On the second day of Rally Sweden the snow was replaced by icy conditions. In temperatures reaching -26th°C, the Citroën Total World Rally Team crews moved up the overall classification. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will start the final day of the rally in fifth place, less than fifteenseconds behind the leaders. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena ended the day in sixth spot.
Sébastien Ogier, who started from sixth place on the second day of the event, quickly got past Henning Solberg and closed the gap to the front-runners. After losing 1m 21s yesterday, the Citroën driver began a stunning comeback with a remarkable string of performances. In Fredriksberg 2 (SS14) he set another fastest time. “I really felt good in my Citroën DS3 WRC. I was able to go quickly without taking any additional risks,” he confirmed when he returned to the evening service park. “We had the right strategy this afternoon by putting on our two spare wheels after the second stage.”
Ogier was the quickest driver in the loop and he will start the final day in fifth place, only fifteen seconds behind the leaders! “There’s still everything to play for, but I’m not going to get overexcited about it. It’s not because I’ve closed the gap to the leaders that I’m going to start taking risks. It’s very easy to go beyond one’s limits on snow. My aim’s still to bag the biggest possible haul of points for the championship.”
After losing a lot of time opening the roads on the first day, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena began the loop with the fastest time in Lesjofors 1 (SS8). “Then we punctured and again I don’t know why,” sighed the 7- time world champion. “I felt there was a problem on the right-hand rear end after a compression. I thought it was suspension failure, but it turned out to be a puncture.”
More than three minutes behind, and with no real adversary in sight, the reigning world champion’s only aim is to see the flag: “I’ve just got to finish and score a few points. We’ll also take advantage of the remaining kilometers to work on the car’s setup.”
Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal, had a happy smile on his face as he looked at the time sheets : “After a very difficult first day, especially because of hostile conditions, the Citroën DS3 WRCs proved their potential today with a great string of fastest times. Sébastien Ogier is very well placed before the final leg. But there’s still a long way to go. It’s up to him to drive his own race depending on how he feels: he knows what he’s got to do.”
The two DS3 WRCs prepared by Citroën Racing Technologies also gained ground today. Petter Solberg finished the leg less than ten seconds behind the leaders after setting two fastest times. Kimi Räikkönen reeled off three stages in the top five and is now in seventh place.
With five crews separated by under fifteen seconds, the final day consisting of six stages – 92,26th timedkilometers - promises to be a thrilling one. In the unique Power Stage (Gustavsfors 2), shown live on TV inseveral countries the first three will score 3, points, 2 points and 1 point in the Drivers’ and Co-drivers’classifications.
The figuresSébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena Sébastien Ogier / Julien IngrassiaSS8 Lesjofors 1 (15,00 km) 1st 6th +2’38’’0 5th +8’’5 5th +1’19’’7SS9 Sagen 1 (14,23 km) 6th +5’’3 6th +2’39’’1 6th +5’’9 5th +1’21’’4SS10 Fredriksberg 1 (18,15 km) 7th +12’’7 6th +2’39’’9 4th +4’’7 5th +1’14’’2SS11 Varmullsasen 1 (15,42 km) 7th +15’’1 6th +2’43’’6 4th +7’’2 5th +1’10’’0SS12 Lesjofors 2 (15,00 km) 1st 6th +2’31’’3 3rd +6’’7 5th +1’04’’4SS13 Sagen 2 (14,23 km) 1st 6th +2’10’’6 2nd +2’’5 5th +46’’2SS14 Fredriksberg 2 (18,15 km) 2nd +3’’3 6th +1’56’’1 1st 5th +28’’4SS15 Varmullsasen 2 (15,42 km) 1st 6th +1’41’’5 2nd +1’’0 5th +14’’8SS16 Karlstad 2 (1,90 km) 6th +1’’6 6th +1’42’’1 7th +2’’0 5th +15’’8
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-MattiLatvala (Ford Fiesta).Day 2 – SS8 : Sébastien Loeb (Citroën DS3) – SS9 : Petter Solberg (Citroën DS3) – SS10 : Andersson –SS11 : P. Solberg – SS12 and 13 : Loeb – SS14 : Ogier – SS15 et 16 : Loeb – SS17 : P. Solberg.Best performers: Loeb, 5 fastest times – Andersson, 4 – P. Solberg and Ostberg, 3 – Ogier 2 – Latvala, 1.Leaders: SS1: Andersson – SS2 to 10: Ostberg – SS11 to 17: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Fiesta).
Overall classification after the second day1 M. Hirvonen / J. Lehtinen Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2:34:56.12 M. Ostberg / J. Andersson Ford Fiesta RS WRC +7.43 P. Solberg / C. Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +8.94 J. Latvala / M. Anttila Ford Fiesta RS WRC +10.95 S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia Citroën DS3 WRC +15.86 S. Loeb / D. Elena Citroën DS3 WRC +1:42.17 K. Räikkönen / K. Lindström Citroën DS3 WRC +5:05.58 P. Andersson / E. Axelsson Ford Fiesta RS WRC +5:30.79 P. Sandell / S. Parmander Skoda Fabia S2000 +7:44.810 M. Wilson / S. Martin Ford Fiesta RS WRC +7:46.2
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