Sebastien Ogier was quickest in three of Friday’s eight gravel stages in the Rally New Zealand and is in third place overall, with Dani Sordo in fourth.
Ogier is 3.9 seconds behind the early leader Petter Solberg, with Sordo a further 4.8 seconds back having led after four stages of the Auckland-based rally and the Spanish driver was delighted with his start.
“I didn’t manage to find the right rhythm in the two shorter stages,” Sordo said. “Then we made a few small adjustments to the car’s setup and it all went well in the next two. I knew that I could pull something out of the hat today. For the moment, everything’s perfect!”
It was a far from perfect day for world champion Sebastien Loeb though, who dropped out of contention for first place when his Citroen C4 WRC slid into a bridge leaving the car with a damaged door.
With regulations limiting much in the way of possible repair, Loeb ended the day one minute and 20 seconds behind Solberg in seventh place, but the Frenchman was fastest in the final stage of the day and believes that a top-three spot is still possible.
'For the moment, everything’s perfect' – Dani Sordo
“Maybe a podium is possible because there’s a long way to go, but when you look at the times this morning, the leading cars were separated by a couple of seconds and I’m one minute and 40 seconds down,” he said at the Whangarei service. “I really don’t know what we can do now - it’s going to be tough.”
After 159 competitive kilometres the top four are covered by just 8.7 seconds, making this one of the closest rallies held so far and with rain forecast for the weekend anything could still happen.
Meanwhile in the Super 2000 WRC Patrik Sandell’s progress was hampered when a large bird, described by co-driver Emil Axelsson as “like an eagle”, collided with the windscreen of their Skoda Fabia.
The incident occurred in the second stage of the day and it meant that Sandell ended the day in fifth place, but the Swede is hoping for better luck tomorrow.
"This morning I didn't really have a good rhythm, but in the afternoon it was OK," Sandell said. "The car was just a bit too soft in the morning so it was difficult for us to find traction. I didn't really trust it in the fast sections, but there's still a very long way to go so anything can happen. I'm looking forward to a better day tomorrow."
For more on the New Zealand Rally head to WRC
Comments
Add a comment