SECOND-DAY RESULTS KEEP FORD AT BAY

+ Click to Enlarge RALLYING IN THE RAIN: Finn Jari-Matti Latvala and his Ford finished third behind the Citroens on Day 2 of the 2009 Rally of Ireland. Image: AFP

January 31, 2009

Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo rounded off Day 2 of the Irish leg of the World Rally championship on Saturday with first and second for Citroen.

With 14 of the event’s 19 stages over, Loeb has a 1min09.1 lead over team mate Sordo who in turn heads third-placed Mikko Hirvonen's Ford Focus by 1min21.8.

Saturday brought more treacherous weather conditions, persistent rain again making Pirelli’s winter tyre the preferred option over the PZero asphalt rubber.

Loeb, apart from a small off-road excursion on the penultimate stage, was in dominant form and won five of the day’s six stages.

"We've a nice lead now, everything was OK,” he said. "The tyre choice was easy - the stages have been just as tricky as Friday’s but yesterday we were on the normal tar tyres and it wasn’t working well.

"Now the feeling is OK, but there was a lot of water and the gravel crews have had a big task. But we’re here, the car is good and everything is going well."

Sordo also had a largely trouble-free day, with only a stall on SS13 slowing him. "Once again conditions were very difficult with so much water on the road and different grip all over the place," he said. "We were aquaplaning a lot but overall I’m happy with the performance of the car."

Hirvonen’s chances of challenging Sordo or Loeb took a blow early in the day when his power-steering pump failed and forced him to struggle through two stages. "I was really looking forward to the fight - maybe tomorrow. The most important thing now is to finish and get the most points I can."

Henning Solberg was fourth overnight after fending off a strong attack from Chris Atkinson. "On that last stage I pushed as much as I could - I drove like I had my heart in my neck!" he said. "Tomorrow we’ll have to see how we get on, but I’m very, very happy with my driving today.”

After a mixed first day in his new Citroen C4 WRC, Atkinson found a much better pace on Saturday. He set a string of top-three times and moved up two places the leaderboard to fifth.

OGIER HOME SIXTH

The Australian will start Sunday 4.7sec behind Henning Solberg’s fourth place. "Considering these are the most difficult conditions I’ve ever seen and I’m in a completely new car it’s been a really good day!" Atkinson said. "It’s taken me a day and a half to understand how to get the best out of the car.”

Sebastien Ogier ended the day sixth - having made up the two places he lost when he went off on SS9. "Without the mistakes this morning it would have been more interesting," he said.

SS14 was stopped after an accident involving the Citroen C2 of J-WRC competitors Hans Weijs and his co-driver Bjorn de Gandt. A statement from the organisers reported that Weijs had been taken to hospital for a check-up. His co-driver was unhurt.

WRC Rally of Ireland standings after Saturday's six stages
1 Sébastien Loeb (FRA/Citroën C4) 2hr20min02.8
2 Dani Sordo (ESP/Citroën C4) +1min09.1
3 Mikko Hirvonen (FIN/Ford Focus) +2min30.9
4 Henning Solberg (NOR/Ford Focus) +5min57.4
5 Chris Atkinson (AUS/Citroën C4) +6min02.1
6 Sébastien Ogier (FRA/Citroën C4) +9min13.4
7 Matthew Wilson (GBR/Ford Focus) +9min51.3
8 Khalid Al Qassimi (UAE/Ford Focus) +11min50.0

Stage winners
Loeb 2-6, 9-11,13,14
Latvala 1
Hirvonen 12