Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen will take a 16.6 second lead into Sunday's final day of Rally Sweden, an advantage his chief opponent, Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb, acknowledged will be difficult to overturn on the five stage which remain.
Saturday's second day of the rally featured two identical loops of four stages in the Varmland region of central Sweden, clustered around the Hagfors Service Park. Under clear blue skies and in temperatures than plunged to -22ºC, crews tackled 117.76km of ice and snow covered gravel stages.
Hirvonen started Saturday's competition in the lead, 6.2 seconds ahead of Loeb, but after a back and forth scrap in the morning, this gap was down to 4.2sec by the midpoint service. The afternoon was another story, however, when Hirvonen and Loeb gambled on fitting fresh tyres at different times - a decision which ultimately went Hirvonen's way and netted him a 23sec lead after SS15.
"Okay, it's been a good day," said Hirvonen. "Sixteen seconds is not much, but it's more than we had in the morning. For sure there are long stages to go tomorrow and Seb will try hard, but we'll see. Hopefully I can keep him behind. First on the road today was not a problem, especially on the first pass it's pretty good to be there; you can make your own lines and there is no snow or ruts or anything."
Loeb ended the day well, clawing back 6.4sec on the final Sprint stage, but the Frenchman was angry at giving time away. "We made a stupid mistake today with the tyres; it was very much the wrong choice," he said. "[On SS15] I put fresh tyres on the front with some completely destroyed tyres on the rear and I couldn't use it. I lost a lot of time to Mikko. Can I catch him? I don’t know, but it will be very difficult. Normally 16 seconds is possible but when you look at the times between us today you can see it’s difficult to make any difference."
Hirvonen's team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala holds third place, after a mixed day at the wheel of his Ford Focus RS WRC. He got a lucky break on SS15, however, when the man ahead of him, Dani Sordo, stopped briefly with an overheating engine. "It’s been an okay day, but the morning was frustrating because Dani was running away," he said. "I thought we might lose the fight, but this afternoon we made a few set-up changes and everything came together. Okay, we were a little bit lucky with Sordo's problems as well. I plan to stay here until the end. It would be nice to start the season with a podium."
Fifty-four seconds behind Latvala, Sordo was left to rue a mistake on SS15 when he didn't remove an air flow blanking panel from the front his car and almost cooked his engine mid stage. "It’s really disappointing," he said. "Anyway I will try to get the best finish and take some points now. The season has only just started with this rally - we'll see how we get on in Mexico."
Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier remained well cushioned in fifth all day and was content with his progress. "Our target was fifth place, so if we can carry on like this it will have been a very good first Rally Sweden for us." Stobart Ford team driver Henning Solberg also remained static in the standings, holding sixth all day. "It's okay but I don't think I have one stud in my rear tyres now!" he said at the end of SS16. "I did my best today, but I lost all my studs on Vargasen [SS13] and I don't know why. We'll try some different settings tomorrow. I can get better!"
Henning's Stobart team-mate Matthew Wilson is seventh, after moving ahead of rival Mads Ostberg on SS13. The Briton will take a 13.2sec advantage over Ostberg on Sunday. "We changed the car at lunchtime and it felt completely new; I wish we could start the rally again!" he said. It's been good fun this afternoon, around that Super Special we had no studs left at all, we just slid all the way around. I reckon I can stay ahead of Mads now the car's feeling better, we'll see." Ostberg, meanwhile, is equally determined to finish seventh. "It’s been a difficult day, especially when it comes to tyre wear, but I'm happy I'm here and definitely up for the fight with Matthew," he said.
After losing a lot of time on Friday, Citroen privateer Petter Solberg holds ninth, and was pleased to put another disappointing day behind him. "Maybe I'm using the tyres too hard - I have to drive smarter and more carefully," he said. "It sounds a bit boring but all I can say is I've tried and it is getting better."
Saturday's second day of the rally featured two identical loops of four stages in the Varmland region of central Sweden, clustered around the Hagfors Service Park. Under clear blue skies and in temperatures than plunged to -22ºC, crews tackled 117.76km of ice and snow covered gravel stages.
Hirvonen started Saturday's competition in the lead, 6.2 seconds ahead of Loeb, but after a back and forth scrap in the morning, this gap was down to 4.2sec by the midpoint service. The afternoon was another story, however, when Hirvonen and Loeb gambled on fitting fresh tyres at different times - a decision which ultimately went Hirvonen's way and netted him a 23sec lead after SS15.
"Okay, it's been a good day," said Hirvonen. "Sixteen seconds is not much, but it's more than we had in the morning. For sure there are long stages to go tomorrow and Seb will try hard, but we'll see. Hopefully I can keep him behind. First on the road today was not a problem, especially on the first pass it's pretty good to be there; you can make your own lines and there is no snow or ruts or anything."
Loeb ended the day well, clawing back 6.4sec on the final Sprint stage, but the Frenchman was angry at giving time away. "We made a stupid mistake today with the tyres; it was very much the wrong choice," he said. "[On SS15] I put fresh tyres on the front with some completely destroyed tyres on the rear and I couldn't use it. I lost a lot of time to Mikko. Can I catch him? I don’t know, but it will be very difficult. Normally 16 seconds is possible but when you look at the times between us today you can see it’s difficult to make any difference."
Hirvonen's team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala holds third place, after a mixed day at the wheel of his Ford Focus RS WRC. He got a lucky break on SS15, however, when the man ahead of him, Dani Sordo, stopped briefly with an overheating engine. "It’s been an okay day, but the morning was frustrating because Dani was running away," he said. "I thought we might lose the fight, but this afternoon we made a few set-up changes and everything came together. Okay, we were a little bit lucky with Sordo's problems as well. I plan to stay here until the end. It would be nice to start the season with a podium."
Fifty-four seconds behind Latvala, Sordo was left to rue a mistake on SS15 when he didn't remove an air flow blanking panel from the front his car and almost cooked his engine mid stage. "It’s really disappointing," he said. "Anyway I will try to get the best finish and take some points now. The season has only just started with this rally - we'll see how we get on in Mexico."
Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier remained well cushioned in fifth all day and was content with his progress. "Our target was fifth place, so if we can carry on like this it will have been a very good first Rally Sweden for us." Stobart Ford team driver Henning Solberg also remained static in the standings, holding sixth all day. "It's okay but I don't think I have one stud in my rear tyres now!" he said at the end of SS16. "I did my best today, but I lost all my studs on Vargasen [SS13] and I don't know why. We'll try some different settings tomorrow. I can get better!"
Henning's Stobart team-mate Matthew Wilson is seventh, after moving ahead of rival Mads Ostberg on SS13. The Briton will take a 13.2sec advantage over Ostberg on Sunday. "We changed the car at lunchtime and it felt completely new; I wish we could start the rally again!" he said. It's been good fun this afternoon, around that Super Special we had no studs left at all, we just slid all the way around. I reckon I can stay ahead of Mads now the car's feeling better, we'll see." Ostberg, meanwhile, is equally determined to finish seventh. "It’s been a difficult day, especially when it comes to tyre wear, but I'm happy I'm here and definitely up for the fight with Matthew," he said.
After losing a lot of time on Friday, Citroen privateer Petter Solberg holds ninth, and was pleased to put another disappointing day behind him. "Maybe I'm using the tyres too hard - I have to drive smarter and more carefully," he said. "It sounds a bit boring but all I can say is I've tried and it is getting better."
Kimi's overall standings:
Source: WRC.com
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