48 RALLY RACC CATALUNYA COSTA DAURADA
After the first leg was largely contested on muddy gravel, Rally de Espana continued Saturday on Catalonias fast, wide roads. Sbastien Loeb and Daniel Elena grabbed the lead on the second stage of the day before going on to build a substantial lead of close to half a minute over their rivals.
Saturday was also a good day for Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, who climbed to third in the overall standings. After keeping out of trouble in the tricky conditions on day one, the Citron Total World Rally Team drivers were determined to make the most of todays leg on tarmac to improve their positions. With wet conditions affecting pretty much the entire course, the crews opted to start on soft Michelin Pilot Sport tyres.However, sensing there was a good chance the roads would dry out, Sbastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen took two hard tyres as spares.
Sbastien Loeb went on the attack on El Priorat which, at 46 kilometres, is the rallys longest stage, whilst leader Madsstberg went off the road. By winning the stage, the nine-time World Champion* took over as leader. After repeatingthe feat on SS9, he made it to the midday service in Salou with a lead just shy of twenty seconds over Jari-Matti Latvala:I was struggling a bit on SES7. I didn't feel very confident about the set-up that we had chosen and the tyres werentreally getting up to temperature. I got back things back on track after that, but I cant take it easy. Its still pretty close!Still lying fourth at this stage of the rally, Mikko Hirvonen was also positive about these first few stages on tarmac: Seband Jari-Matti were a little bit quicker than me, but it wasnt too bad. The car was working well, I just lacked a little bitof confidence in the wettest sections. Were not very far behind stberg. Im going to try and grab third place on thesecond run.
As the sun had come out again on the Costa Daurada, the DS3 WRCs switched to hard tyres for the second loop.Picking up where he left off in the morning, Sbastien Loeb claimed a third consecutive stage win on La Mussara. Andin going faster than Latvala on the days final two stages, the no.1 DS3 WRC driver increased his lead little by little.The roads were dry and not that uneven compared to this morning, so it was fun to drive in conditions like that,confirmed Seb. I drove well and tried to avoid picking up a puncture. With our little lead, we can be optimistic aboutour chances on the last day.
As he had planned, Mikko Hirvonen moved up into third place after the El Priorat stage. With Ott Tnak trailing him byaround fifteen seconds, the Finn expects to have a fight on his hand on the final day: Its good; Im pleased with myperformance today, but I always want more. I must keep improving to have a chance of fighting for the stage wins. Inany case, well have to keep pushing tomorrow
Overall, it has been a positive day for us, as Seb and Mikko have both moved up in the standings, emphasized YvesMatton, Citron Racing Team Principal. Like yesterday, we made the right tyre choices and our crews have producedflawless performances on the stages. Were in good shape, but the gaps are still pretty small. Well have to stayfocussed right to the end if we are to finish the season in style!
* Subject to publication of the official results by the FIA.
NEUVILLE ALL SMILES AGAINDisappointed after retiring yesterday on SS2, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were back in action today underRally2 regulations. After making hard work of this mornings stages, the Citron Junior World Rally Team crewimproved as the afternoon progressed. The first loop was difficult, because I was racing on these stages for the firsttime in wet conditions, whilst also having to contend with a brake problem. I didnt take any risks but we were able tocheck our pace notes. On the second runs, we were close to the top times and that's the main thing.Seventh after day one, Hans Weijs Jr. moved ahead of Craig Breen on the first stage of the day. Somewhat isolated inthe overall standings, the Dutchman continued to get to grips with the DS3 WRC whilst gradually narrowing the gapbetween his times and those of the leading drivers.
OVERALL STANDINGS1 Loeb / Elena Citron DS3 WRC 3:16:14.12 Latvala / Anttila Ford Fiesta RS WRC +27.03 Hirvonen / Lehtinen Citron DS3 WRC +1:14.14 Tnak / Sikk Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1:28.85 stberg / Andersson Ford Fiesta RS WRC +1:31.46 Weijs Jr. / Degandt Citron DS3 WRC +9:02.97 Breen / Nagle Ford Fiesta RRC +12:26.28 Novikov / Minor Ford Fiesta RS WRC +13:25.19 Nikara / Kalliolepo Mini JCW WRC +13:39.110 Andersson / Axelsson Proton Satria S2000 +15:45.5
