Rally Spain – (21– 24 October 2010) – Day 2
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who led at the end of the first day, continued their domination ofRally Spain. The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew set four fastest times out of six on this leg,which was run entirely on asphalt. Dani Sordo and Diego Vallejo made a great comeback after adifficult first day, and are now lying third, only a few seconds behind the second-placed driver.After the first day run on gravel, the crews continued Rally Spain at the wheel of cars in asphalt setup.The second day’s programme consisted of two passages through a loop made up of stages that they allknew, as they were part of the 2009 rally.
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were again first out on the road, which was now perfectly clean. Theytook full advantage of this and had a perfect morning. The seven-time world champions* set the threefastest times, and arrived back in the service park in Salou with a comfortable lead of 46 seconds overPetter Solberg. While the morning was a calm one for the crew of the no. 1 C4 WRC, there were a fewrace incidents including Sébastien Ogier’s slight off in SS9, which cost him second place. “It was a bitless difficult for us on asphalt,” Loeb acknowledged at the midday service halt. “Dani Sordo andSébastien Ogier were also pushing very hard. I think that Dani can get up into second place. Everything’sgoing well for us, but it’s not over yet. I could decide to lift off a little this afternoon, but I still feel likehaving some fun.
In the morning, Dani Sordo left the parc fermé in sixth place and had fought his way up to fourth afterthe first three specials : “I’m happy to be back among the front-runners. We had a good morning despitesome sections that were already dirty after the passage of the leaders. I was behind the wheel of a car thatit was a pleasure to drive. I don’t think I could have gone much quicker!”
Dani continued the good work in the afternoon and set the fastest time in Santa Marina 2 (SS10),followed by the second-best in La Mussara 2, only 1/10s behind his team-mate, Loeb. This performancehelped him to take third place in the overall classification.
Petter Solberg set the fastest time in the final stage ahead of the two Citroën Total World Rally Teamdrivers who had arrived back in the parc fermé after a very positive day. “It was perfect,” Loeb smiled.“We went pedal to the metal; we didn’t make any mistakes, and we now have a good lead that meanswe can tackle the third day full of confidence. The final leg will be a real challenge with a 42-km stage tobe covered twice.”
“Today’s result is obviously a lot more positive than yesterday’s,” laughed Sordo. “I was really at home inthe car and I was able to push hard. We’ve now got second place lined up and we’ll try and catch PetterSolberg. I think it’s going to be a good scrap!
* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.
THE RALLY IN FIGURES
Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Dani Sordo / Diego VallejoSS7: Santa Marina 1 (26,51 km) 1st 1st 3rd +5.3s 6th+1m00.0sSS8: La Mussara 1 (20,48 km) 1st 1st 2nd +1.1s 4th+1m01.1sSS9: RiudecanySS 1 (16,32 km) 1st 1st 2nd +2.5s 4th+1m03.6sSS10: Santa Marina 2 (26,51 km) 4th +2’’9 1st 1st 4th+1m00.7sSS11: La Mussara 2 (20,48 km) 1st 1st 2nd +0.1s 3rd+1m00.8sSS12: RiudecanySS 2 (16,32 km) 2nd +2.5s 1st 3rd +3.0s 3rd+1m01.3s
Fastest times in the stagesDay 1 – SS1: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS2: Petter Solberg (Citroën C4) – SS3: Loeb – SS4:Sébastien Ogier (Citroën C4) – SS5: Solberg – SS6: Loeb.Day 2 – SS7 to 9: Loeb – SS10: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) – SS11: Loeb – SS12: Solberg.Best performers: Loeb, 7 fastest times – Solberg, 3 – Ogier and Sordo, 1 each.Leaders SS1 à 12 : Loeb.
Classification at the end of the second day1. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 1h40m0.9s2. P. Solberg / Patterson Citroën C4 +4.4s3. Sordo / Vallejo Citroën C4 +1m01.3s4. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +1m1.4s5. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus +6m1.5s6. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +6m2.3s7. Turan / Zsiros Ford Focus +7m4.6s8. H. Solberg / Prevot Ford Fiesta +9m5.3s9. Al Qassimi / Orr Ford Focus +9m5.3s10. Block / Gelsomino Ford Focus +13m2.9s
