BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team driver Mikko Hirvonen holds a commanding lead of the Acropolis Rally tonight thanks to a trouble-free run though all of Saturday's stages and a disastrous morning for his rivals at the Citroen team.
Today has brought a remarkable turn around in fortune for Hirvonen who, after a mistake from his team-mate on Friday, seemed unlikely to have a good Saturday. Hirvonen began the day in the unenviable start position of first of the road, destined to sweep a cleaner line in the gravel for the benefit of the cars behind.
With only a three second head start, Hirvonen had been expected to lose out to the chasing Citroens behind. But by the midday service Citroen's attack was over. Loeb crashed out on SS7, while Sordo hit a rock on SS9.
From then on Hirvonen's biggest threat was Citroen privateer Petter Solberg, who lay only 21seconds behind after SS10. But when Solberg's Citroen collected suspension damage on SS11, Hirvonen found himself with a much more comfortable gap to the new man in second - Sebastien Ogier of the Citroen Junior team. Now, with only 95 competitive kilometres left to run on Sunday, Hirvonen is 1min 40 sec ahead of the Frenchman.
For Hirvonen the day couldn't have gone any better. A guaranteed no-score for his title rival Loeb means he has every chance of closing the gap between them in the drivers' standings to seven points.
After a gloomy outlook on Friday night, Ford is heading for a good manufacturers' championship result too. Jari-Matti Latvala's recovery from overnight 11th to third place tonight have put the team on course for a potential maximum 18 points on Sunday.
Citroen Junior team driver Ogier holds second place and is on target for a career best WRC finish on Sunday. Sebastien was annoyed to have lost time when he caught Solberg's damaged Xsara on SS11, but was in better spirits when he arrived back at Loutraki.
Fourth overall, and also heading for career best result, is 18-year-old Evgeny Novikov. The Russian was fastest on three of Saturday's stages and moved up from 12th place on Friday night. The third Citroen Junior Team driver, Conrad Rautenbach, rounds off the top five places, 12.1 seconds behind Novikov.
Day 2 classification :
1. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Focus Wrc) in 2.17'48"6
2. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 1'40"1
3. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Focus Wrc) + 2'44"2
4. Novikov-Moscatt (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 3'49"8
5. Villagra-Diaz (Ford Focus Wrc) + 4'03"7
6. Rautenbach-Barritt (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 4'11"9
7. Al Qassimi-Orr (Ford Focus Wrc) + 6'09"4
8. P.Solberg-Mills (Citroen Xsara Wrc) + 10'12"1
Today has brought a remarkable turn around in fortune for Hirvonen who, after a mistake from his team-mate on Friday, seemed unlikely to have a good Saturday. Hirvonen began the day in the unenviable start position of first of the road, destined to sweep a cleaner line in the gravel for the benefit of the cars behind.
With only a three second head start, Hirvonen had been expected to lose out to the chasing Citroens behind. But by the midday service Citroen's attack was over. Loeb crashed out on SS7, while Sordo hit a rock on SS9.
From then on Hirvonen's biggest threat was Citroen privateer Petter Solberg, who lay only 21seconds behind after SS10. But when Solberg's Citroen collected suspension damage on SS11, Hirvonen found himself with a much more comfortable gap to the new man in second - Sebastien Ogier of the Citroen Junior team. Now, with only 95 competitive kilometres left to run on Sunday, Hirvonen is 1min 40 sec ahead of the Frenchman.
For Hirvonen the day couldn't have gone any better. A guaranteed no-score for his title rival Loeb means he has every chance of closing the gap between them in the drivers' standings to seven points.
After a gloomy outlook on Friday night, Ford is heading for a good manufacturers' championship result too. Jari-Matti Latvala's recovery from overnight 11th to third place tonight have put the team on course for a potential maximum 18 points on Sunday.
Citroen Junior team driver Ogier holds second place and is on target for a career best WRC finish on Sunday. Sebastien was annoyed to have lost time when he caught Solberg's damaged Xsara on SS11, but was in better spirits when he arrived back at Loutraki.
Fourth overall, and also heading for career best result, is 18-year-old Evgeny Novikov. The Russian was fastest on three of Saturday's stages and moved up from 12th place on Friday night. The third Citroen Junior Team driver, Conrad Rautenbach, rounds off the top five places, 12.1 seconds behind Novikov.
Day 2 classification :
1. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Focus Wrc) in 2.17'48"6
2. Ogier-Ingrassia (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 1'40"1
3. Latvala-Anttila (Ford Focus Wrc) + 2'44"2
4. Novikov-Moscatt (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 3'49"8
5. Villagra-Diaz (Ford Focus Wrc) + 4'03"7
6. Rautenbach-Barritt (Citroen C4 Wrc) + 4'11"9
7. Al Qassimi-Orr (Ford Focus Wrc) + 6'09"4
8. P.Solberg-Mills (Citroen Xsara Wrc) + 10'12"1