Portugal : Leg 2 - ReviewThe duel between
Sebastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm on this 41st Rally Portugal has turned to the advantage of the Citroën driver after he suceeded in making the best times on each stage driven today.
The world champion now holds a 40-second
lead on his rival, therefore offering him the opprtunity to take on a pressure-lightened Leg 3.
Mikko Hirvonen, presently third, lags two minutes behind Loeb but is still under pressure from Petter Solberg, 13 seconds away.
Perfect day for Loeb
The second leg started under rainy conditions which made tyre choices difficult when the weather conditions changed. Loeb chose soft tyres while his adversaries opted for the harder compounds.
It was the right decision for the driver of the Citroën Sport C4, who took the lead from the day's beginning. Loeb would afterwards switch to harder compounds than his rivals, once again making the right decision. Six stages, six best times : Loeb was untouchable.
Behind the wheel of the second C4, Dani Sordo could no longer hope reaching the podium. Aiming to better his fifth place in the provisional standings, he would systematically be outdistanced by Mikko Hirvonen and Petter Solberg, those he wished to overtake. Dani can comfort himself with his fifth place now that he is 50 seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala.
Grönholm gave all he could
Marcus Grönholm fought like there was no tomorrow. The Finn pushed as hard as he could push his Ford Focus, sometimes even beyond… His car would end the day with a wheel and bumper in bad shape.
While Loeb was inspired in his tyre choices, Grönholm missed the target and paid for it. Constantly in Loeb's wake, he could never catch up and saw the distance grow between them, reaching 40 forty seconds. “It would be easier here at the Rally without him,” joked Marcus this morning after the first loop.
Grönholm knows it will now be difficult to recuperate the time lost to Loeb but the Finn should be able to make it to the podium, which is important for Championship considerations.
It would also be an important result for Ford to see its two Focus cars on the podium. To accomplish that, Mikko Hirvonen must protect his third-place ranking against Petter Solberg. With 13 seconds separating them, the battle will continue over the stages of the third leg.
Solberg looking for the right set-up
Petter Solberg made a good constant run and seemed satisfied with it even though he recognized that everything Is not perfect. The potential is there, the trick now is using it correctly. Petter's foremost plan is to find the right set-up for his Impreza, and the Subaru car will naturally give him the best times as as result.
Stage after stage, Solberg is soaking in information that will serve the Subaru engineers working on his Impreza. Fourth in the standings, the Norwegian will try to take back the thirteen seconds that separate him from Hirvonen… and the podium.
Chris Atkinson did not finish this second day of racing. The Australian went off-road and had to call it quits.
The Stobarts are in the points
After a bad start to this rally, Jari-Matti Latvala had a dream day. The Finn's Focus responded to his demands and good times resulted. Latvala maintained his sixth position and should be able to keep it tomorrow thanks to the two-minute lead he has on the nearest follower.
The nearest follower being his teammate, Henning Solberg, who grew in confidence as the stages went by. The Stobart driver admitted that things were getting better as he learned the car's handling.
With two drivers in sixth and seventh positions, the Stobart Motorsport Team could score good points for the constructor's championship.
Xsaras top off the top ten
Daniel Carlsson is discovering his OMV Kronos Citroën Xsara on gravel trails and should be able to gather a point on this rally. He is in a comfortable eighth place for tomorrow's final five stages.
After a difficult debut because of a bad tyre choice, Gigi Galli performed well afterwards. The Italian places the Aimont Racing Xsara in ninth place.
Aboard the second OMV Kronos Xasara, Manfred Stohl was unlucky today. The Austrian went wide and lost over five minutes during the first pass in the Almodovar stage. In seventh place last night, he ends leg 2 in tenth.
Daniel BASTIEN © CAPSIS International
