Rally New Zealand 2008 Day 2 Results: Latvala leads as tactics come into play leaving four drivers in with a shout come the final day
M Sport Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala ended the day in first place (with a lead of 9.3s) to try and assist teammate Mikko Hirvonen's bid for tomorrow. With Latvala first on the road on Sunday he will sweep for Hirvonen, but it would appear that Loeb has a better road position for tomorrow in 3rd.
Mystery Creek SSS:
Citroen Sport (in agreement with Seb) reluctantly instructed Loeb to slow down after it was realised he couldn't take the a 20s advantage into the final day. Loeb had taken the lead on day two after Hirvonen swept the road for him, but on SS13 Loeb eased up to drop behind Hirvonen and lie third o/a at the end of the day. Loeb had reckoned he would have needed at least a 20s gap if he were to be first on the road for the final day.
Loeb states he was reluctant to slow down:
I didn’t want to slow down, for me it’s not good for the sport but what can we do? We have regulations like this; my job is to win, so I try to do my best to win.”
Olivier Quesnel was saddened by the fact his team had to use tactics and feels the rule is "stupid" and states he hopes the regulation is changed as appealed to the sport's bosses after Turkey to do so but had no support from any other teams.
Hirvonen spoke about day and his road position for tomorrow:
I didn’t have any plan, I just had to wait and see what everybody else did. But we came through, we’re still second and the difference between the first three cars is not so big. My road position is okay, maybe Loeb’s is better, but I think it’s going to be a good fight tomorrow.”
Dani Sordo will start in fourth position only 2.4s behind teammate Loeb and possibly in the best place to make a challenge, if Citroen let him and only if Loeb is out of the hunt. Duval is fifth for Stobart and going well, he's over a minute behind Sordo so will be looking for a sensible finish and may profit from any misfortune in front of him.
A solid 5th for Dudu:
A dejected Petter:
Aava is 6th and for once is having a consistent drive, and not attacking the hedges this time. Solberg is 7th in the Subaru and is very dejected as the car is still far off the pace while Andersson is 8th for Suzuki who are having a better and more reliable rally. Mention must go to Henning Solberg who set three fastest times today after his problems yesterday, his road position helped but it was still an impressive achievment.
Suzuki having a relatively trauma free rally for once:
Martin Prokop leads the PWRC as day 1 leader Baldacci crashed out. Patrik Sandell is second in his hired evo and is a minute behind Prokop.
Review of Day 1 Rally NZ 2008:
PWRC Day 1:
Rally New Zealand Day 2 Top Ten Standings:
1. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 2hr 57mins 29.0secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +00mins 09.3secs M
3. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 13.3secs M
4. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 15.7secs M
5. Francois Duval Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +01mins 40.9secs M
6. Urmo Aava PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +02mins 49.8secs A8
7. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +02mins 52.8secs M
8. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +04mins 31.0secs M
9. Toni Gardemeister Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +06mins 37.4secs M
10. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 07 +06mins 56.8secs M
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