Portugal : ShakedownAs is the routine, this morning the teams were busy conducting shakedown runs ahead of the first special stage of Rally Portugal that takes place later on today. The 5.10 kilometre shakedown stage saw most competitors completing between two and four
runs before heading off to the Algarve Stadium to prepare for the start of the rally proper.
In partly sunny and cloudy conditions the shakedown was compromised by the incident which saw five spectators injured when Armindo Araujo left the road. Fortunately, the injuries whilst undoubtedly very painful, were not life threatening.
Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson led the way for Subaru as they look to build on their solid pace displayed last time out in Mexico with the new WRC2007. Solberg set the pace on his third run through with a best time of 3:06.0 while on the same run Atkinson was just six-tenths adrift in the sister machine.
Rally Norway winner Mikko Hirvonen was third fastest in his BP Ford Focus ahead of Mexico winner
Sebastien Loeb in the Citroen C4 who whilst happy with the initial pace, admitted that the shakedown is not often truly representative of things to come.
Daniel Carlsson was an encouraging fifth fastest in his OMV Kronos Citroen ahead of
Marcus Gronholm in the second works Ford entry. Dani Sordo was next up in the second Citroen ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala in the leading Stobart Ford entry. Toni Gardemeister and Manfred Stohl rounded out the top ten.
Rally Portugal Shakedown Times
1 P.Solberg-Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 3'06'0
2 Atkinson-Macneall Subaru Impreza WRC 3'06'6
3 Hirvonen-Lethinen Ford Focus WRC 3'06'7
4 Loeb-Elena Citroën C4 WRC 3'07'2
5 Carlsson-Giraudet Citroën Xsara WRC 3'07'4
6 Grönholm-Rautiainen Ford Focus WRC 3'07'7
7 Sordo-Marti Citroën C4 WRC 3'06'8
8 Latvala-Anttila Ford Focus WRC 3'09'5
9 Gardemeister-Honkanen Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 3'11'9
10 Stohl-Minor Citroën Xsara WRC 3'12'6
Earl ALEXANDER © CAPSIS International
