Francois Duval’s second day on Rally Deutschland came to a premature end on SS14 when a crash left his Stobart team Ford Focus RS WRC on its roof.
The Belgian, making a return to the WRC after two years away, slid wide and rolled at a right-hand corner 6.5km from the end of the 48km Panzerplatte - the longest stage of the season. Duval and co-driver Denis Giraudet were shaken but escaped serious injury.
Duval’s exit promoted Petter Solberg into fifth. The Norwegian, who was 53rd on stage one after stopping to change a wheel, also celebrate a fastest stage time 8.4seconds quicker than rally leader Sebastien Loeb.
Loeb and Dani Sordo completed the stage cleanly to hold their first and second places respectively. Loeb will take a 35.7sec advantage into Sunday’s competition. Sebastien Ogier clipped a pole close to the end of Panzerplatte but holds third, 1min 31.4sec behind Sordo.
Overall standings after SS14:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën C4 WRC | 3h05m21.6s |
| 02 | Dani SORDO | Citroën C4 WRC | +35.7s |
| 03 | Sébastien OGIER | Citroën C4 WRC | +2m07.1s |
| 04 | Jari-Matti LATVALA | Ford Focus WRC | +2m23.7s |
| 05 | Petter SOLBERG | Citroën C4 WRC | +5m16.0s |
| 06 | Kimi RAIKKONEN | Citroën C4 WRC | +7m24.4s |
| 07 | Matthew WILSON | Ford Focus WRC | +7m43.9s |
| 08 | Mikko HIRVONEN | Ford Focus WRC | +12m27.4s |
| 09 | Ken BLOCK | Ford Focus WRC | +12m38.9s |
| 10 | Mark VAN ELDIK | Subaru Impreza WRC | +14m10.9s |
| 11 | Khalid AL QASSIMI | Ford Focus WRC | +14m17.7s |
| 12 | Per Gunnar ANDERSSON | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +14m18.7s |
| 13 | Patrik SANDELL | Skoda Fabia S2000 | +14m23.3s |
| 14 | Martin PROKOP | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +14m24.5s |
| 15 | Bernhard TEN BRINKE | Ford Focus WRC | +15m25.7s |