Galli continues to strike for Stobart
At the midway point of Rally d’Italia Sardegna Gigi Galli sits in fifth position just 21 seconds off a podium place. Team-mate Matthew Wilson has also advanced on his overnight position moving into 12th and just 5.3 seconds off 11th place.
Both drivers had a fairly clean run through all three stages run this morning apart from Galli who had a small spin 22 kilometres into the spectacular Monte Lerno stage. Despite this the Italian still managed to set the fourth fastest time over the stage to accompany the third fastest times he set on stages 7 and 9.
Wilson began well setting a quick time on the opening test this morning but was slightly caught out by a massive jump which many WRC crews did not have well enough described in their notes. Unfortunately a small brake issue dented the young Brit’s confidence on stage 9 but the problem will be looked at in service before he heads back out this afternoon for the repeat loop of three stages.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said:
“I’m happy with my pace today and I will try and push hard this afternoon but these guys are going so fast in-front so I also need to be sensible for the points. Things have been going well this morning I have been pushing hard but not to the limit. Our times have been good and we have made up some places but it is important to stay concentrated and finish the event with good points. The car is feeling good and usually I find it hard to start off fast in the morning but today was no problem. We hit a rock near the end of the last stage and took a chunk out of the tyre but it was strong enough to hold up until the finish.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Matthew Wilson said:
“We started off well this morning with a good time on the first stage and also flew over a massive jump which woke us up. We’ve had some brake problems on the other two stages this morning which lost us some time but hopefully we can sort the issue in service. We have moved up a couple of places this morning and can hopefully do the same this afternoon. We are not far off a couple of the guys in front so if we keep focused and not make any mistakes I think we can catch them by the end of the day.”
Leaderboard after SS9
1. S Loeb/D ElenaF Citroën C4 2h16m01.7s
2. M Hirvonen/J LehtinenFIN Ford Focus RS +42.0s
3. J-M Latvala/M Attila FIN Ford Focus RS +54.4s
4. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroën C4 +55.8s
5. G Galli/G BernacchiniI Ford Focus RS +1m15.2s
6. C Atkinson/S Prevot AUS Subaru Impreza +1m55.5s
7. H Solberg/C MenkerudN Ford Focus RS +3m18.3s
8. U Aava/K SikkEE Citroën C4 +3m24.4s
9. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FINSuzuki SX4 +4m11.8s
10. P-G Andersson/J AnderssonSWESuzuki SX4 +4m12.7s
12. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +6m03.4s