Hirvonen leads Rally Sweden
Mikko Hirvonen leads Rally Sweden at the end of the opening leg
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen hold a 6.2 second lead over six-time World Rally Champions Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (Citroen Total World Rally Team) at the end of the opening leg of Rally Sweden.
After a solid opening morning, Hirvonen tweaked his car’s set-up and stepped up the pace returning to the rally base in Karlstad having won three of the leg’s eight speed tests covering 126.34km in temperatures as low as -20ºC.
Hirvonen was third after three special stages before the 29-year-old Finn modified the settings on his car’s centre differential and shock absorbers. The transformation was instant and Hirvonen won the morning’s final stage to climb to second, just 4.1sec from the lead. He powered into the lead with victory on the next test and added a third success as the sun started to fall.
“I wasn’t happy with my driving or the car’s set-up on the first two stages,” said the 29-year-old Finn. “Before the final test I changed the centre differential and damper settings back to my 2009 set-up and it was a big improvement, I found a good rhythm. I tested new differential settings last week but the car just wasn’t consistent in corners this morning and it felt more progressive after the change.
“This afternoon the conditions were strange. In places the roads were bumpy with deep ruts that acted like railway lines. In other places there was deep ice but no clear driving line and the penultimate stage was gravel with no ruts at all. It was generally very rough and the person who was brave enough to just go for it was the one who was fastest. I was on the limit many times. I’m not afraid of being first through the stages tomorrow and I will attack because my lead isn’t big enough,” he added.
Spanish duo Dani Sordo and Marc Marti (Citroen Total World Rally Team) holds fourth ahead of the second BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team entry of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila.
Not a great day for Finnish superstars Marcus Gronholm and Kimi Raikkonen who both suffered serious setbacks on the sixth stage. Two-time WRC champion Gronholm (Ford) lost 12-minutes due to a technical problem and is placed 30th, while 2007 F1 World Champion Raikkonen (Citroen) lost 25 minutes in a snow bank and is 47th.
Tomorrow’s second leg has drivers leaving Karlstad at 6am to tackle two identical loops of four special stages, including a short test on the edge of Hagfors itself. The loops are split by a 30 minute service in Hagfors and competitors return to Karlstad for the final overnight halt after a further 117.76km of action.
Leaderboard – End of Leg #1 Rally Sweden
|
No |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
|
1 |
Mikko Hirvonen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
1:08:04.8 |
|
2 |
Sebastien Loeb |
Citroen C4 WRC |
+0:06.2 |
|
3 |
Dani Sordo |
Citroen C4 WRC |
+0:10.6 |
|
4 |
Jari-Matti Latvala |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
+0:31.7 |
|
5 |
Sebastien Ogier |
Citroen C4 WRC |
+1:10.9 |
|
6 |
Henning Solberg |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
+2:16.2 |
|
7 |
Mads Ostberg |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
+3:20.2 |
|
8 |
Matthew Wilson |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
+3:21.1 |
|
9 |
P-G Anderson |
Skoda Fabia S2000 |
+4:16.1 |
|
10 |
Janne Tuohino |
Ford Fiesta S2000 |
+5:15.3 |
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