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Loeb takes slender lead on opening day of WRGB
publication date: Nov 10, 2011
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author/source: Peter Hughes
Sebastien Loeb leads Wales Rally GB by less than
a second at the end of the opening day but he no longer has the support of his
team-mate in his quest for a record eighth world title.
The final round of this year's WRC saw a dramatic start within minutes of beginning. Sebastien Ogier crashed the second works Citroen
out of the event on the opening stage in Great Orme in Llandudno and although
he may return to the event on Saturday under SuperRally rules he will no longer
play any part in determining the top placings. |  | Loeb (above right) built up a three second lead over
championship rival Mikko Hirvonen in the two runs over the tarmac Great Orme
stage but when the event moved into Clocaenog
Forest for the second
stage of the day the Finn clawed back more than two second to leave Loeb with
his slender overnight lead.
To deny Loeb the title Hirvonen must win the
event with the Frenchman finishing third or lower.
Hirvonen's Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala had
lead the event after two stages but slipped back to third when the competitors
moved into the forest. In fourth place is Petter Solberg. The Norwegian had
also hit the scenery in his privately run Citroen but was able to continue
despite damaged suspension.
Ulster-man Kris Meek holds fifth place in his
works Mini ahead of his Spanish team-mate Dani Sordo.
Meanwhile, Dolgellau driver Elfyn Evans and
co-driver Andrew Edwards of Aberystwyth lead the two wheel drive class in their
Ford Fiesta ahead of the similar car of Irishman Craig Breen and his Carmarthen co-driver Gareth Roberts.
The Subaru Impreza
of Jason Pritchard fom Builth Wells patnered by Dale Furniss of Llanfyllin lies
third in the production category.
After an overnight halt in Llandudno the
competitors face probably the toughest day of the event with eight stages in
North West Wales.
The
second day takes competitors to classic stages in Dyfi and Dyfnant Forests
that were last used in the rally in 1997.
After leaving Llandudno at 05.30, competitors journey south to tackle a
double loop of four stages covering 116.18km, before the long journey to Cardiff where they arrive
for the overnight halt at 20.57. | | |
| Wales Rally GB | Leaderboard
after Day 1 | 25.25 kms | | 1. S Loeb/D Elena | Citroen DS3 | 14min 38.0sec | | 2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen | Ford Fiesta RS | 14min 38.7sec | | 3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila | Ford Fiesta RS | 14min 41.1sec | | 4. P Solberg/C Patterson | Citroen DS3 | 14min 49.9sec | | 5. K Meeke/P Nagle | Mini John Cooper
| 14min 56.7sec | | 6. D Sordo/C Del Barrio | Mini John Cooper
| 15min 05.3sec | | 7. M Østberg/J Andersson | Ford Fiesta RS | 15min 05.8sec
| 8. O
Tänak/K Sikk
| Ford Fiesta
RS | 15min 08.6sec | | 9. M Wilson/S Martin | Ford Fiesta RS | 15min 14.5sec | | 10 H
Solberg/I Minor | Ford Fiesta RS
| 15min 15.8sec | | | |
| Ilka's major award is justly deserved in honour of Welsh star |
Austria's Ilka Minor has
been chosen as the sixth winner of the Michael Park ‘Beef' Trophy,
commemorating the international co-driving achievements of the late Welsh navigator
who was killed on WRGB in 2005.
Ilka, 36, first drove in the World Rally Championship in
1997 and has been a regular competitor for the past eight years, first with
Manfred Stohl and more recently with Henning Solberg in the
M-Sport Stobart Ford team.
She is quite literally married to the sport,
as her husband is a rally engineer. After accompanying a variety of drivers in
the European Championship, Ilka teamed up with Stohl in 2003 to form one of the
most successful privateer driving partnerships of the past few years. |  | | | |
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