Sébastien Loeb will begin day two of ADAC Rally Deutschland with a lead of 7.4 sec over Citroen teammate Sébastien Ogier following an action-packed opening day of the first asphalt event of the World Rally Championship season.
Jari-Matti Latvala had his rally off to a sensational start for the Ford factory team by winning the opening stage in his Fiesta RS WRC, but he was one of several leading drivers to be caught out by running hard compound tires on the rain-hit second stage.
Loeb and Ogier were able to pull clear after selecting the optimal soft-compound version in this second stage. Loeb's three stages victory and Ogier's two places Citroen some 80 sec clear of closest follower Mikko Hirvonen.
The Finn is 1m18.4s behind Loeb following a frustrating day in his Fiesta. After dropping time on stage two, Hirvonen’s efforts to recover lost ground suffered a setback when he damaged his car’s suspension striking a wall on stage four. However, repairs enabled him to reach the end of day in the final podium spot.
Dani Sordo is an impressive fourth in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC, one place ahead of teammate Kris Meeke, who was third fastest on stage four. Briton Meeke is 17.3s behind Sordo after six stages but could have been closer to the Spaniard had it not been for a spin on the final stage, which was caused by intermittent power loss.
Petter Solberg is sixth overnight in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC after being delayed overshooting a junction and getting stuck on a bank on Friday morning. His older brother Henning Solberg is seventh in the first of the quartet of M-Sport Stobart Fiestas after overcoming earlier brake problems.
Kimi Raikkonen survived a scare on stage five when he went offroad and damaged the left side of his ICE 1 Racing DS3 to such extent that his driver’s door kept flapping open on the stage. The ex-Formula One World Champion is eighth overnight.
Rally Deutschland – Day 1:
1. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3) in 1.18'21”4
2. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3) + 7”4
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS) + 1'18”4
4. Sordo-Del Barrio (Mini Cooper) + 1'40”3
5. Meeke-Nagle (Mini Cooper) + 1'57”6
6. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3) + 1'59”8
7. H.Solberg-Petrasco (Ford Fiesta RS) + 3'22”1
8. Raikkonen-Lindstrom (Citroen DS3) + 3'25”5
Etc.
Jari-Matti Latvala had his rally off to a sensational start for the Ford factory team by winning the opening stage in his Fiesta RS WRC, but he was one of several leading drivers to be caught out by running hard compound tires on the rain-hit second stage.
Loeb and Ogier were able to pull clear after selecting the optimal soft-compound version in this second stage. Loeb's three stages victory and Ogier's two places Citroen some 80 sec clear of closest follower Mikko Hirvonen.
The Finn is 1m18.4s behind Loeb following a frustrating day in his Fiesta. After dropping time on stage two, Hirvonen’s efforts to recover lost ground suffered a setback when he damaged his car’s suspension striking a wall on stage four. However, repairs enabled him to reach the end of day in the final podium spot.
Dani Sordo is an impressive fourth in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC, one place ahead of teammate Kris Meeke, who was third fastest on stage four. Briton Meeke is 17.3s behind Sordo after six stages but could have been closer to the Spaniard had it not been for a spin on the final stage, which was caused by intermittent power loss.
Petter Solberg is sixth overnight in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC after being delayed overshooting a junction and getting stuck on a bank on Friday morning. His older brother Henning Solberg is seventh in the first of the quartet of M-Sport Stobart Fiestas after overcoming earlier brake problems.
Kimi Raikkonen survived a scare on stage five when he went offroad and damaged the left side of his ICE 1 Racing DS3 to such extent that his driver’s door kept flapping open on the stage. The ex-Formula One World Champion is eighth overnight.
Rally Deutschland – Day 1:
1. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3) in 1.18'21”4
2. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3) + 7”4
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS) + 1'18”4
4. Sordo-Del Barrio (Mini Cooper) + 1'40”3
5. Meeke-Nagle (Mini Cooper) + 1'57”6
6. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3) + 1'59”8
7. H.Solberg-Petrasco (Ford Fiesta RS) + 3'22”1
8. Raikkonen-Lindstrom (Citroen DS3) + 3'25”5
Etc.