RALLY SWEDEN – 10-13/02/2011 – DAY 1
On the first day of Rally Sweden, the new World Rally cars were at last able to do battle with the stop watch - and one another! After spending the whole of the first day sweeping off the thick layer of freshly-fallen snow, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena lost a great deal of time. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, who were also faced with these very special conditions, finished the leg and gave the DS3 WRC its first fastest time. The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew is currently lying sixth in the overall classification.
After taking part in a super stage yesterday evening on the Karlstad horse racing course, this morning at06h00 the crews set off for Hagfors. After a quick stop in the service park, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elenawere the first out on the road to tackle the stages covered by a thick layer of snow, which has fallen non-stopsince Thursday morning.
Throughout the whole of the first loop, the 7-time world championship crew saw the gaps opening up in frontof them: “The gap is mainly due to the fact that we’ve been doing little else than sweeping the roads. Theconditions are very difficult with all the snow that we have to sweep off. But we’ve had a good run even if itwas impossible to maintain the same pace as the drivers who started behind us. The car reacts very quicklyand it’s got good balance. We’re surfing on the snow as we can’t plant the studs in the ice.”Ogier and Ingrassia were able to take advantage of more favourable conditions due to their fourth place onthe road, and were quicker despite their lack of experience on this type of surface: “I had a good feeling inSS3, but I felt less at home in the narrowest sections, which were covered with fresh snow. I’m trying to loseas little time as possible.”
The crew in the no. 2 DS3 WRC upped their pace in the afternoon. On roads that had been swept andsometimes scraped down to the gravel – in the first passage they set the quickest combined time of the threespecials of the loop. In the closing minutes of the day, Ogier gave the DS3 WRC its first fastest time inLikenas 2 (SS6). “This scratch is just a detail,” said Ogier. “What’s important is the fact that we were thequickest in the three stages. It’s very encouraging for the future. We’re in the groove and we’ll have a betterstarting position on the second day. Even if the weather’s going to be different with cold, dry conditions, weshould be well placed to take advantage of it.”
Loeb’s bad day continued as he had a puncture on the left-hand front tyre fifteen kilometres from the finish ofSS7: “We completed the stage trying to lose as little time as possible. Our chances of a podium finish areseriously compromised. We’ll just have to fight to score as many points as we can.”Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal, summed up as follows: “We‘ve begun this rally in theworst possible weather conditions. Because of the snow that fell during the night, Sébastien Loeb acted as asnow plough for most of the day! In addition, he had a puncture. On the other hand, Sébastien Ogier’s puton a great performance despite his relative lack of experience in snow rallies. The car’s shown its potentialwith our two drivers, and also with Petter Solberg, who’s third at the moment. It’s already a cause forsatisfaction.”
The figuresSébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Sébastien Ogier / Julien IngrassiaSS1 Karlstad 1 (1,9 km) 5th +1’’1 5th +1’’1 7th +2’’3 7th +2’’3SS2 Vargasen 1 (24,63 km) 7th +42’’6 6th +42’’1 5th +36’’2 5th +36’’9SS3 Likenas 1 (20,78 km) 9th +28’’0 8th +1’09’’1 3rd +8’’3 5th +44’’2SS4 Lovhaugen 1 (19,29 km) 13th +37’’6 9th +1’46’’7 15th +50’’8 8th +1’35’’0SS5 Vargasen 2 (24,63 km) 8th +24’’4 9th +2’11’’1 5th +14’’3 6th +1’49’’3SS6 Likenas 2 (20,78 km) 2nd +3’’3 7th +2’00’’7 1st 6th +1’35’’6SS7 Lovhaugen 2 (19,29 km) 16th +1’10’’2 9th +2’48’’4 5th +8’’5 6th +1’21’’6
Fastest times in the stagesDay 1 – SS1: Per Gunnar Andersson (Ford Fiesta) – SS2: Mads Ostberg (Ford Fiesta) – SS3: Andersson –SS4: Ostberg – SS5: Andersson and Ostberg – SS6: Sébastien Ogier (Citroën DS3) – SS7: Jari-Matti Latvala(Ford Fiesta).Best performers: Andersson and Ostberg, 3 fastest times – Ogier and Latvala, 1.Leaders: SS1 : Andersson – SS2 to 7: Ostberg.
Overall classification after the first day1 M. Ostberg / J. Andersson Ford Fiesta RS WRC 1:17:21.72 M. Hirvonen / J. Lehtinen Ford Fiesta RS WRC +14.83 P. Solberg / C. Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +57.44 J. Latvala / M. Anttila Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1:10.05 H. Solberg / I. Minor Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1:20.36 S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia Citroën DS3 WRC +1:21.67 P. Sandell / S. Parmander Skoda Fabia S2000 +2:35.18 E. Brynildsen / C. Menkerud Skoda Fabia S2000 +2:43.59 S. Loeb / D. Elena Citroën DS3 WRC +2:48.410 K. Al Qassimi / M. Orr Ford Fiesta RS WRC +4:12.4
Click here for the Official Kimi Raikkonen web site - designed and built by Racecar
