : Loeb.
Overall classification at the end of the second day1. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 2h46m39.2s2. Sordo / Vallejo Citroën C4 +42.8s3. P. Solberg / Patterson Citroën C4 +1m14.2s4. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +1m34.2s5. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus +3m23.5s6. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +11m4.1s7. Villagra / Curletto Ford Focus +13m27.0s8. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +13m29.9s9. H. Solberg / Minor Ford Fiesta +14m57.8s10. Sandell / Axelsson Skoda Fabia +15m38.4s
