Citroen Total World Rally Team driver Sebastien Loeb has responded to Jari-Matti Latvala’s threat on the Acropolis Rally, round six of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, by winning Saturday’s opening test to extend his overall advantage to 7.6s.
Loeb was 1.1s faster than Latvala, in a Ford World Rally Team Fiesta, on the stage where he crashed heavily back in 2009. “I’m extending my lead but only by one second,” said Loeb. “We had a good drive but it’s a very hard stage for the tyres and the second pass will be terrible.”
Latvala said: “I tried as much as I could but some places are rough and you need to be really careful not to go wide as there are lots of rocks around. I try to put pressure on Loeb but he’s the eight-time world champion so it won’t be easy. I’ve made some changes to the car and I feel more confident now.”
Petter Solberg was third fastest in his Fiesta and now falls 20.9s behind Loeb. “It’s so rough in some places so it was no risk as it’s so easy to do a mistake. One rock in the road can destroy your rally so you have to respect that.”
Mikko Hirvonen was fourth quickest in the second factory Citroen DS3 WRC. He said: “The pace was quite okay but it was a careful drive and I didn’t take any risks.”
Mads Ostberg was far from happy in his Adapta Fiesta, confirming he has set his sights on trying to climb back into the top six. The Norwegian, who was sixth quickest behind Evgeny Novikov, said: “I tried to push but the confidence is not there and I don’t trust the car. The surface is very loose and if you lose the line there is absolutely no grip.”
Martin Prokop has extended his advantage over Nasser Al-Attiyah in the battle for seventh. The Czech reported to being happier running further down the start order.
Thierry Neuville continues to drive with caution in his Citroen Junior World Rally Team entry. He was 10th fastest behind last year’s winner Sebastien Ogier who continues to impress in his Volkswagen Motorsport-run Skoda Fabia S2000.
Paulo Nobre failed to complete the stage with reports that he’s damaged the suspension on his MINI John Cooper Works WRC following contact with a rock.