Sebastien Loeb, the championship leader (by 40 points), is more than one minute off the pace after an accident suffered in the event’s fourth stage. Loeb’s Citroen C4 WRC hit a bridge and lost vital time trying to keep his door closed for the rest of the stage.
Although he has given up on winning for a fourth consecutive rally, he still believes a podium finish is possible. “It’s going to be tough but we will try,” he said after completing day one in seventh overall.
Norway’s Petter Solberg, on a privately-run Citroen C4, held the lead after the opening two stages but fell behind Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo, slipping to fourth before striking back in the afternoon to go fastest through stage eight. “It has been very good today. I have been calm, controlled and I feel great. The main thing for me is to know that Seb is behind me,” Solberg was quoted as saying by WRC’s official site.
Solberg will begin day two leading the field, which will mean he will have to clean the road of the loose surface gravel. “I just have to deal with it,” said the 2003 world champion.
Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala is second heading into day two, despite reporting that he wasn’t happy with his driving during the morning’s loop of four stages. He heads Citroen Junior Team’s Sebastien Ogier, who was fastest on three of Friday’s eight gravel stages. Dani Sordo is fourth in the second works C4, having led after four stages, while Mikko Hirvonen is fifth.
Google News