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| 2008 Acropolis Rally : WRC Round 7 of 15 : 30th May - 1st June In this issue: 1. Leg 1 Unofficial Leaderboard 2. Leg 1 News 4. Leg 1 Team by Team News 5. Remaining Event Schedule 1. Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 1hr 21min 34.8sec 2. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 1hr 21min 50.5sec 3. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 1hr 22min 33.9sec 4. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 1hr 22min 40.8sec 5. U Aava/K Sikk EST Citroen C4 1hr 22min 50.3sec 6. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 22min 53.7sec 7. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 23min 11.2sec 8. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 1hr 23min 11.6sec 9. P-G Andersson/J Andersson SWE Suzuki SX4 1hr 23min 58.6sec 10 F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Focus RS 1hr 24min 04.1sec 2. Leg News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) moved into the lead when Latvala punctured this afternoon and ended with a 15.7sec advantage over team-mate Dani Sordo, having won four stages. Sordo's only concern came on the opening stage this afternoon with an engine overheating problem. Petter Solberg (Subaru) climbed into third on the final stage on the debut for the latest-version Impreza after a daylong battle with brother Henning (Ford). The gap between the two is just 5.1sec. Toni Gardemeister (Suzuki) stopped briefly in the second stage with a fuel pump problem while Matthew Wilson (Ford) dropped 30sec after hitting two rocks in stage three and breaking his car's propshaft. The day's only major retirement was Stobart driver Gigi Galli (Ford) on the second stage. He hit a rock and the impact broke the front right track control arm in the suspension and this in turn pulled the driveshaft out of the gearbox. The second day promises to be the toughest, with drivers reporting from the recce that the three tests, which are used twice, are the roughest of the event. Competitors leave Tatoi at 08.30 to tackle 119.12km of competition, west of Athens. The two loops of stages pass close to the Corinth Canal and are split by a return to the service park. Drivers return there for the final overnight halt at 19.06. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team made a strong start to the toughest round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Greece today, only for its daylong endeavours to end in disappointment in the final kilometres. Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila lie sixth on the Acropolis Rally of Greece in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, after leading for the first half of the opening leg. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen are seventh in a similar Focus RS. Latvala was second and Hirvonen overcame the disadvantage of a poor start position to hold fourth as they began the final short speed test on the northern edge of Athens. However, suspension problems forced both drivers to nurse their cars through the 4.40km special stage, Latvala conceding more than a minute and Hirvonen dropping 50sec to slip down the order. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: As championship leader, Hirvonen was disadvantaged by being first in the start order, sweeping slippery loose stones from the surface to leave a cleaner and faster driving line for those behind. The 27-year-old Finn quickly settled into fourth and set his sights on limiting the time loss so that he could take advantage of a better road position tomorrow from which to attack the drivers ahead. However, the same rock that damaged Latvala's hopes, also ruined Hirvonen's day. "It was so rough and the damage could have happened anywhere. Just before the finish I braked going into a corner and the front right compression strut broke. We tried to fix it after the finish but I had to drive slowly through the final stage. I have a better road position for tomorrow, and that's the best positive I can draw from today. Third could still be possible, but that will be the best I can achieve," he said. #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: Latvala made a perfect start by winning the opening special stage and the third to hold a 4.2sec lead after the opening loop. A front left puncture on the afternoon's opening test cost 10sec and two places but the 23-year-old Finn climbed back to second on the penultimate test. However, a rock on the final corner of that stage was to ruin Latvala's excellent performance. "A rock was jutting out from the bedrock in a rut in the middle of the corner," he explained. "I was doing about 150kph when I hit it and the impact damaged the rear right suspension. I didn't see the rock until I hit it. It was a very rough stage and the rock wasn't in my pace notes. It was close to the stage finish so I didn't lose much time. The trailing arm in the suspension broke and we stopped after the finish to strap it up so that we could complete the final stage. We were unlucky because the repairs were holding until we drove over a speed bump before the start of the last stage and it broke again. "It has been the same story for me in recent events. I have had a good start, hit trouble and then have to fight back up the leaderboard. I tried to look after my tyres this morning as it's important to keep them in good condition here. I was playing with the throttle on the uphill sections to preserve them and that's something I need to work on because tomorrow will be even tougher," he said. #19 : Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr: Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr are 15th in another Focus RS. Incredibly, they too fell foul of the same rock. "I noticed a tyre going flat halfway through the stage but the car was still driveable. Then about 100m from the finish there must have been a bedded rock and the impact on the rear right of the car was huge. The trailing arm snapped instantly, I lost control of the wheel and limped over the line. On the road section to the last stage, Michael and I had to change the tyre three times because it was rubbing on the car's bodywork and puncturing again and again. It's a miracle we made it back, especially after doing the super special with a flat tyre," said 36-year-old Al Qassimi. Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 The opening day of the 2008 Acropolis Rally, round seven of this year's World Rally Championship, saw excellent runs from of Citroën Total's Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí who finished at the top of the provisional leaderboard with their respective C4 WRCs. The team's objective now is to defend the overnight positions of its two crews. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "There was no question of trying to play it tactically this morning," reported Sébastien at the lunchtime service halt. "We were second on the road, so we knew we faced a morning of 'road sweeping'. To limit the impact of that, the only solution was to push hard from the outset, and that's exactly what we tried to do. Our deficit after the first loop was just 4.2s, so it wasn't too bad. That put us in a good position for the afternoon's stages, although we didn't know how much the conditions had changed after the morning's pass…" "The phenomenon we saw in Sardinia didn't materialise here," commented Seb after the Tatoi super-special. "This time, there was an acceptable amount of grip second time through once all the other competitors had been through; sufficient, in any case, to close the gap, move into the lead and then pull clear. But we couldn't afford to hang about! Daniel and I pushed extremely hard and we only lifted over the trickiest portions. On top of that, my Citroën C4 was in great form all day and it took all the different types of conditions in its stride, from the sand of Shimatari (SS1/4) and the gravel on Thiva (SS2/5) to the rocky Psatha (SS3/6). Psatha was actually a foretaste of what we can expect tomorrow. This rally is far from over and we could be in for a drama-packed weekend…" #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: "We got off to a strong start," related Dani. "The work done during testing meant we started with a good set-up which worked very well. I felt confident with my C4 and we were able to keep up a good pace, although I was perhaps a little over-cautious on SS3. But there were rocks all over the place and I didn't want to push my car too hard. We ended the first loop in third position, 6.2s off the lead, and that was encouraging." Dani Sordo and Marc Martí also put in a strong afternoon and were pleased with their day at the end of play this evening: "I stayed focused on my objective," revealed Dani. "That enabled me to make the most of our car's strengths to keep a footing on the podium. We tried to reproduce the same pace as this morning and that seemed to function. We are now in a good position to target a top result for Citroën. We will need to profit from that and do all we can to steer clear of all the pitfalls associated with this event." Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 On the 55th running of the notoriously punishing Acropolis Rally, the all-new Subaru Impreza WRC2008 made its competitive debut today to great acclaim. On this real event of attrition, Petter Solberg and Phil Mills grabbed third place overall on the opening day, whilst team-mates Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot successfully completed their first competitive outing, and also Atkinson's first ever rally aboard a brand new World Rally Car, lying within striking distance of the front-runners. The Subaru World Rally Team is not one to shy away from a challenge, demonstrated this weekend by the decision to launch their newest World Rally Car on the most unforgiving event of the season, and ahead of schedule. Introduced to the World Rally Championship on Wednesday evening to worldwide media and VIPs, both Imprezas successfully completed the first day of their debut event on what is largely regarded as the most punishing rally on the calendar, and under the watchful eyes of the world's press. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "The car has so much potential! I am happy with the way today has gone, and it is so important for the team to be third on a very special day for us. We have had no problems all day which is very good. The car is good to drive, and the team has worked so hard to get it here so it is great to be third. But there is much more to come. We are coming, step by step!"ls: #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevo: "Ok, we have finished the first day which is very important" reflected Chris Atkinson. "It's good to be in the new car, and we know we still have some work to do. We damaged a control arm in the afternoon on the roughest stage of the day which lost us some time. We knew bringing it in early would be tough, and we need to find a bit more, but that's what we came here to learn, and we are learning."ot: Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 The opening day of the Acropolis Rally of Greece has served the Stobart VK-Sport Ford rally team with mixed fortunes as Norwegians Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud lead the way in fourth position. Team-mates Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin pushed through some early issues to bounce back to 12th with a string of top-eight stage times. It was not so fortunate for team-mates Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini who retired this morning after a speedy start from the Italian crew. Just over 12 kilometres into stage 2 on a fast left hand corner they hit a large rock in the middle of the road which was pulled out by another competitor. This immediately broke the front right track control arm in the suspension and this in turn damaged the driveshaft. After inspection from the FIA, Galli's Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 was deemed safe to return tomorrow under SupeRally regulations. Solberg's effort today was near perfect as he drove an intelligent race to be right in the hunt for a podium finish. The only trouble for the Norwegian came on stage 3 when he overshot two junctions coming into hairpins at high speed. He will look to continue this pace tomorrow as he currently lies in a battle with brother Petter for third position. The only major issue for Wilson was a broken propshaft, with three kilometres of stage 3 left to go, which lost the youngster around 40 seconds and a couple of places on the leaderboard. Fortunately his team of Stobart technicians, spearheaded by Engineer Ross Sutherland, swarmed upon the car in service and put in a sterling effort to restore the car to its full glory enabling Wilson to return to this afternoon's repeat loop of stages. #7 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "We had a good feeling with the car all morning and it is staying strong in these tough conditions. The stages are not as rough as I thought they were going to be but it is extremely hot in the car so I am just trying my best to concentrate on my driving. The exception to this was stage 6, it was incredible, and the roads were right down to bedrock. I had to back off so as not to damage the car. We lost some time but it was definitely the right decision as some of the others had problems and now we have moved up to fourth position." #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: "The first stage didn't start off so well as we had a small spin after just one kilometre and the rest of the stage just didn't flow; I was driving too fast and was sideways in too many places. Then the second stage was much better, more neat and the split times up until my problem were great. I think we were fastest to that point. Then we hit a big rock which had been dragged out into the middle of the road and it broke the front suspension and we could go no further. This was disappointing for me as I wanted to get a good start to this rally." #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "The first stage was very technical so I just tried to stay neat and this worked because we set a good time. However the third stage was totally the opposite, we had two overshoots, first at a hairpin and then second at a slow corner when I tried to avoid a big rock and we stalled the engine. Then with three kilometres to go the prop-shaft broke and we just had to cruise to the end of the stage. But the mechanics did a great job in service to get everything fixed and good as new. Stage 6 though was very rough and we backed off as there was no point causing any more damage to the car." Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 Following last night¹s exceptionally popular ceremonial start at the Parthenon in the centre of Athens, the Suzuki SX4 WRC drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson started the main event and the competitive action north of the city of Athens this morning. Arguably the harshest rally on the calendar, the Acropolis Rally combines the rockiest roads with the hottest conditions. Both Suzukis coped admirably with everything this Greek summer could throw at them. Andersson was never out of the top 10 and was ninth overnight, while his team-mate Gardemeister ended the day on the fringes of the top 10 in 11th position. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuomin: Everything has been quite okay today. We had some trouble this morning with the fuel pumps, but the afternoon was good. I was at 95 per cent. There is more to come.en: #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: The first and third stages today were really technical, very twisty, but good fun in the SX4 WRC. I haven¹t been going at the maximum today; this rally is about surviving until the finish and that¹s what we¹ve got our sights firmly set on. Tomorrow¹s a really tough day. There¹s still a very long way to go in this event 5. Remaing Event Schedule Saturday 31 May: Day 2 Athens - Athens Serv C Tatoi (15 mins) 08.30 SS8 Aghii Theodori 1 32.16km 09.58 SS9 Pissia 1 16.60km 10.41 SS10 Aghia Triada 1 10.80km 12.09 Serv D Tatoi (30 mins) 13.27 SS11 Aghii Theodori 2 32.16km 15.10 SS12 Pissia 2 16.60km 15.53 SS13 Aghia Triada 2 10.80km 17.21 Serv E Tatoi (45 mins) 18.21 Finish Tatoi 19.06 Sunday 1 June: Day 3 Athens - Athens Serv F Tatoi (15 mins) 05.50 SS14 Avlonas 1 20.00km 06.48 SS15 Assopia 1 17.87km 07.27 SS16 Aghia Sotira 1 15.20km 08.30 Serv G Tatoi (30 mins) 09.59 SS17 Avlonas 2 20.00km 11.12 SS18 Assopia 2 17.87km 11.51 SS19 Aghia Sotira 2 15.20km 12.54 SS20 SSS Tatoi 2 4.60km 14.30 Serv H Tatoi (10 mins) 14.45 Finish Tatoi 15.03 |