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| 2009 Rally Norway : WRC Round 2 of 12 : 12th February - 15th February In this issue: 1. Leg 2 Unofficial Leaderboard 2. Leg 2 News 4. Leg 2 Team by Team News 5. Remaining Event Schedule 1. Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S Loeb/D Elena (F) Citroën C4 2h22m11.1s 2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen (FIN) Ford Focus RS +15.0s 3. JM Latvala/M Anttila (FIN) Ford Focus RS +43.2s 4. H Solberg/C Menkerud (N) Ford Focus RS +2m41.3s 5. D Sordo/M Marti (E) Citroën C4 +2m53.3s 6. P Solberg/P Mills (N) Citroën Xsara +4m50.9s 7. M Wilson/S Martin (GB) Ford Focus RS +4m53.2s 8. U Aava/K Sikk (EE) Ford Focus RS +5m18.5s 9. M Ostberg/O Unnerud (N) Subaru Impreza +6m57.8s 10. S Ogier/J Ingarassia (F) Citroën C4 +9m10.2s 2. Leg News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) extended his lead tody. albeit only by a small handful of seconds over Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. Latvala (Ford) seems settled in third whilst Henning Solberg leaped up the leaderboard ahead of his brother who hit problems in his Citroen Xsara. Both Solberg brothers benefited from the retirement of PG Andersson (Skoda) with clutch failure before SS13. The Fabia WRC driver had passed Petter and moved upto 5th on this mornings stages before bad luck cruelly took a shock result away from the Swede. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 A second thrilling day's competition in picture-postcard surroundings ended with the Ford World Rally team retaining second and third positions in Rally Norway. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen fought tooth and nail for the lead on this second round of the 2009 FIA World Rally Championship and lie just 15.0sec from top spot in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, with one day remaining. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila hold the final podium place in another Focus RS. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen:"The grip was consistent and it was fantastic to drive in those conditions. It's an amazing fight, and while I don't enjoy being second, I'm loving this contest. I've not had problems, he's just been faster than me. I need to be faster than him tomorrow. It's not impossible to turn the gap around and I will give it my best shot. It's so close and there are many risks still to be taken." #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "I found a good feeling and I'll try to keep the pressure on tomorrow but the time gap is too large for me to challenge the two guys in front. I would love to be battling with them but I have to be sensible and realistic. I didn't find the right feeling this morning and was braking too early. There was no problem with the car and I only had to look in the mirror to see where the problem was." Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 Overnight leaders Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena profited from the second day of the 2009 Rally Norway to put in a perfectly paced run which has seen them extend their margin at the top of the provisional leaderboard. The five-time World Champions claimed five of the day's fastest times with their Citroën C4 WRC as they pulled progressively clear of their pursuers. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti are fifth overall this evening. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "To have succeeded in increasing our lead in these conditions is all the more satisfying. It's looking good for tomorrow, but the organisers have kept the longest leg of the weekend for the end." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: "I feel that I made progress this afternoon, but I wasn't able to ward off Henning Solberg who was setting times on a par with those of the two front-runners. We'll see if we can't pass him again tomorrow," Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Henning Solberg produced a magnificent performance for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team to finish the second full day at Rally Norway in fourth position. The Norwegian proved himself the king of the mountains around Lillehammer, delighting fans at his home rally by charging up the overall classification from seventh at the start of the day to just one place off the podium. The two other Ford Focus RS WRCs of the Stobart Team also fared well in the perfect winter rally conditions, with Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin and Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk also improving their standings to place seventh and eighth overall. #5 : Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk: "I lost the feeling with the car this morning and my times weren't so great but at Service my engineer changed some settings on the dampers and it felt much better for the afternoon. The feeling was really good and it let us push on more. The grip out on the stages is deceptive, the tyres give you really good grip and it's possible to drive much harder than you think." #6 : Henning Solber/Cato Menkerud: "Today has been great, much better than yesterday and far more enjoyable. The feeling with the car is improved and now I'm really enjoying it; hopefully I'm also putting on a good show for all the Norwegian fans. The stages were in great condition today and the tyres provided fantastic grip. To get ahead of Sordo is a big bonus and the fastest time just topped the day off for me. Now I am the fastest Solberg on the rally; hopefully I can keep it like this tomorrow." #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "We haven't gone just as well as yesterday and I think that's because I didn't do these stages in 2007. That meant my pacenotes just weren't as hot as the first day and I didn't have the confidence to push hard. Hopefully tomorrow though we should get the pace back. As a positive, we have had no problems, had a solid drive and moved up a place on the leaderboard." Citroen Junior Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 After a particularly encouraging performance yesterday, the Citroen Junior Team drivers were forced to show their determination today. By overcoming some of the hurdles thrown up in an action-packed day, the three Citroën C4 WRC crews gained a huge amount of experience and set themselves up for an exciting finish to the rally on Sunday. #7: Evegeny Novikov/Dale Moscatt: " "We're losing time in the narrow places, I can't shift gears easily, so the team is looking at the data." #8 : Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt: " We got a bit too close to a snowbank, and so the air intake became blocked, We had to stop to clean everything out and ended the stage with no power. I'm very disappointed, but I'm hoping for better things tomorrow so that we can really demonstrate our capabilities. " #11: Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia: " It wasn't easy, because we were coming to these stages at full racing speed for the first time. But I was able to fully concentrate on my driving, so our efforts in the morning certainly didn't go to waste. " 5. Remaing Event Schedule Sunday 1 February: Day 3 Sligo - Sligo Serv G Sligo (15 mins) 07.40 SS15 Geevagh 11.48km 08.35 SS16 Arigna 27.90km 09.00 SS17 Lough Gill 13.51km 09.51 Serv H Sligo (30 mins) 10.41 SS18 Donegal Bay 14.47km 12.09 SS19 Donegal Town 1.50km 13.10 Serv I Sligo (10 mins) 14.33 Finish Clarion Hotel, Sligo 15.10 Total 68.86km Rally total 366.75km |