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JARI-MATTI
LATVALA AND MIKKA ANTTILA, FORD FOCUS
WRC OF THE BP FORD ABU DHABI WORLD RALLY
TEAM, STILL LEAD THE RALLY D’ITALIA
SARDEGNA 2009.
Team mate Mikko Hirvonen follows in
second place, only 9”9 behind. Petter
Solberg is 3rd. Sébastien Loeb, Citroen
C4 Total World Rally Team, is only
fourth after a puncture.
May 23rd 2009 - It
was to be the decisive day of Rally
d’Italia Sardegna 2009, and so it was,
even if the battle for victory is still
open. Today’s stages have left two crews
to fight for victory in the sixth round
of the World Rally Championship,
organised by the Automobile Club
d’Italia. The two drivers of the Bp Ford
Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, Jari-Matti
Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen are only
divided by 9”9. They will fight for
victory in day Three tomorrow.
The second day was also decisive, albeit
negatively, for team Citroen Total.
Sébastien Loeb had a puncture in the
Fiorentini stage, the penultimate of day
2, while Dani Sordo had problems all day
long. The first finished fourth, while
the latter ended in eighth place.
In third place this evening behind the
Ford duo is Petter Solberg, with a fast
and constant race, where he also won one
of the stages. The Norwegian driver only
has a 2”2 advantage on Loeb who will try
to pass him tomorrow to finish on the
podium. After the first four crews, the
gaps are already important. Novikov is
fifth but is 1’30” from the Frenchman in
front of him. In the points scoring area
are Matthew Wilson, on a Ford from Team
Stobart, and Al-Qassimi on another Focus
of the Bp Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally
Team. He leads Dani Sordo who is in the
last points scoring position.
Bad luck for two Norwegians: Henning
Solberg stopped when he was eighth and
Mads Ostberg, coming out of the last
stage with a high stage time, when he
was sixth overall.
For what concerns the Junior World Rally
Championship, Alessandro Bettega and
Simone Scattolini were slowed down by a
series of problems which made them drop
down to sixth. Michal Kosciuszko, Suzuki
Swift Super 1600, leads in front of
Martin Prokop , Citroen C2. Aaron
Burkart , Suzuki, is 3rd.
In the Production World Rally
Championship Swedish Patrik Sandell
leads by 23”,5 on Qatari Al Attiyah,
codriven by Giovanni Bernacchini.
Portuguese Armindo Araujo is 3rd.
Patrick Flodin who was leading yesterday
in his Subaru Impreza suffered a series
of mechanical problems.
Amongst the local crews, Andrea Pisano
leads on his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX,
codriven by partially sighted Francesco
Cozzula.
Only one day to go
before the end. Tomorrow, - Sunday May
24th – the crews will face a total of
323 km with five stages for 86 km.
Everything is still open, also because
the two runs on the Monte Olia stage,
19.31 km, and Soliris, 18.66 km, and the
single pass on the Arzachena stage,
10.24 km, are full of tricks.
Standings after
day two: 1. Latvala - Anttila ( Ford
Focus Rs Wrc - Bp Ford Abu Dhabi Wrt) in
2h58’03”5; 2. Hirvonen – Lehtinen ( Ford
Focus Rs Wrc - Bp Ford Abu Dhabi Wrt) at
9”9 ; 3. Solberg P. – Mills (Citroen
Xsara) at 1’12”6: 4. Loeb – Elena
(Citroen C4 Wrc - Citroen Total Wrt) at
1’14”8; 5. Novikov - Moscatt (Citroen C4
Wrc - Citroen Junior Team) at 2’46”0; 6.
Wilson – Martin (Ford Focus Rs Wrc -
Stobart Vk M- Sport) at 5’02”8 ; 7. Al
Qassimi – Orr ( Ford Focus Rs Wrc - Bp
Ford Abu Dhabi Wrt) at 6’57”9, 8. Sordo
– Marti (Citroen C4 Wrc - Citroen Total
Wrt) at 9’18”8.
Stage wins –
Latvala 1-2-4-6; Loeb 5-8-9-12; Hirvonen
7-10; Sordo 2: Solberg 11.
photo by
Race&Emotion
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