Sardinia : OMV Peugeot Norway - Leg 2The Rally Italia Sardegna proved unlucky for the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team so far.
After Henning Solberg had managed to reach the podium following special stage eight, he had to retire during the next stage. The OMV
driver hit a tree on SS 9 just 300 metres short of the finish, thereby drifting off the road. Driver and co-driver remained unhurt but the Peugeot 307 WRC was too heavily damaged to continue the rally.
Meanwhile Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor are fighting to score one or more WRC points.
SupeRally on Sunday is possible
Henning Solberg doesn't seem too lucky these days. Following his superb performance on the first day of the Sardinia Rally, things seemed to go equally well on the second leg at first.
The Norwegian OMV duo Solberg/Menkerud took advantage of Grönholm's retirement and climbed up to third place on special stage eight. But the joy about the podium place wasn't long-lived. Henning Solberg hit a tree on special stage 9 and got off the road. The right front side of the Peugeot 307 WRC was so heavily damaged that it would have been unwise to keep on going.
Unfortunately the accident happened only 300 metres short of the finish of the 12,28 metres long special stage. Solberg: “We didn't want to risk any engine failure, therefore we didn't even try to go on. Exchanging the engine would cost us a 90-seconds penalty for Greece. But the damage isn't too bad. Just a small hole in the radiator.
SupeRally on Sunday would be possible but we'll have to discuss this with the team first. The retirement did obviously hurt. But the rally proved to us that we can keep up with the speed of the top drivers on gravel."
Dissatisfying overall performance
Manfred Stohl tries to make the best of his situation. Although things went better up to the tyre damage on Friday afternoon, Saturday had a backlash in store. During the first stages he couldn't reach the times of the top drivers – even though the 33-year-old OMV driver managed to overtake Francois Duval (Bel/Skoda) and climb up two places due to the retirements of Grönholm and his OMV Peugeot Norway Teammate Solberg.
But the times worry Manfred Stohl. Stohl: “I really can't put my finger to it. Probably the whole package is lacking something here – including me. I never seem to gather real speed but I couldn't say where I'm loosing time. Currently we are testing a different set-up so that we might be able to improve our performance on Sunday." The OMV duo Stohl/Minor finished leg two in 9th overall place.
Press release OMV Peugeot Norway
