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| 2009 Rally Portugal : WRC Round 4 of 12 : 2nd - 5th April 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. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 24min 12.6sec 2. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 1hr 24min 27.6sec 3. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 1hr 24min 30.6sec 4. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Subaru Impreza 1hr 24min 38.5sec 5. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Citroen Xsara 1hr 24min 54.8sec 6. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 1hr 25min 16.6sec 7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 1hr 25min 27.2sec 8. E Novikov/D Moscatt RUS Citroen C4 1hr 25min 46.3sec 9. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 1hr 25min 46.4sec 10 M Řstberg/O Unnerud NOR Subaru Impreza 1hr 26min 54.7sec 2. Leg News Ford's Mikko Hirvonen leads from Dani Sordi after leg one of Rally de Portugal. World Champion Sebastien Loeb struggled with having to sweep the roads on leg one and also had a small off on the first Friday stage. Marcus Gronholm put in a remarkable performance in the Subaru to hold 4th. Ford's second driver, Jari Matti Latvala crashed out of the lead on SS4, rolling his Focus 17 times in the progress. 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 lead Rally de Portugal after today's sun-kissed opening day in the hills above the Algarve. After a strong morning in unfavourable conditions, the Finns moved ahead this afternoon and built a 15.0sec lead in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. Team-ma! tes Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila led initially before rolling 150 metres down a hillside, escaping injury thanks to the strength of their Focus RS. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "It's great to be leading and I will give everything tomorrow to try to retain that," said Hirvonen. "I will be first in the start order with a lot of dust and gravel on the surface which will make it difficult. I don't know if my lead is big enough to offset that disadvantage, and I think start order will play a big part over the next two days, but I have defended my lead from the front before so it can be done. Before the rally, leading tonight wasn't in my plan but after Jari-Matti's crash our strategy changed." #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "This was the biggest accident of my career. All was going well as we approached a right bend over a crest before a slow left corner. I was carrying too much speed into! the crest and the car lifted. It hit a bank, went up onto two wheels and over the barrier. I rolled maybe 150m off the road. As we rolled there was an incredible noise and the roll cage started to fold in around us. It was very frightening." #19 : Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr: "These roads were very fast and I needed to be fully committed over the crests. It's important to keep the car in the clear line otherwise it's easy to slide wide. I did slide into the bank on the second stage and I thought the car might be damaged, but everything was OK." Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 The first full day of the Rally de Portugal has seen the two Citroën Total World Rally Team crews emerge in a strong position in terms of their chances for a! top result on Sunday. After emerging in front before the lunchtime break, Dani Sordo and Marc Marti ended the leg in second position, just ahead of team-mates Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "There have been no tactical games and everyone has held position which is a very good thing, although I must admit that I'm glad I'm not first on the road tomorrow. Nothing is by any means over yet, though, and I think I showed today that it was possible to post quick times despite the handicap of roadsweeping." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: "I am in a good position to keep up the fight. Mikko, Sébastien, Marcus, Petter Solberg and I are all bunched within 45 seconds, so we will doubtlessly see a fierce scrap tomorrow. I think we can look forward to a good day's sport; I can't wait…" Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford drivers Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg are in hot pursuit of yet another strong points finish in the latest round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally de Portugal, after ending day one in seventh and ninth places respectively. #5 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "We've had a really good day today and it's all been relatively trouble-free. We had good road position this morning and our times have been even better this afternoon which is really encouraging, especially as I still feel that we've got a little in reserve. The stages tomorrow are similar to today and we've got good road position again so we will be trying to match today&rsqu! o;s pace. The car feels great so we're not planning on making any changes as I want to keep the same set up." #6 : Henning Solber/Cato Menkerud: "I am really pleased because I did exactly what I set out to do this morning. Ok, there were some small issues with the brakes but the mechanics fixed those during the service and the car felt much better this afternoon. What it says to me is that we have a really good start position for tomorrow. I think the surface will be much looser than today so the early starters will have some work to do." Citroen Junior Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 Some remarkable performances from Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia and Evgeny Novikov / Dale Moscatt have allowed the Citroen Junior Team to place two C4 WR! Cs in the top eight at the end of day one. Conrad Rautenbach and Daniel Barritt end the day just off the top 10. #7: Evgeny Novikov/Dale Moscatt: " In the afternoon, I was held up by the dust of the car in front of me. We need to make a few small adjustments to the set-up of the car for tomorrow and then I am going to try and push a bit harder. " #8 : Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt: " I've got a good feeling with the car. I hope that I can continue in the same way tomorrow to make up even more places in the overall classification. " #11: Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia: " We steadily increased our pace but my main objective was to drive a fault-free rally. Once we had checked our pace notes, we were able to increase our speed. I'm really enjoying these stages and as a result the times are coming to us. It's been a satisfying day and I hope to carry on in this way tomorrow. " 5. Remaing Event Schedule Saturday 4 April: Day 2 Faro - Faro Serv D Algarve Stadium (15 mins) 08.40 SS8 Santa Clara 1 22.61km 09.55 SS9 Almodovar 1 27.18km 10.30 SS10 Vascăo 1 22.80km 11.40 Serv E Algarve Stadium (30 mins) 13.20 SS11 Santa Clara 2 22.61km 14.50 SS12 Almodovar 2 27.18km 15.25 SS13 Vascăo 2 22.80km 16.35 Serv F Algarve Stadium (45 mins) 18.00 Finish Faro 18.45 Total 145.18km Sunday 5 April: Day 3 Faro - Faro Serv G Algarve Stadium (15 mins) 06.50 SS14 Loulé 1 22.65km 07.50 SS15 S. Brás Alportel 1 16.23km 08.45 Serv H Algarve Stadium ! (30 mins) 10.01 SS16 Loulé 2 22.65km 11.16 SS17 S. Brás Alportel 2 16.23km 12.11 Serv I Algarve Stadium (10 mins) 13.15 SS18 Estádio Algarve 2 2.21km 14.00 Finish Faro 14.10 Total 79.97km Rally total 361.36km |