Rallye Deutschland Day One
Rallye Deutschland Day One
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
ADAC RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND
(24-26 AUGUST 2012)
24.08.2012
Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb has once again stamped his authority on Rallye Deutschland, an event he has won eight times from the last nine outings. The Frenchman leads after the opening day of competition but is being pushed by Petter Solberg and Jari-Matti Latvala in second and third respectively, the latter having taken two of the six stage victories from the Frenchman.
Today’s route took the crews to the bumpy narrow lanes in the Mosel vineyards, covering two identical loops of three stages over 137.84 competitive kilometres. Loeb took the initiative from the outset, winning the opening stage to pull out an early 5.2 second advantage. The Frenchman has run without problems throughout the day, winning four of the stages to overnight 20.4 seconds ahead of Solberg. Latvala’s tactics of mixing tyre compounds this morning lost him some time in the first stage, and a set-up that was generally too soft for the conditions left the Finn disappointed with the morning loop. However, he won two of the afternoon stages and sits nine seconds adrift of his team-mate.
Behind the leading trio, Thierry Neuville has had a fine run to fourth overnight, just 5.1 seconds behind Latvala despite problems with the gearshift, and Dani Sordo has climbed into fifth during the course of the day. Mikko Hirvonen is still to shine, the Finn stalling on the start line of stage four and generally lacking familiarity with the car on this surface. Ott Tänak, in seventh, lost time with a few overshoots, and Mads Ostberg, close behind, suffered a similar fate and has also struggled with overheating brakes. Chris Atkinson is ninth and Sébastien Ogier rounds off the top 10 in the Skoda S2000 car.
Rallye Deutschland – Provisional Results
1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena 2. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson 3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila 4. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul 5. Dani Sordo/Carlos Del Barrio 6. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen 7. Ott Tänak/Kuldar Sikk 8. Mads Ostberg/Jonas Andersson 9. Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prévot 10. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia |
Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Citroën DS3 WRC MINI Cooper Works WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC MINI Cooper Works WRC Skoda Fabia S2000 |
1 hr 22 min 18.0sec 1 hr 22 min 38.4sec 1 hr 22 min 47.4sec 1 hr 22 min 52.5sec 1 hr 23 min 04.7sec 1 hr 23 min 06.9sec 1 hr 23 min 35.9sec 1 hr 23 min 46.7sec 1 hr 24 min 52.8sec 1 hr 25 min 54.6sec |