From the World Rally Championship
The Citroen Total World Rally Team crew of Sebastien Ogier and Daniel Ingrassia will take a 31.6 second lead over arch rivals Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena into the final eight stages of the shortened Jordan Rally on Saturday.
A handful of seconds separated Ogier, Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg throughout the opening six stages on Thursday, where Mikko Hirvonen and Loeb were disadvantaged by running at the front of the field and acting as ‘road sweepers’.
The new Citroën DS3 WRC was slightly quicker than the Ford Fiesta over the demanding gravel stages and the two DS3s will start the final day in front of third-placed Latvala in the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC. Solberg holds fourth position and Hirvonen rounds off the top five.
The question going into the final stage was whether any of the frontrunners was willing to take the overall lead overnight and therefore have to run first on the road throughout the final day’s stages.
Hirvonen was already out of the equation, having dropped over a minute through having to run first on the slippery gravel stages, so it was Loeb who made the first move.
While Latvala and Solberg responded by slowing down as well, Ogier continued to push, knowing that he would need a substantial cushion to overcome the disadvantage of running first tomorrow.
After a largely trouble-free day at the wheel of his Ice Racing Citroen DS3 WRC, former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen rounded out Friday’s competition in Jordan in sixth place, 14.9s behind Hirvonen. The Finn edged ahead of M-Sport Stobart driver Matthew Wilson on Friday’s final stage, demoting the Briton to seventh, 12s further back.
Khalid Al Qassimi holds eighth place overnight, with fellow Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Federico Villagra ninth and Nasser Al Attiyah - who leads the Super 2000 category - on course to collect the final drivers’ championship point in tenth.
Jordan Rally – Day 1 classification :
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3 WRC) in 1.32’53”4
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 31”6
3. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 33”1
4. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 35”3
5. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 2’30”9
6. Raikkonen-Lindstrom (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 2’45”8
7. Wilson-Martin (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 2’57”8
8. Al Qassimi-Orr (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 4’49”7
9. Villagra-Perez Companc (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 4’53”5
10. Al-Attiyah-Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta S2000) + 5’19”3
Etc.
The Citroen Total World Rally Team crew of Sebastien Ogier and Daniel Ingrassia will take a 31.6 second lead over arch rivals Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena into the final eight stages of the shortened Jordan Rally on Saturday.
A handful of seconds separated Ogier, Loeb, Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg throughout the opening six stages on Thursday, where Mikko Hirvonen and Loeb were disadvantaged by running at the front of the field and acting as ‘road sweepers’.
The new Citroën DS3 WRC was slightly quicker than the Ford Fiesta over the demanding gravel stages and the two DS3s will start the final day in front of third-placed Latvala in the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC. Solberg holds fourth position and Hirvonen rounds off the top five.
The question going into the final stage was whether any of the frontrunners was willing to take the overall lead overnight and therefore have to run first on the road throughout the final day’s stages.
Hirvonen was already out of the equation, having dropped over a minute through having to run first on the slippery gravel stages, so it was Loeb who made the first move.
While Latvala and Solberg responded by slowing down as well, Ogier continued to push, knowing that he would need a substantial cushion to overcome the disadvantage of running first tomorrow.
After a largely trouble-free day at the wheel of his Ice Racing Citroen DS3 WRC, former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen rounded out Friday’s competition in Jordan in sixth place, 14.9s behind Hirvonen. The Finn edged ahead of M-Sport Stobart driver Matthew Wilson on Friday’s final stage, demoting the Briton to seventh, 12s further back.
Khalid Al Qassimi holds eighth place overnight, with fellow Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Federico Villagra ninth and Nasser Al Attiyah - who leads the Super 2000 category - on course to collect the final drivers’ championship point in tenth.
Jordan Rally – Day 1 classification :
1. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3 WRC) in 1.32’53”4
2. Loeb-Elena (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 31”6
3. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 33”1
4. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 35”3
5. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 2’30”9
6. Raikkonen-Lindstrom (Citroen DS3 WRC) + 2’45”8
7. Wilson-Martin (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 2’57”8
8. Al Qassimi-Orr (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 4’49”7
9. Villagra-Perez Companc (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) + 4’53”5
10. Al-Attiyah-Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta S2000) + 5’19”3
Etc.