Rally New Zealand – after Stage 2, Waitomo 1
BP-Ford World Rally Team driver Mikko Hirvonen accepted the traditional Maori challenge ahead of last night's start ceremony for this 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The 27-year-old Finn represented all 68 starters as he greeted Maori leaders in front of large crowds gathered in Hamilton to see the prologue to three days of competition in the Waikato region of North Island.
The action started this morning with the first of two groups of two identical speed tests south west of the host city. Heavy rain last night was replaced by clear skies this morning, although the watery winter sunshine ensured that temperatures were cool. The rain ensured the gravel special stages were muddy and was exactly what championship leader BP-Ford World Rally Team had hoped for.
Dry conditions would have left the roads covered in a coating of slippery loose gravel. That would have been a big disadvantage for drivers' championship leaders Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen, first to start the special stages in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car and saddled with the job of sweeping the roads clean to the benefit of those behind. However, the rain bound together the gravel and ironically the 39-year-old Finnish driver had the best of the conditions to win both the 18.31km Pirongia West and the 43.88km Waitomo tests.
He returned to service at Hamilton with a 14.8sec lead over Sébastien Loeb, despite suffering with 'flu symptoms. "It helped being first on the road in these conditions and my tyre choice was perfect," said Grönholm, who opted for BFGoodrich's soft compound rubber. "I don't feel 100 per cent and that long stage left me feeling more tired than it normally would. The plan was to attack hard this morning and it paid off. The weather isn't as bright out in the stages as it is here so tyre choice might be difficult for the repeat pass this afternoon."
Team-mates Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were third through both stages in their Focus RS. Hirvonen opted for medium soft compound tyres with cuts hand-carved into the rubber but the 27-year-old Finn admitted they were not the ideal choice. "The difference between my tyres and those of Marcus isn't so big but they didn't feel right. If your choice isn't 100 per cent right, then a driver doesn't have 100 per cent feeling. I started to push too hard and slid wide in a few corners. It's getting slippier as more cars go through and some sections were quite muddy," he explained.
Leaderboard after stage 2 of 18
1. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 42min 28.3sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4 42min 43.1sec
3. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 43min 01.9sec
4. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 43min 14.6sec
5. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 43min 21.3sec
6. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4 43min 27.9sec
7. X Pons/X Amigo E Subaru Impreza 43min 35.2sec
8. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 43min 40.4sec
9. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS 43min 52.3sec
10 M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara 44min 01.5sec