Stobart back in the race after SS12
A dramatic morning on day 2 of the Jordan Rally has seen all three Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team crews advance up the leaderboard. Matthew Wilson leads the way for the squad in sixth position after a solid morning’s loop of four stages to the north of Rally HQ.
Henning Solberg is set to move into seventh this afternoon after rally leader Sebastien Loeb bailed out of today’s leg in dramatic fashion colliding with fellow WRC competitor Conrad Rautenbach on a road section after stage 11.
A consistent morning from Gigi Galli has seen him move back into a manufacturer points scoring position to put the Stobart side in good steed at the midway point of the event. This afternoon will see a repeat of this morning’s stages on swept hard-packed roads.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said:
“We have been going quite well this morning and the car is feeling very good after yesterday. I feel more relaxed today and am finding a good feeling and rhythm with car. I’m using my time now to make some changes and get a better feeling on gravel for the next few rallies so we are using the time to concentrate on learning more about the car. It’s going well and we are still looking good for some manufacturer points.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Henning Solberg said:
“We had some good stages this morning and will make a few small changes now in service. Yesterday the second pass went well for me so hopefully we can improve on our times this afternoon. The feeling on the difficult surface is coming now but still we need to concentrate and not make any mistakes or do anything silly.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Matthew Wilson said:
“I have found a good level of grip with the tyres now and I’m starting to learn what they can do. I’m just trying to stay neat and tidy in the stages as it is so easy to over-push on this surface and lose time. We had a problem with the intercom at the start of stage 11 and the volume control wasn’t working for most of the stage but again today my times have been consistent and I’m not having to push very hard for them.
Leaderboard after SS12
1. D Sordo/M MartiE Citroën C4 1h53m05.0s
2. J-M Latvala/M Attila FIN Ford Focus RS +0.7s
3. M Hirvonen/J LehtinenFIN Ford Focus RS +6.0s
4. C Atkinson/S Prevot AUS Subaru Impreza +1m52.7s
5. U Aava/K SikkEE Citroën C4 +2m38.7s
6. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +4m07.7s
7. S Loeb/D ElenaF Citroën C4 +4m25.9s
8. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS +4m40.0s
11. G Galli/G BernacchiniI Ford Focus RS +11m43.0s