Mads Ostberg (Ford Fiesta RS) is the surprising leader after the first day of Rally Sweden.
The young Norvegian driver, who drives a private Ford Fiesta RS for the Stobart team, dominated the first day of the opening round of the new WRC season, finishing the day with a lead over 14,8 seconds over Mikko Hirvonen’s works Ford Fiesta RS. The Finn closed on to the leader after a strong performance at the end of the day.
In third place is Petter Solberg, who stands about one minute behind Ostberg aboard his private Citroen DS3 R3, just ahead of the second factory Fiesta driven by Jari-Matti Latvala, as Henning Solberg (Fiesta RS Stobart) concluded the day in fifth place.
Both Citroen Sport cars struggled today. Sebastien Loeb, who was forced to start in front of the field, lost a lot of time on a road covered with deep snow.
The seven-time World Champion even lost one minute in the very last special stage due to some technical issues. He dropped down to 9th, about three minutes behind the leader.
Loeb’s teammate eébastien Ogier was also in trouble, but he managed to move up the pack after a special stage victory at the end of the day, to conclude in 6th position, 1:21.6 behind Ostberg.
PG Andersson was also impressive in the beginning of the rally, as the young Swede won the super special stage on Thursday. But he lost time on Friday when he rolled (he was able to continue!) and when he suffered a puncture a bit later.
Rally Sweden – First day classification:
1. Mads Ostberg (Ford) in 1h17m21.2s
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) + 14.8s
3. Petter Solberg (Citroen) + 57.4s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) + 1m10.0s
5. Henning Solberg (Ford) + 1m20.3s
6. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) + 1m21.6s
7. Patrik Sandell (Skoda) + 2m35.1s
8. Eyvind Brynildsen (Skoda) + 2m43.5s
9. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) + 2m48.4s
10. Khalid Al Qassimi (Ford) + 4m12.4s
etc.
The young Norvegian driver, who drives a private Ford Fiesta RS for the Stobart team, dominated the first day of the opening round of the new WRC season, finishing the day with a lead over 14,8 seconds over Mikko Hirvonen’s works Ford Fiesta RS. The Finn closed on to the leader after a strong performance at the end of the day.
In third place is Petter Solberg, who stands about one minute behind Ostberg aboard his private Citroen DS3 R3, just ahead of the second factory Fiesta driven by Jari-Matti Latvala, as Henning Solberg (Fiesta RS Stobart) concluded the day in fifth place.
 |
| Photo: WRI2 |
Both Citroen Sport cars struggled today. Sebastien Loeb, who was forced to start in front of the field, lost a lot of time on a road covered with deep snow.
The seven-time World Champion even lost one minute in the very last special stage due to some technical issues. He dropped down to 9th, about three minutes behind the leader.
Loeb’s teammate eébastien Ogier was also in trouble, but he managed to move up the pack after a special stage victory at the end of the day, to conclude in 6th position, 1:21.6 behind Ostberg.
PG Andersson was also impressive in the beginning of the rally, as the young Swede won the super special stage on Thursday. But he lost time on Friday when he rolled (he was able to continue!) and when he suffered a puncture a bit later.
Rally Sweden – First day classification:
1. Mads Ostberg (Ford) in 1h17m21.2s
2. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) + 14.8s
3. Petter Solberg (Citroen) + 57.4s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) + 1m10.0s
5. Henning Solberg (Ford) + 1m20.3s
6. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen) + 1m21.6s
7. Patrik Sandell (Skoda) + 2m35.1s
8. Eyvind Brynildsen (Skoda) + 2m43.5s
9. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) + 2m48.4s
10. Khalid Al Qassimi (Ford) + 4m12.4s
etc.