03/10/2008
RallyRACC, day 1: Loeb and Sordo’s Citroën set a blistering pace

Dani Sordo (Citroën). Spain 08

The 44 movistar RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España, concluded the first day of competition under the iron grip of Citroën. The French manufacturer’s drivers Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo-Marc Martí, on their C4 WRCs, dominated the race with Loeb collecting six out of six possible scratch times. Current championship leader Seb Loeb saw his main contender for the title, Mikko Hirvonen, finish the day in 4th place, behind RACC driver Sordo and also behind his own team mate François Duval.

The opening day included a loop made up of three long stages, La Mussara (20.48 km), Querol (21.26 km) and El Montmell (24.14 km), that were run twice. The good weather accounted partly for a flat out race. The Citroëns and Fords set the pace all day, and some drivers further down the standings, such as Petter Solberg (Subaru) –fifth- and young drivers Urmo Aava (Citroën), Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford), Chris Atkinson (Subaru), Andreas Mikkelsen (Ford) and Matthew Wilson (Ford), exchanged places during the day.

The second run was almost a remake of the first series, with the same drivers in the leading positions. Duval and Hirvonen fought for a contested third place that the Belgian took home with a 2.8 seconds lead.

In the Junior series, Sébastien Ogier (Citroën C2 S1600), also from France, did not give much chance and won most of the stages. Martin Prokop (Citroën C2 S1600) is second in the provisional standings, trailed by Alessandro Bettega (Renault Clio R3).

The second day of the rally includes six more stages, totaling 128 km. Tomorrow’s lot will start with the longest stage of the round, El Priorat-La Ribera d’Ebre, with 38.27 km. The Historical Vehicles motorcade will entertain spectators between the runs, adding to the wide range of shows and leisure activities that are organized in PortAventura’s Service Park and Salou’s Seafront.

Overall Classification after Day 1. 44 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España
1-Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC), 1h 10’11”5
2-Daniel Sordo-Marc Martí (Citroën C4 WRC), +15”8
3-François Duval-Patrick Pivato (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), +41”3
4-Mikko Hirvonen-Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), +44”1
5-Petter Solberg-Phil Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC2008), +1’47”5
6-Urmo Aava-Kuldar Sikk (Citroën C4 WRC), +2’01”2
7-Jari-Matti Latvala-Miikka Anttila (Ford Focus RS WRC 2007), +2’04”4
8-Chris Atkinson-Phil Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC2008), +2’13”4
9-Andreas Mikkelsen-Ola Floenne (Ford Focus RS WRC 2007), +2’24”9
10-Matthew Wilson-Scott Martin (Ford Focus RS WRC 2007), +3’42”1
1st J-WRC: Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C2 S1600)
1st Gr. N: Juho Hänninen-Mikko Markkula (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Gr. N)