“It was a good start - a couple of places I was a little bit wide, but mainly it was okay,” Latvala said after SS2. “We don’t have any split times in the car here; I’m just driving my own rally,” he added, explaining that he tried to remain focused on his own performance and avoid competing with the other drivers on the track.
Marcus Gronholm, who managed to achieve the second fastest time in SS2, said he could reach even better times but he was extremely cautious on the track. “Yeah, that was okay. My start position [12th on the road] is okay but I’m early braking all the time - I think I’m still a little bit too afraid," he said.
Nevertheless, World Champion Sebastien Loeb stepped into the spotlight due to the difficult road conditions that pushed him out of the track for around 20 seconds.
“I went off when I was braking - I was only about one metre off the road - but then I got stuck in my dust and couldn’t see which way to drive,” Loeb explained. I knew nearly which way, but not exactly, so I had to wait until the dust cleared before I could get going again.”
Henning Solberg, who was the leader of the rally following SS1, arrived eleventh. “I lost my brakes, but that’s how it is,” said the Norwegian. “Maybe I’m a bit rusty on stages like this but it will come, I’m sure.”
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