Wales GB: SS9: Hirvonen frustrated as Loeb stretches ahead

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Sebastien Loeb completed Saturday morning's loop of stages on the Rally of Great Britain with a 25 second overall lead - thanks largely to two stunning performances on SS8 and SS9 which left his title rival Mikko Hirvonen completely stumped.

Ford Focus RS WRC driver Hirvonen was quickest on Saturday's opening test, the longest of the event, to narrow the gap to Loeb to just 2.9sec. But on each of the two muddy, rain-lashed stages which followed Loeb was quicker than the Finn - by 10.2sec on SS8 and a massive 11.9sec on SS9.

Before heading back to Cardiff for the midpoint 30-minute service, Loeb said he was surprised to see Mikko's recent times and was happy to have achieved his own morning's objective. "I don't know if he's done a mistake anywhere, or something like that, but I had always planned to push hard and this stage [SS9] was really, really good - I was flat-out," he said. "The rain this morning made the roads good for me, I had plenty of grip, but yesterday Mikko was faster in the afternoon, so I needed to push hard and make the most of it."

Hirvonen was clearly frustrated as he arrived at the end of SS9; the Finn shaking his head as he tried to understand what was going on. "I'm not sure if someone is wrong, I just don't know. For some reason I just can’t do the times. I'm trying but it’s just not going anywhere," he said.

After driveshaft-related problems sidelined his two BP Ford Abu Dhabi team-mates on Friday, Hirvonen couldn't rule out a similar problem with his car today. "In some places the car feels like it’s not turning-in and it's oversteering. It could be the driveshaft, I don't know," he said.

Third place overall, 37.5sec behind Hirvonen, lies Loeb's Citroen Total team-mate Dani Sordo. The Spaniard moved in front of Petter Solberg on today's opening stage, and pulled steadily ahead on the two which followed. "At the moment everything feels great," said Sordo, who was enjoying the challenge of the wet and slippery stages. "I like these roads a lot, they’re fast and exciting to drive - in some places they’re so clean it's almost like tarmac. We have had no problems with the car, everything is okay."

After wiper problems hampered his charge on all three of the morning stages, Solberg rounded off the morning loop 23.6sec adrift of Sordo, but determined to fight for the place again after his mechanics have fixed the problem. "We kept the wipers on slow for the first two stages but on this one we just put it on full speed and let it happen," he said. "I had to give it a good go and actually, considering the problem, my times haven't been bad on the last two stages. I must say Loeb's attack is impressive. Now I need to do the same this afternoon."

Solberg's team-mate at the Citroen Junior Team, Sebastien Ogier, rounded off the top five places, the Frenchman adopting a cautious approach on the stages he made his World Rally Car debut on last year. "The conditions this morning have been very tricky indeed - and I think maybe the drivers ahead of us in the road order have a better road," he explained.

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford drivers Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson hold sixth and seventh places respectively. Solberg completed SS9 with broken wipers. "They got stuck half way through the stage, so we did about 10km without them - that's not easy," he said. Wilson, meanwhile, had a solid morning after handing issues on Friday were fixed last night after a gearbox and differential swap.

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Photo: Willy Weyens