The second leg of the 41st RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada was composed of six new stages and proved to be very hard for the great majority of contestants, with a lot of incidents and last-minute changes. The two first positions remained unchanged, with a comfortable lead for Sébastien Loeb, who set three fastest times and François Duval is second 57 seconds behind Loeb.

Behind these two drivers is where the incidents, surprises and retirements start, ending with an open fight for the podium between Xevi Pons (Citroën) and Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) that are separated by a seven minutes gap. Both drivers benefit from Marcus Grönholm’s retirement, due to an engine failure between the last stage and the Service Park.

Hirvonen arrived in third place to the Service Park with Pons 12 seconds behind him. Nevertheless, he arrived two minutes late to a time control as he had to change the oil pump and received a 20-second penalty that gives Pons the third position overall.

Dani Solà retires
The day started with the neutralization of the first stage due to the incorrect placement of the spectators, who crowded the Tarragona roads throughout the day. Dani Solà (Ford Focus RS WRC04) suffered the first incident of the leg when he went off the road during the third stage and was forced to retire when he was about to score the fastest time.
Same fate for Gigi Galli (Mitsubishi), who suffered a terrible off-track, just after finishing the fourth stage and setting the scratch. As to Toni Gardemeister (Ford) he lost more than 12 minutes when in fourth position due to another out.

Daniel Sordo, closer to the title
RACC driver Daniel Sordo is now set to get the title of the Junior World Rally Championship. The 22-year-old Spaniard and his Citroën C2 S1600 ended the day in the lead despite the 1-minute penalty received for changing the engine alter the shakedown. His rival in the fight for the title, Guy Wilks, retired in the second stage after an out, although he will start again tomorrow in Superally mode. Mirco Baldacci also suffered and accident when he was leading the JWRC category in front of Sordo.

Josep Bargalló’s visit
The Prime Minister of the Catalan Government, Josep Bargalló, visited the Rally HQ and the Capafonts stage. Bargalló was impressed by the magnitude of the event that is “an example of the right way to organize a top international event” as he stated. The Prime Minister admitted “the great efforts made by the RACC to promote the image of Catalonia in the entire world, together with Formula One and Motorcycling.