|
RALLY NEWS NO.11 Near Fivemiletown/Sunday 11.30
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 18 Fardross
1st (1) Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen C4) 2.53.04.0
2nd (2) Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroen C4) 2.53.58.3
3rd (9) Jari Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Focus WRC) 2.55.06.7
4th (4) Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Focus WRC) 2.55.22.5
5th (7) Petter Solberg/Phil Mills (Impreza WRC) 2.56.04.8
6th (18) Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh (Impreza WRC) 2.59.11.7
7th (16) Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr (Focus WRC) 3.02.55.7
8th (20) Gareth MacHale/Allan Harryman (Focus WRC) 3.03.48.0
9th (21) Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (Focus WRC) 3.06.05.3
10th (46) Armindo Araujo/Miguel Lamalho (Lancer N) 3.09.02.2
Stage 18 was in the shadow of Fardross Mountain fornenst Fivemiletown and Clogher and at last there was a refreshing glimpse of blue sky although the roads were still wet and muddy. Mikko Hirvonen was fastest through the stage with Loeb second fastest 4.6s back and Mikkelsen 3rd a further 3.2s in arrears. There was no change really in the top positions. Loeb had lots of cuts in his soft compound tyres to deflect the mud and the water and commented that he was driving fast but safe. His team mate Dani Sordo said that it was good, that his job is to make it a first and second for Citroen, that he is driving to finish. Latvala said he was driving carefully, very anxious to protect his 3rd place but he is looking over his shoulder at his fellow Ford Focus driver Hirvonen who is now piling on the pressure and on a charge.
Petter Solberg lost some time this morning with a puncture so realistically with 2 stages to go he can make no impression on Hirvonen in front. Guy Wilks in 6th place in the yellow “Pirelli” Subaru said. “We’re trying to keep it all in one piece”. Guy has never scored a WRC point so it will be great if he makes the finish in the top 6. Phil Pugh said there was some smoke or steam down in the passenger foot well but they didn’t seem too worried about it. Matthew Wilson was having to run a slick tyre with lots of cuts and said it was impossible on the muddy stuff and he was just trying to stay on the road at times. Gareth MacHale had a go at closing the gap on Wilson this morning but then Gareth’s Focus had an overshoot and he has decided to just keep it altogether now and go for the finish. Andreas Mikkelsen caught a stone with the front left corner of his Focus and damaged a tyre which then punctured. With no service between now and finish Andreas is anxious to have no more problems.
The Portuguese driver Armindo Araujo lost 10th place and the Production lead to Niall McShea on stage 17, Murley. Niall turned in a stunning time there and then in stage 18 Araujo fought back and Niall was by his standards slow so the positions were back to square one. Armindo commented at the stage 18 finish. “He lives here, it is difficult for me but I will not give up”. When Niall arrived he was visibly shaken and upset that he had dropped 5s to Armindo and said. “It is cat and mouse I think maybe I’ve bent a rear wheel”.
More stories from the world rally cars: Kevin Barrett in the Triton Showers Impreza is running under Super Rally and he suffered a right rear puncture 3km into stage 17. Austin MacHale is also running in Super Rally and he explained that it was a steering arm that had broken yesterday after a series of jumps. He was trying to drive his Focus out of the stage when he caught the grass and slid into th4e ditch. Aaron MacHale was obviously annoyed that his Focus had stalled on a hairpin left whenever he had put the hand brake on this morning. Said it had happened before and now he’s nearly afraid to use the hand brake. Eamonn Boland is running under Super Rally and his Impreza looked like it had just come out of a forest stage. The Wexford man said. “An unbelievable amount of mud”.
Richard Cathcart was 15th o/a in the overnight classification but was seeded back in the restart behind the Priority drivers and is really suffering in the muddy conditions. Richard had also run out of tyres and the only tyre he could get was 1cm higher and he said it was very difficult to drive, particularly on the fast stuff. Richard is now 14th o/a. Phillip Morrow was upset when he came into the finish of 18. He had approached a crest with mud on it at high speed but underneath the mud was a big pot hole and he punctured 2 tyres. Current Production World Champion Nasser Al-Attiyah in stage 17 and dropped a minute but stayed 4th in the Production category. His co driver Chris Patterson commented. “It is so treacherous in the mud”. Nutahara finished stage 18 with a front left puncture. Oscar Svedlund has reportedly put his Lancer through a fence into a garden in stage 18 and is stuck. Flodin has stopped in stage 17 with a mechanical problem. Polish driver Popov finished the stage with his Lancer’s hazard lights going and reported no turbo boost. Alan Ring is running in Super Rally after his Lancer rear diff blew late yesterday and he suffered a front left puncture this morning.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
*For SMS results and news to your mobile TEXT RALLY ITC to 60066 (UK): 53030 (Irl): Cost 25p/30c
|
