The Spaniard, Loeb's teammate at Citroen works team, climbed all the way into 2nd place following Aava's crashing out of the rally during SS6, as he bettered Mikko Hirvonen on both 5th and 6th stage of the event. The two Citroens now have a time margin of over 20 seconds to the Finish driver, while Stobart Ford's Henning Solberg rests in 4th place, more than 3 minutes off pace.
“In stage one I didn't want to push - it was too tricky with the wrong tyre choice. The only thing I could've done there is go off the road, so I didn't want to do that. I wanted to take a rhythm and get the feeling, and now it's good. We've been pushing since that first stage, and now with the 'snow' tyre it's going very well,” explained Loeb his approach during the rally's first day.
Hirvonen, on the other hand, admitted he is not feeling at all comfortable with his car's setup and is barely keeping the pace with the leading two drivers after the 6th stages so far.
“I’m trying to take the fight to Sordo but I stalled the engine at a junction on this one and that cost me some time. I’ll keep on moving,” revealed the Finnish driver.
Citroen Junior Team's drivers have all managed to end the afternoon session in points, as Conrad Rautenbach, Sebastien Ogier and Chris Atkinson are now 5th, 6th and 7th overall. However, it is yet to be decided if Atkinson will be able to continue the rally, as his Citroen C4 hit a pole while aquaplaning and slightly damaged his car in the process. His co-driver Stephane Prevot also picked up a small injury. Matthew Wilson ended the first 6 stages of Rally Ireland in 8th place.
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