From www.wrc.com
Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala will take a 30.2-second lead into day two of the Jordan Rally after winning three of Thursday’s seven special stages.
But despite the Ford Focus driver’s comfortable margin out front, the outcome of the third round of the World Rally Championship is far from settled with the leading drivers set to jostle for position throughout Friday in their tense tactical battle for honours.
The Finn drove without fault all day but must now try to defend his lead on day two despite having to run first on the road. Although road position is unlikely to be a major factor on Friday’s opening stage, a lower starting position is deemed to be advantageous for the next two runs before midday service because there will be less loose surface gravel to contend with.
Ford will hope Latvala has built a sufficient cushion to stay out in front but will also be able to count on team leader Mikko Hirvonen, who starts fifth, to climb the leaderboard. To do that, he must overhaul a trio of Citroen C4 WRCs led by Sebastien Ogier, who is 1.6 seconds up on world championship leader Sebastien Loeb, and Petter Solberg, 0.7 seconds further back in fourth.
Ogier’s target was to finish the day ahead of Loeb in order to help his team leader gain a better starting position for Friday’s stages.
Solberg was second starting the final stage of the day but slowed to drop down the order to fourth in an effort to take advantage of cleaner road position on Friday.
Dani Sordo slowed considerably on the final stage to slip from third to sixth after being instructed by his Citroen team to drop behind Hirvonen. Citroen hopes that Sordo, who will start behind Hirvonen, will be able to keep the pressure on the Finn by taking time out of him during the day.
Jordan Rally – Classification after Day 1:
1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus)in 1h11’31’’5
2. Sébastien Ogier (Citroen C4)+ 30’’2
3. Sébastien Loeb (Citroen C4)+ 31’’8
4. Petter Solberg (Citroen C4)+ 32’’5
5. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus)+ 42’’2
6. Dani Sordo (Citroen C4)+ 45’’4
7. Henning Solberg (Ford Focus)+ 1’20’’9
8. Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus) + 2’01’’1
9. Federico Villagra (Ford Focus)+ 2’48’’2
10. Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen C4)+ 3’50’’5
etc.
photo:Ford
Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala will take a 30.2-second lead into day two of the Jordan Rally after winning three of Thursday’s seven special stages.
But despite the Ford Focus driver’s comfortable margin out front, the outcome of the third round of the World Rally Championship is far from settled with the leading drivers set to jostle for position throughout Friday in their tense tactical battle for honours.
The Finn drove without fault all day but must now try to defend his lead on day two despite having to run first on the road. Although road position is unlikely to be a major factor on Friday’s opening stage, a lower starting position is deemed to be advantageous for the next two runs before midday service because there will be less loose surface gravel to contend with.
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| Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) Photo: Ford |
Ford will hope Latvala has built a sufficient cushion to stay out in front but will also be able to count on team leader Mikko Hirvonen, who starts fifth, to climb the leaderboard. To do that, he must overhaul a trio of Citroen C4 WRCs led by Sebastien Ogier, who is 1.6 seconds up on world championship leader Sebastien Loeb, and Petter Solberg, 0.7 seconds further back in fourth.
Ogier’s target was to finish the day ahead of Loeb in order to help his team leader gain a better starting position for Friday’s stages.
Solberg was second starting the final stage of the day but slowed to drop down the order to fourth in an effort to take advantage of cleaner road position on Friday.
Dani Sordo slowed considerably on the final stage to slip from third to sixth after being instructed by his Citroen team to drop behind Hirvonen. Citroen hopes that Sordo, who will start behind Hirvonen, will be able to keep the pressure on the Finn by taking time out of him during the day.
Jordan Rally – Classification after Day 1:
1. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus)in 1h11’31’’5
2. Sébastien Ogier (Citroen C4)+ 30’’2
3. Sébastien Loeb (Citroen C4)+ 31’’8
4. Petter Solberg (Citroen C4)+ 32’’5
5. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus)+ 42’’2
6. Dani Sordo (Citroen C4)+ 45’’4
7. Henning Solberg (Ford Focus)+ 1’20’’9
8. Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus) + 2’01’’1
9. Federico Villagra (Ford Focus)+ 2’48’’2
10. Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen C4)+ 3’50’’5
etc.
photo:Ford