WRC Rallye de France – Tour de Corse 2008 Day 1 Results: Loeb once again in complete control on asphalt but Sordo crashed out
Image: ©willyweyens-rallyworld
Sebastien Loeb dominated the first day of the Rallye de France in Corsica in usual fashion by taking quickest time on every stage. His Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo crashed out though on stage two after hitting a rock and smashing into a wall, he will not SupeRally tomorrow as car is structurally damaged.
Seb reflects to wrc.com on his day:
Yup, it’s been a perfect day again. I’ve been pushing very hard but I’ve had no problems. Now we have a good lead but I feel so comfortable in the car I prefer to keep this same speed tomorrow rather than slow down and maybe lose concentration.”
Mikko Hirvonen was 32.3s behind Loeb in second just ahead of his Ford team-mate Francois Duval. Hirvonen seemed quite dejected at the end of the day as he can do nothing about Seb's pace.
Duval was expected to be a bit closer to Loeb here but ended the day third though promises to push a bit more tomorrow, he did admit however that things were looking good for Ford re: points after Sordo's demise.
Mikko says he has no answer:
I did try but he’s too fast. There’s nothing much I could do. I’ve had a good day, I’m happy with the car and my driving; it’s just not enough to get him.”
Petter Solberg was a good fourth for Subaru, after a day long fight with Latvala, and it would appear that Subaru are perhaps turning the corner in terms of pace with Atko just behind in sixth. Garde is in seventh for Suzuki who really just want a points finish but poor Andreas Mikkelsen was eigth in his Ramsport Focus after booking in eight mins early at a time control and receiving an 80s penalty.
Brice Tirabassi was 9th in his second outing in the SWRT S14 and felt he couldn't get the right set-up for today with his car. Urmo Aava had a torrid time in his PH-Sport Citroen with damper problems and ended the day tenth o/a.
Duval will have a go tomorrow if he can:
My position through the morning stages was hard and there was a lot of gravel on the road. The rest of the day hasn’t been so bad but Seb is going really fast. Second and third places for Ford is good but I’ll try to do more tomorrow.”
In the JWRC Ogier and Burkart are playing a bit of cat and mouse in fourth and fifth respectively, as Corsican Pierre Campana leads in his FFSA backed Renault Clio R3 ahead of the C2 of Prokop with Bettega 3rd in an R3.
Sordo's crash:
Loeb onboard S/D:
Images: ©willyweyens-rallyworld
Overall times after SS6 / Day 1 - Top 20:
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1hour 09mins 24.3secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +00mins 32.3secs M
3. Francois Duval BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +00mins 34.0secs M
4. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +01mins 11.5secs M
5. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +01mins 12.7secs MT
6. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +01mins 15.4secs M
7. Toni Gardemeister Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +03mins 16.0secs M
8. Andreas Mikkelsen Ramsport Ford Focus WRC 07 +03mins 18.5secs A8
9. Brice Tirabassi Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +03mins 21.4secs A8
10. Urmo Aava PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +03mins 23.0secs A8
11. Conrad Rautenbach PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +03mins 24.5secs A8
12. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +03mins 26.5secs M
13. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Subaru WRC +03mins 43.7secs A8
14. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +03mins 54.6secs MT
15. Khalid Al Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +05mins 15.5secs A8
16. Barry Clark Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +05mins 42.9secs A8
17. Gareth Jones Subaru Impreza WRC S12B +06mins 21.5secs A8
18. Guy Fiori Renault Clio S1600 +06mins 51.7secs A6
19. Pierre Campana Renault Clio R3 MAXI +06mins 59.4secs J
20. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +07mins 08.5secs J
Overall JWRC after SS6 / Day 1 - Top 10:
1. Pierre Campana Renault Clio R3 1hour 16mins 23.7secs J
2. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +00mins 09.1secs J
3. Alessandro Bettega Renault Clio R3 +00mins 13.7secs J
4. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C2 S1600 +00mins 31.7secs J
5. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +01mins 03.5secs J
6. Florian Niegel Suzuki Swift S1600 +01mins 04.8secs J
7. Arnaud Augoyard Renault Clio R3 +01mins 12.2secs J
8. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 +01mins 22.5secs J
9. Pierre Marche Suzuki Swift +01mins 34.1secs J
10. Kevin Abbring Renault Clio RS R3 +01mins 58.3secs J
Image: ©willyweyens-rallyworld
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