“It’s been good this morning. It’s very fast, but I can still go quicker. I’m happy so far and not feeling too bad. When you start the stages you start to forget about not feeling so well,” said Solberg after SS5, which he finished in 3rd place.
Running for the second time this year as a Citroen works driver, Ogier managed to maintain a good pace through Day 1, sitting 10.3 seconds behind Solberg at the end of SS5. However, as revealed by the Frenchman himself, his goal for the weekend is not to win, but finish on the podium.
“Catching Petter is not my priority," said Ogier. "My target on this event is to make the podium. I have been fighting for the podium on gravel rallies and I want to do this again on this rally,” said the French Citroen driver.
Third overall at the middle of Day 1 action is the very man Ogier replaced at Citroen Total, Dani Sordo, who enjoyed a trouble-free performance to position himself only 2.2 seconds behind the Frenchman, while less than a second ahead of Ford's Mikko Hirvonen.
Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb had to settle for only the 6th best time this morning, behind Jari-Matti Latvala, as he lost no less than 36.6 seconds to Solberg after 3 stages. His main deficit came at the end of the first stage, where he inexplicably lost 24 seconds to the Norwegian.
Seventh and eighth overall are Stobart M-Sport duo Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson, while followed by Munchi's Federico Villagra and Citroen Junior's Kimi Raikkonen. The latest news coming from the Finn's corner is that his team will replace the gearbox of his Citroen C4 WRC due to handling problems in the first 3 stages of Friday.
Google News