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| 2008 Rally Finland : WRC Round 9 of 15 : 1st - 3rd August 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 04min 57.9sec 2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 05min 12.3sec 3. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 1hr 05min 51.0sec 4. G Galli/G Bernacchini ITA Ford Focus RS 1hr 05min 54.1sec 5. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 1hr 06min 03.3sec 6. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 1hr 06min 35.7sec 7. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 1hr 06min 39.0sec 8. P-G Andersson/J Andersson SWE Suzuki SX4 1hr 07min 18.3sec 9. M Rantanen/J Lönegren FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 07min 24.5sec 10 T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 1hr 07min 25.1sec 2. Leg News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) held the advantage over Hirvonen from the start and claimed 10 stage wins, two shared with the Finn. Dani Sordo (Citroen), Urmo Aava (Citroen) and Stobart driver Gigi Galli (Ford) all held third, before Henning Solberg (Ford) completed a remarkable progression from 10th this morning to take third on the penultimate test. Galli lies fourth, ahead of Sordo, who spun on stage eight. Aava went off the road on the following test while Andreas Mikkelsen (Ford), who was also in the fight for third this morning, retired on the penultimate stage. Per-Gunnar Andersson (Suzuki) spun early in the opening test, dropping nearly 30sec, but recovered to eighth. Team-mate Toni Gardemeister is 10th, despite hurting his right shoulder after going off the road in stage seven. 3. Event links " Entry List " Event News " Event History " Event Photos " Tipping 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 drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen have been embroiled in a fierce fight for supremacy at the head of the leaderboard in Rally Finland today. The FIA World Rally Championship leaders hold second in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after a captivating duel with arch-rival Sébastien Loeb over the roller-coaster forest roads of central Finland. The difference between the two drivers after the first of three legs is just 14.4sec. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila retired their Focus RS this morning after crashing out of third place on the third stage. The Finns will return to the action tomorrow under SupeRally rules after the team repaired the car this afternoon. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "The battle is almost as close as last year when I fought with Marcus Grönholm. This afternoon, especially, was good. I drove as hard as I could and made no mistakes. I'm a little frustrated that I couldn't do any more. I could have taken risks but that's something I didn't want to do. Road position wasn't an issue and I didn't let Jari-Matti's retirement affect me. I just tried to do the best job for myself and Ford." #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "I approached a left-right-left combination of bends and decided to keep the car as straight as I could. But I hit a rock, which wasn't in my pace notes, with the front right of the car. The handling felt strange immediately afterwards and suddenly I was thrown off the road into the ditch where the car half-rolled and hit a small tree. The data shows I was doing 117kph when I went off….." #19 : Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr: "I'm getting the feeling back after the break and I was happy with my times on these rapid stages. This is a very, very fast rally and on the open sections we gave it everything, but maybe I backed off a little on some of the more aggressive jumps. Today was about getting to the end and building confidence. The changing weather meant I had to adapt my driving in some areas. I tried to go full out on some of the later stages but there were times when I eased off as the road became slippery," Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 The long and challenging opening day of this year's Rally Finland saw crews get off to an early start, with competitive action continuing well into the evening. The ninth round of the 2008 World Championship marked a successful return to WRC business for Citroën Sport which completed the leg with both works C4 WRCs in the overnight top-five. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena top the provisional leaderboard, while their teammates Dani Sordo and Marc Martí follow in fifth place. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "First time round this morning's loop, we were encouraged by the impeccable handling of our C4 WRC to push hard. We were frequently on the limit, but that's the only way to build up a lead here in Finland! The conditions were damper this afternoon and the going was fairly tricky because certain portions were quite cut up, while the grip had altered in other places. We had to be on our toes all the time, but that didn't stop us attacking all the way. That's the challenge of this event; you need to find the ideal compromise." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: ."It only took me a few corners to settle into a quick but safe pace. Our situation changed when one of our main rivals retired. It is important that we keep the Manufacturers' title chase in mind because this event could be good for us." Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 At the finish of the opening day of Rally Finland, round nine of the World Rally Championship, the Subaru World Rally Team duos of Petter Solberg / Phil Mills and Chris Atkinson / Stéphane Prévot brought their Impreza WRC2008s across the line in sixth and seventh respectively. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "In Finland, it's so fast and you need to have so much confidence in the car. We don't have that feeling here yet, so it really shows in the times. I was feeling good before the weekend, after the test, but we don't have that same feeling here so it's disappointing for everyone." #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: "We pushed hard today and that's all we could do. The balance was ok, we had a small problem in the middle loop of stages that the team fixed by the afternoon, but the speed just isn't there quite yet" Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 After the opening day of Neste Oil Rally Finland both nominated points scoring drivers for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team sit nicely inside the top-four. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud lead the way in third after an impressive string of top-three stage times this afternoon. It has been a day long battle for the final podium spot with team-mates Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini who currently lie fourth just 3.1 seconds behind the Norwegian pair. Brits Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin advanced on their overnight position and sit comfortably in 11th place. #7 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "Today has went well and it's been a great start to the rally for me. The car has been working well but we started off slowly this morning as it took some time to find a good feeling with the rear of the car. But the mechanics have done a great job and you can see from my times that the feeling is better now and I can push the way I like to. With no test before the rally it's been good to see that we have got off to a flying Finnish start and be on the podium at the end of the first day." #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: "We were very lucky today on the last corner of stage 9 when I just cut a bit too much and touched some bushes but ok it's no big problem now. I wasn't able to keep the pace towards the end of the day and Henning has managed to get ahead but its fine, he's my friend and I don't mind him sweeping the road for me tomorrow! It has been a good day, it took us a while to just get up to speed this morning but my confidence is better now, the car and the Pirelli tyres are working well so I can push some more tomorrow." #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "In some sections today my splits have been really good and the car feels great. But in others I'm lifting too much and just struggling to find the confidence so I just need to get it to feel good everywhere. With this rally it takes a day to get your brain into Finland mode as the speeds and commitment needed here are different to anywhere else in the world. I haven't put a foot wrong today and just need to stay focused and get everything to work a bit better tomorrow." Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 The first leg of the event known as the 'Finnish Grand Prix' took the crews out to the west of the rally's base in Jyvaskyla for nine long tests and one final run around the Killeri superspecial stage. After warm summer sunshine throughout the recce and shakedown for the event, rain and damp conditions greeted the drivers as they headed out of service for Vellipohja, the morning's opener. Both Suzuki SX4 WRCs featured at the front of the field, with P-G Andersson and Toni Gardemeister scrapping over points-paying positions; the tense battle between the brace of SX4 WRCs was one of the features of the opening day. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: "When we went off in the second run through Palsankyla this afternoon, it was a very, very big moment for us. I would say we went off the road at about 180kp/h - incredible! I really thought we were going to roll. We collected a puncture on the left-rear tyre which was there for the rest of the stage and I hurt my right shoulder in the impact. It was bad. Otherwise, the car has been good. It's a fantastic fight between myself and P-G and the best thing is that we're both in the top 10!" #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: "The SX4 WRC has been great today. We've had no problems. Given the testing we did, we've got a very good set-up with the car. We had a small problem in the second loop, when the back of the car was kicking up a little bit in the ruts and jumps, but the team was soon able to rectify that at service. After that, it was very good and we were able to close on Toni. The spin this morning was frustrating. We hit some water a couple of kilometers into the test, that pulled the wheel in and spun us into the ditch. The car was in the ditch. And facing the wrong direction. It cost us about 25s to get the car out and turned around, but we're in the points - and that's all that matters.² 5. Remaining Event Schedule Saturday 2 August: Day 2 Jyväskylä - Jyväskylä Serv E Paviljonki (15 mins) 06.00 SS12 Himos 15.35km 07.13 SS13 Hirvimäki 10.67km 08.09 SS14 Surkee 1 14.80km 08.34 Serv F Paviljonki (30 mins) 09.33 SS15 Leustu 21.43km 10.46 SS16 Kakaristo 1 20.09km 11.45 SS17 Kaipolanvuori 13.64km 12.26 SS18 Surkee 2 14.80km 13.31 Serv G Paviljonki (30 mins) 14.30 SS19 Kakaristo 2 20.09km 16.13 SS20 Juupajoki 21.13km 17.03 SS21 Väärinmaja 16.25km 17.56 Serv H Paviljonki (45 mins) 19.51 Finish Paviljonki 20.36 Total 168.25km Sunday 3 August: Day 3 Jyväskylä - Jyväskylä Serv I Paviljonki (15 mins) 08.20 SS22 Lankamaa 23.09km 09.38 SS23 Hannula 10.92km 10.44 SS24 Ruuhimäki 6.46km 12.02 Finish Paviljonki 13.30 Total 40.47km Rally total 340.42km |