From www.wrc.com
With only tonight's Superspecial to go, Sebastien Ogier leads after the opening day of the Rally of Turkey of the World Championship, having claimed the lead from the third stage of the day.
Ogier reported no problems with his Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC, helped by an advantageous road position of fifth. Tomorrow, however, he has the dubious honour of running first and sweeping the road clean for his rivals.
Leading the field away today was six-time World Champion and Jordan Rally winner Sebastien Loeb of Citroen, who said that conditions were even more difficult in the afternoon than they were in the morning.
After the first four stages Loeb was fifth, less than eight seconds behind the leader. But in the afternoon, while he remained fifth, the gap had grown to just over 25 seconds.
Instead, it was his teammate Dani Sordo who led the factory Citroen charge, ending day one less than three seconds behind Ogier.
Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen finished the day third but remains very much in the hunt, less than 10 seconds behind Ogier. Apart from a mistake on the opening stage, Hirvonen had no problems throughout the day. The Finn is hoping to move up the leader board tomorrow, on gravel stages that unusually include large sections of asphalt.
One of the stars of the day was Citroen privateer Petter Solberg, who led after the opening test and set three fastest stage times. Having finished on the podium in the last two events, the Norwegian is looking forward to continuing his run of success in Turkey.
Among the casualties of the opening day were Ford drivers Ken Block and Henning Solberg, both of whom hit the same tree stump on the opening stage.
Rally of Turkey: Classification after Day 1 :
1. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen C4)en 53m36.4s
2. Dani Sordo (Citroen C4) +2.8
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus)+9.2
4. Petter Solberg (Citroen C4)+18.3
5. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C4)+25.3
6. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus)+26.1
7. Federico Villagra (Ford Focus)+1:33.8
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen C4)+1:48.0
9. Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus)+1:57.6
10. Ott Tanak (Mitsubishi Evo X)+4:45.9
etc.
With only tonight's Superspecial to go, Sebastien Ogier leads after the opening day of the Rally of Turkey of the World Championship, having claimed the lead from the third stage of the day.
Ogier reported no problems with his Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC, helped by an advantageous road position of fifth. Tomorrow, however, he has the dubious honour of running first and sweeping the road clean for his rivals.
Leading the field away today was six-time World Champion and Jordan Rally winner Sebastien Loeb of Citroen, who said that conditions were even more difficult in the afternoon than they were in the morning.
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| Mikko Hirvonen (Photo: Ford) |
After the first four stages Loeb was fifth, less than eight seconds behind the leader. But in the afternoon, while he remained fifth, the gap had grown to just over 25 seconds.
Instead, it was his teammate Dani Sordo who led the factory Citroen charge, ending day one less than three seconds behind Ogier.
Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen finished the day third but remains very much in the hunt, less than 10 seconds behind Ogier. Apart from a mistake on the opening stage, Hirvonen had no problems throughout the day. The Finn is hoping to move up the leader board tomorrow, on gravel stages that unusually include large sections of asphalt.
One of the stars of the day was Citroen privateer Petter Solberg, who led after the opening test and set three fastest stage times. Having finished on the podium in the last two events, the Norwegian is looking forward to continuing his run of success in Turkey.
Among the casualties of the opening day were Ford drivers Ken Block and Henning Solberg, both of whom hit the same tree stump on the opening stage.
Rally of Turkey: Classification after Day 1 :
1. Sebastien Ogier (Citroen C4)en 53m36.4s
2. Dani Sordo (Citroen C4) +2.8
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus)+9.2
4. Petter Solberg (Citroen C4)+18.3
5. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C4)+25.3
6. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus)+26.1
7. Federico Villagra (Ford Focus)+1:33.8
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Citroen C4)+1:48.0
9. Matthew Wilson (Ford Focus)+1:57.6
10. Ott Tanak (Mitsubishi Evo X)+4:45.9
etc.