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CUPRA · 01-09-2007 , 02:10:20

New Zealand - WRC Leg Two

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb had only one goal this morning - to finish leg two leading the rally. The Frenchman leads Rally New Zealand going into the final day of competition by only 1.7 seconds over closest rival Marcus Gronholm.

Gronholm went into the first stage of the day, Port Waikato, leading the event by 13 seconds over Loeb, a lead that got reduced immediately by the Citroen driver. Loeb closed the gap between him and Gronholm to 9.9 seconds on the stage.

Then it was the Finn's turn as he was fastest on the second stage of this morning, increasing again his advantage to 14.9 seconds. But, as temperatures rose and roads dried out, Gronholm's tyres started to lose their grip, making him drop time on the Franklin test, stage 8 of the rally. Gronholm was now only 3.6 seconds ahead of the reigning world rally champion.

After the midday service, the battle continued. Loeb returned to the stages stronger than ever, scoring two fastest times and passing Gronholm in the leaderboard to take first overall. However, a long day awaits the two drivers tomorrow, with seven special stages still to go, and where anything could happen.

BP-Ford's Mikko Hirvonen finished the leg third overall. The young Finn, who is driving his own rally, finished the second day of rallying one minute 10.8 seconds behind Gronholm's second overall.

Jari-Matti Latvala is fourth overall, 49.8 seconds behind Hirvonen, finishing fourth fastest on the majority of the stages. The Stobart driver was happy with his pace but admitted his tyre choice was not the correct one, coming into the midday service apprehensive of the slippery morning conditions.

Fifth overall at the end of the day was Chris Atkinson who couldn't pass the Finnish driver despite various intents. The Subaru driver stated that his tyres were too soft for the stages. He goes into leg three of the rally 10.5 seconds behind Latvala.

Citroen's Dani Sordo completed today's stages sixth overall, 36.6 seconds behind the Australian, losing hopes of catching Atkinson for fifth in the standings. The Spanish driver was happy with his tyres today but complained of oversteer in his C4 during some of the morning stages.

Seventh overall went to Petter Solberg who was still suffering from handling problems in his Impreza WRC07. The Norwegian stated that the problem was worst than yesterday, but he managed to keep his position in the leaderboard, 36.5 seconds behind Sordo.
Rounding out the top in the classification was Mitsubishi's Urmo Aava who inherited the position from Henning Solberg after the Stobart driver had overheating problems on the Franklin stage. Solberg lost over four minutes, having to stop twice during the test to clear the mud off the radiator which was causing his Focus RS WRC06 to overheat.

Subaru's Xevi Pons hit trouble once again when he rolled 26km from the start of stage 8. Him and co-driver Xavier Amigo were unharmed but had to retire from the event, the second retirement of the rally for the Spanish crew.

01-09-2007 , 02:10:20	#52
CUPRA Denunciante Distinguido Me Gusta Estadisticas Mensajes: 3.980 Me Gusta Recibidos: 0 Me Gustas Dados: 55 Ingreso: 02 dic 2005 Temas Nominados a TDM Temas Nominados 0 Temas Ganadores: 0 Reputacion Poder de Credibilidad: 24 Puntos: 4799	Rally New Zealand New Zealand - WRC Leg Two Citroen's Sebastien Loeb had only one goal this morning - to finish leg two leading the rally. The Frenchman leads Rally New Zealand going into the final day of competition by only 1.7 seconds over closest rival Marcus Gronholm. Gronholm went into the first stage of the day, Port Waikato, leading the event by 13 seconds over Loeb, a lead that got reduced immediately by the Citroen driver. Loeb closed the gap between him and Gronholm to 9.9 seconds on the stage. Then it was the Finn's turn as he was fastest on the second stage of this morning, increasing again his advantage to 14.9 seconds. But, as temperatures rose and roads dried out, Gronholm's tyres started to lose their grip, making him drop time on the Franklin test, stage 8 of the rally. Gronholm was now only 3.6 seconds ahead of the reigning world rally champion. After the midday service, the battle continued. Loeb returned to the stages stronger than ever, scoring two fastest times and passing Gronholm in the leaderboard to take first overall. However, a long day awaits the two drivers tomorrow, with seven special stages still to go, and where anything could happen. BP-Ford's Mikko Hirvonen finished the leg third overall. The young Finn, who is driving his own rally, finished the second day of rallying one minute 10.8 seconds behind Gronholm's second overall. Jari-Matti Latvala is fourth overall, 49.8 seconds behind Hirvonen, finishing fourth fastest on the majority of the stages. The Stobart driver was happy with his pace but admitted his tyre choice was not the correct one, coming into the midday service apprehensive of the slippery morning conditions. Fifth overall at the end of the day was Chris Atkinson who couldn't pass the Finnish driver despite various intents. The Subaru driver stated that his tyres were too soft for the stages. He goes into leg three of the rally 10.5 seconds behind Latvala. Citroen's Dani Sordo completed today's stages sixth overall, 36.6 seconds behind the Australian, losing hopes of catching Atkinson for fifth in the standings. The Spanish driver was happy with his tyres today but complained of oversteer in his C4 during some of the morning stages. Seventh overall went to Petter Solberg who was still suffering from handling problems in his Impreza WRC07. The Norwegian stated that the problem was worst than yesterday, but he managed to keep his position in the leaderboard, 36.5 seconds behind Sordo. Rounding out the top in the classification was Mitsubishi's Urmo Aava who inherited the position from Henning Solberg after the Stobart driver had overheating problems on the Franklin stage. Solberg lost over four minutes, having to stop twice during the test to clear the mud off the radiator which was causing his Focus RS WRC06 to overheat. Subaru's Xevi Pons hit trouble once again when he rolled 26km from the start of stage 8. Him and co-driver Xavier Amigo were unharmed but had to retire from the event, the second retirement of the rally for the Spanish crew. __________________ Friendship, Loyalty, Commitment, Respect & Honor http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/528...r471946cu5.gif Old School HxC [Stolz und Loyalität; Hardcore Heute, Morgen, Für Immer] l[Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via ]l l[Hardcore The Music, Friendship It Brings]l