Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen has extended his overall lead in the Orlen Platinum 66th Rally Poland to 12 seconds, after the 13 timed special stages at the end of day two, on Saturday afternoon.

The Finn, driving a Ford Focus RS, remains on course to steal a shock FIA Drivers’ Championship advantage from Sébastien Loeb – a feat that looked almost impossible a few weeks ago. Finnish team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala maintained second place and Spain’s Dani Sordo played the supporting role for Loeb’s Citroën team superbly by pressurising the leading Fords with third overall.

Sébastien Ogier, Henning and Petter Solberg fought a frantic battle for fourth, fifth and sixth places. Ogier maintained fourth position, but Petter passed his brother into fifth place on the final few kilometres of the 13thstage. Matthew Wilson was secure in seventh position in his Stobart Ford Focus.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Massive crowds flocked to the Mazurian Lake District to witness the day’s six timed special stages to the north-east of Mikolajki. The final five special stages on Sunday promise to be a thrilling prospect, with Latvala needing to fend off Sordo’s challenge to give Ford two crucial extra points towards the FIA Manufacturers’ Championship.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Krzysztof Holowczyc maintained his progress towards a career-best result in the WRC – he finished seventh in Argentina in 1998, but only the top six drivers scored points that year. The Olsztyn driver was on course to secure his first ever points in the series and the first WRC points in history for a Polish driver.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

The fight for supremacy in the JWRC category raged between Kevin Abbring, Michael Kościuszko and Martin Prokop. Abbring had held the lead for nine special stages, but Kościuszko’s knowledge of the longer stages from previous Polish rallies was crucial. He edged in front at the mid-day interval, but Abbring was faster on each of the afternoon’s three stages despite never visiting the event before and regained the lead by an margin of 0.8 seconds.

Prokop maintained his fading title challenge with third, but Italian Luca Griotti was forced out with a broken drive shaft.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Driver and Team Quotes at the end of Day 2

P1. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Ford Focus RS 2h 21m 45.8s

It has been fantastic, a proper fight for the lead, and I've enjoyed today so much. This morning Sordo attacked hard in third so Jari-Matti had to drive flat out to keep ahead of him, and I had to drive at maximum to stay in front of Jari-Matti. I didn't expect that, I hoped it might be easier. I struggled a little with being first through the stages, which I also didn't expect. The road surface was damp with hard mud on top after the rain and I was breaking up the surface to leave better grip for those behind.

There were sections this afternoon when I was flat out, even when my pace notes suggested otherwise. It was almost insane at times – but great fun! If it is possible, then I think tomorrow's stages could be even quicker. I need to be wide awake in the morning to go flat out and then hopefully I can drive a little steadier in the afternoon. But I know Sordo will pressure us again.

P2. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)/Miikka Anttila (FIN) Ford Focus RS 2h 21m 57.8s

I'm a Finn and used to fast rallies but I don't think I've ever driven as fast as I did this afternoon. They were the hardest seconds I've had to fight for in my life. My only tactic was to put the right pedal down to the floor and keep it there. It was very demanding and required maximum concentration all the time. There was just one moment that I thought I might be in trouble. The car jumped out of the ruts in fifth gear over a crest and I clipped a tree with the back, but it was OK.

I had no choice but to drive hard this morning. Sordo was pushing hard and my goal was to keep him behind me to preserve our one-two on the leaderboard, so I had to keep my pace high as well. I didn't want to battle with Mikko or put pressure on him but I had to just to maintain my second place.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

P3. Dani Sordo (E)/Marc Marti (E) Citroën C4 2h 22m 24.3s

We gained quite a lot of ground this morning and I thought we would be able to get even closer to Mikko and Jari-Matti this afternoon, but they managed to pull out a gap again. I dropped a few seconds when I saw from the split-times we were getting in the car that I wasn't catching them. After that, I chose to lift a little so as not to jeopardise my footing on the provisional podium, which is very important for Citroën.

P4. Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 2h 23m 45.1s

We pushed hard today. These performances have brought us a lot of satisfaction. We've been able to increase our speed without making any mistakes. Our notes are good and this allows us to drive at a very good pace. Tomorrow we are going to have to keep on pushing hard as the gaps are still small.

Photos: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

P5. Petter Solberg (N)/Philip Mills (GB) Citroën Xsara 2h 23m 52.5s

This morning was so loose. In the afternoon it was much more cleaner. We were too much on the limit to do it all the time. I have to get more speed, especially for the next rally.

P6. Henning Solberg (N)/Cato Menkerud (N) Ford Focus RS 2h 23m 53.8s

I have been pushing as hard as I can all day and I know that Petter is really pushing too. I am really enjoying the battle, it’s been a fun day and I am very happy with the car because it’s been working well today. Tomorrow I have to concentrate on being more precise so that I can find that extra edge that will help me get back up to fourth place. That is my aim for the rally and I won’t give up trying.

P7. Matthew Wilson (GB)/Scott Martin (GB) Ford Focus RS 2h 25m 33.8s

It has been a difficult day but I think that we have learned a lot. We need to work on our pacenotes so that we can be more consistent in the narrow sections as that’s where we have lost out today. But it’s starting to feel quite good. It is mega-fast out there and the pace is so hot at the front that it’s easy to get dejected when you are not involved in a battle for position. But the times we’ve been producing have actually been very good so overall I’m pleased and hoping to keep it up tomorrow. My back has been hurting a bit, especially when I brake hard, but it’s not been too bad during the stages when I’m strapped in.

P8. Krzysztof Holowczyc (PL)/Lukasz Kurzeja (PL) Ford Focus RS 2h 25m 59.1s

I am really pleased with how it has gone today. I do not have as much experience in a WRC car as the other drivers so it has taken me some time to get used to it. I spoke to Malcolm Wilson last night and he advised me to be more precise and less aggressive and that has worked very well for me today. I am now able to push and I am really enjoying the fast stages. To have so many fans here is incredible and they are really pushing me to drive well. I’m in a points-scoring position now and I hope that I can maintain my momentum for the final day and give the fans something great to cheer about.

P9. Conrad Rautenbach (ZIM)/Daniel Barritt (GB) Citroen C4 2h 27m 11.7s

We had some problems in finding the right pace this morning. It was better in the afternoon but the roads were quite broken up. We lost a bit of time but we're going to try and push a bit harder tomorrow and hope that we can make up a place.

P13. Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/ Danial Elena (FRA) Citroën C4 +19'19''6

Everything was OK. There's not a great deal at stake for us now in terms of the Drivers' World Championship on this rally, but we can still hope to pick up at least one Manufacturers' point. We found a good pace and that enabled us to find our marks again and check that our notes are good.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director and Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson reflected on another perfect day for his teams:

Both Mikko and Jari-Matti delivered superb performances, especially considering the pressure they were put under this morning. Mikko has extended his lead while Jari-Matti played a crucial role by supporting Mikko and keeping his pursuer behind him.

The Stobart team have had another strong day and it’s been great to see Henning locked in a fantastic battle for fourth place; there’s just been seconds separating those three drivers all day. It’s very positive to see the three Stobart crews all in drivers’ points positions and it just shows how well they have adapted to these very fast conditions. Matthew has had a solid day and his times have still been good compared to the leaders, who are pushing hard in this hot battle for the lead.

Citroen Total team principal Olivier Quesnel has instructed Dani Sordo to try and catch the leaders of Rally Poland:

We will push a lot tomorrow because Sebastien Loeb showed he was still faster that everybody this afternoon. I'm quite sure Dani could be close to Sebastien [Loeb's pace] so tomorrow he will have a go.

Yes, today was really risky for him but we think if we don't do anything it [the result] won't be good. We asked Dani to push because I know he's able to do that. So he pushed a lot and I think it was a good fight but unfortunately it was a day for nothing. So we will start again tomorrow. We will see.

Citroen Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier:

Sebastien [Ogier] drove a fantastic rally today. He was able to go out there and set some really good times. Tomorrow he will have a real fight on his hands with two Norwegians right behind him. His learning curve continues and tomorrow's situation from which he has maybe more to lose than to gain promises to be extremely interesting. Conrad came closer to his targets today, demonstrating positive progress with every stage. Evgeny set some promising times as well, despite a small technical problem in the morning that was solved at midday service.

Photo: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Tomorrow’s Route

The final day is the shortest of the rally. After leaving Mikolajki at 06.30, drivers tackle two identical loops of two stages before a second pass over the superspecial stage on the edge of the town which started the rally on Thursday evening. They face 86.86km before the finish in Mikolajki at 14.54.

Leaderboard after Day 2

1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 21min 45.8sec
2. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 21min 57.8sec
3. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 22min 24.3sec
4. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 2hr 23min 45.1sec
5. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Citroen Xsara 2hr 23min 52.5sec
6. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 2hr 23min 53.8sec
7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 25min 33.8sec
8. K Holowczyc/L Kurzeja POL Ford Focus RS 2hr 25min 59.1sec
9. C Rautenbach/D Barritt ZIM Citroen C4 2hr 27min 11.7sec
10 M Østberg/ J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 28min 21.3sec

RALLY POLAND 2009 DAY 2 PHOTOS COPYRIGHT WILLY WEYENS

Similar Posts:

• Rally d’Italia Sardegna: Results Day 2 – Latvala and Hirvonen continue to dominate
• WRC Jordan Rally 2008 Day Two, Ford pair looking good with tactics as Citroen Rautenbached
• Rally Poland 2009 – Day 1 Roundup – Photos & Video Clips

About the Author

Chris Harrold is a regular contributor to RallyBuzz.com and can be found on Facebook