The shakedown went under way on a 2.3 km itinerary some 7.5 km north of the Dead Sea Service Park, with the temperatures not exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, as reported by the WRC official website.
Loeb set the fastest time of 1:13.4, only one tenth of a second ahead of Citroen duo Petter Solberg (privateer) and Dani Sordo (his teammate at Citroen Total). The two Ford drivers were not far behind though, with Jari-Matti Latvala stopping the clock at 1:13.7, one tenth of a second ahead of teammate Mikko Hirvonen.
Rally Mexico sensation Sebastien Ogier had to settle for the 6th best time on Wednesday, while more than a second ahead of Munchi's Federico Villagra and Stobart duo Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg. The driver to complete the Top 10 was none other than the second Citroen Junior driver Kimi Raikkonen, who was clocked almost 3 seconds behind pace-setter Loeb.
“Everything went okay, but the road wasn't very representative of the ones we saw on the recce,” insisted Loeb, following his encouraging start on Wednesday. “Today's road was fast and there was a lot of grip, while the proper stages are much more twisty and slippery. All we did today was check that everything was okay with the car.”
Loeb will be looking to avenge his poor Rally Jordan outing two years ago – at the event's inaugural running in the WRC – when he crashed his Citroen C4 while in the lead. He eventually recuperated to only 10th in the overall classification, point-less position at the time.
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