Rallye Deutschland 2008 Day 2 Results: Loeb fastest on all but one stage, Duval 3rd as Hirvonen punctures, Latvala rolls and Meeke dominates S1600

Posted by Scott Coursey 16 August, 2008

Loeb pulled away from his pursuers as he recorded fastest time on nearly all of today's Rally Germany stages, to lead by just over 40s his teammate Sordo. Sordo collected fastest time on the last stage today as Loeb preserved his engine. Mikko Hirvonen dropped from second to fourth, as he was first overhauled by Sordo and then punctured at the end of SS9, losing 40s, to allow Duval to move ahead into 3rd.

Loeb reflects:

It’s been a very good day, but now we’ve taken a bit of power from the engine so it’s going to be difficult to win all the stages. The important thing is I have a good lead for tomorrow and it’s looking very positive. I’m not taking any big risks, just concentrating on keeping a good rhythm and of course having fun.”

Duval no confidence with the Focus:

It was okay but a difficult day, especially in the Baumholder stages. I’m not pushing too hard because I’m not too confident with the car.”

Duval wasn't too happy with the performance of his Focus today and may have to let Hirvonen move ahead of him tomorrow re: championship points. Subaru had a solid day with Petter 5th and Atko 6th. Latvala dropped 3 mins with a roll on SS9 and dropped from 5th to 9th o/a. Gigi Galli, in the meantime, has been reported to be recovering well from last night's operation on his broken femur.

Kris Meeke was the star of the S1600's setting fastest time on every stage today in the A6 clas despite cracked brake disc on the last 2 stages. He is currently 18th o/a and 1m 19s ahead of Ogier. Ogier leads the JWRC after Prokop retired earlier in the day with a broken alternator. Prokop states wont SupeRally tomorrow as is totally disgruntled by his season so far. Donegal's Shaun Gallagher has moved up to 4th in the JWRC after a solid day's drive.

Meeke's day two synopsis: http://krismeeke.blogspot.com/

Latvala's roll SS9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KdEv0_PjTc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6flF6paEAQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB7Be4mK0tw

Jari-Matti Latvala's comments following his roll:

I misjudged the distance to the corner and then went into a field to try and avoid hitting a straw bale. There was a ditch, which I didn't see, and the car rolled through the ditch. It was a slight roll, but the fan on the rear differential cooler is broken. I'm sure we can fix it and get back to service."

Onboard Hirvonen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZttOKd5-EI

Duval up to 3rd today but will he be allowed to stay there tomorrow?

IMG_2549_1.jpg picture by C4B