Dani Sordo takes a sensational lead on his Mini Cooper at the end of day one in rally de France Alsace, while local hero Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3) was forced to retire.
Loeb set the pace right at the beginning of the rally, and was standing in first position when he was forced to stop his DS3 in the middle of ES3 after an engine failure. The seven time world champion will not be able to be back with the super rally regulation on Saturday.
His team mate Sébastien Ogier inherits the lead, but was under pressure from Petter Solberg’s Citroen DS3, and Dani Sordo’s Mini Cooper. Solberg took the lead in the afternoon, but it was finally Sordo who finished the day in front. The three top drivers stand within three seconds.
Lot of dramas in this first stage, as both Ford Focus went off the road in ES3. Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala were able to be back on the road, but they lost about one minute in overall classification. Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen DS3) was forced to retire after he went off in a road section, after a contact with Henning Solberg’s Ford Fiesta.
Day one classification:
1. Sordo-Del Barrio (Mini Cooper Wrc) in 1.23’02”1
2. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 1”0
3. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 2”8
4. Meeke-Nagle (Mini Cooper Wrc) + 54”5
5. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1’13”7
6. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1’20”6
7. Araujo-Ramalho (Mini Cooper Wrc) + 2’23”1
8. Ostberg-Andrsson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 2’36”8
9. Kuipers-Miclotte (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 2’46”8
10. H. Solberg-Petrasko (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 3’18”0
Etc.
Loeb set the pace right at the beginning of the rally, and was standing in first position when he was forced to stop his DS3 in the middle of ES3 after an engine failure. The seven time world champion will not be able to be back with the super rally regulation on Saturday.
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| Broken engine on Sebastien Loeb's Citroen. (Photo: WRC) |
His team mate Sébastien Ogier inherits the lead, but was under pressure from Petter Solberg’s Citroen DS3, and Dani Sordo’s Mini Cooper. Solberg took the lead in the afternoon, but it was finally Sordo who finished the day in front. The three top drivers stand within three seconds.
Lot of dramas in this first stage, as both Ford Focus went off the road in ES3. Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala were able to be back on the road, but they lost about one minute in overall classification. Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen DS3) was forced to retire after he went off in a road section, after a contact with Henning Solberg’s Ford Fiesta.
Day one classification:
1. Sordo-Del Barrio (Mini Cooper Wrc) in 1.23’02”1
2. P. Solberg-Patterson (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 1”0
3. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen DS3 Wrc) + 2”8
4. Meeke-Nagle (Mini Cooper Wrc) + 54”5
5. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1’13”7
6. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 1’20”6
7. Araujo-Ramalho (Mini Cooper Wrc) + 2’23”1
8. Ostberg-Andrsson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 2’36”8
9. Kuipers-Miclotte (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 2’46”8
10. H. Solberg-Petrasko (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) + 3’18”0
Etc.