Ford's Mikko Hirvonen is leading this years Rally Australia after one of the most dramatic opening days to a rally in the last few years!
Hirvonen leads the rally by 7seconds followed by team mate Jari-Matti Latvala.
As the day began the weather was very unexpected to say the least. Heavy rain fell on the Coffs Coast in New South Wales and drivers had to compete on an unsuited hard-compound tire.
Sebastien Ogier began the day strong taking the early lead in stage 2. Team mate Loeb fought back in stage 3 to overtake Ogier only for one of the most uncharacteristic mistakes in Motorsport to happen.
1.3 Kilometres into stage 4 Seven time World Rally Championship Sebastien Loeb rolled his car out of the rally. It is the first time since Poland 2009 that Monsieur Loeb has not finished the first day of a rally. Its fair to say everyone was shocked....
Then on stage 6 his team mate Ogier stopped, crashing out 23.6km into the stage. He hit a tree and damaged his radiator, putting an end to his day.
The Citroen Team will continue working on the cars overnight in a bid to get them back out on the stages tommorow!Both Citroen Total drivers were out for Day 1 at least and Ford drivers inherited 1st and 2nd position!
Citroen Privateer Petter Solberg and his Co-Driver Patterson had a solid Day 1 and are now the leading Citroen car in the rally after Day1!
Brother Henning Solberg is just behind in the overall classifications going into Day 2 with Matthew Wilson rounding off the top 5!
 |
| DAY 1 PRESS CONFERENCE LATVALA, HIRVONEN, SOLBERG! |
No comments:
Post a Comment