Sardinia : ShakedownThe shakedown of Rally d'Italia Sardegna took place this morning on a 4.3 km course located in La Crucitta di Sant'Antonio.
The weather conditions were very good, with clear skies and summer-like temperatures.
Marcus Gronholm and Chris Atkinson
achieved an identical best time of 2'57"5. The two men are followed by
Sebastien Loeb, three tenths of a second slower in third position.
Henning Solberg finished just ahead of his brother Petter, taking fourth place in front of the Subaru driver. Henning's teammate, Manfred Stohl, set the six fastest time, just three tenths of a second behind Petter Solberg.
The Stobart VK Ford team had to replace the engine in Matthew Wilson's Focus WRC 04. The young British driver will receive a one minute penalty at the start of the race tomorrow.
"We tested on Monday without any problems but the mechanics noticed a water leak on Tuesday," explained Wilson. "It's a shame but that's racing, these things happen."
Shakedown results
1. Marcus Grönhom/Rautiainen (Fin) Ford Focus WRC 2:57,5
=.
Chris Atkinson/Macneal (Aus) Subaru Impreza WRC 2:57,5
3.
Sebastien Loeb/Elena (Fra) Citroen Xsara WRC 2 :57,8
4. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Nor) OMV Peugeot 307 WRC 2:58,6
5. Petter Solberg/Mills (Nor) Subaru Impreza WRC 3:00,0
6. Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor (Aut) OMV Peugot 307 WRC 3:00,3
7. Jussi Valimäki/Kalliolepo (Fin) Mitsubishi lancer WRC 3:00,9
8. Daniel Sordo/Marti (Spa) Citroen Xsara WRC 3:01,1
9. Xevi Pons/Del Barrio (Spa) Citroen Xsara WRC 3:03,0
=. Mikko Hirvonen/Lehtinen (Fin) Ford Focus WRC 3:03,0
11. Harri Rovanpera/Pietilainen (Fin) Red Bull Skoda WRC 3:05,5
16. Andreas Aigner/Gottschalk (Aut) Red Bull Skoda WRC 3:08,4
Hugo GIGUERE CAPSIS International
