Day 2 review stage by stage 02.04.2010: JORDAN RALLY 2010 SS8: Hirvonen crashes out Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen retired from Friday's competition in the Jordan Rally after crashing on the opening Suwayma test

JORDAN RALLY 2010

SS8: Hirvonen crashes out

Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen retired from Friday's competition in the Jordan Rally after crashing on the opening Suwayma test.

The Finn, who was fifth overnight, crashed 4.5km from the start, clipping a bank with the front right-hand corner of his Focus RS World Rally Car, then ricocheting across the road into another bank and breaking his car's left-hand front suspension.

With his car's left-hand front wheel hanging off, the Finn had no option but to retire from the day. He hopes to restart as a SuperRally entrant on Saturday.

The stage was won by Sebastien Loeb, who moved ahead of Sebastien Ogier into second overall. Hirvonen's team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala set the fifth fastest time to keep the overall rally lead by a margin of 28.5sec.




SS9: Petter up to second

Citroen privateer driver Petter Solberg set the fastest time through Friday's second stage of the Jordan rally to move ahead of Sebastien Loeb into second place.

The Norwegian, whose C4 World Rally Car is equipped with an evolution engine for this event, completed the 17.20km Kafrain stage 5.4sec quicker than the rest of the field.

Sebastien Ogier was second quickest, with Sebastien Loeb third. Rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala set the first fastest time and lost seven seconds of his advantage, which reduced to 21.8sec.





After SS10: Latvala holding on in Jordan

The battle for the World Rally Championship was turned on its head this morning when title chaser Mikko Hirvonen crashed out of the Jordan Rally.

Hirvonen, who started day two in fifth overall, crashed 4.5 kilometres from the start of the 10.49-kilometre Suwayma stage after clipping a bank with the front-right corner of his Focus RS WRC 09. He then ricocheted across the road into another bank, breaking his car’s front-left suspension in the process.

The Finn and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen were unhurt in the incident but were forced to retire from today’s action. It is expected they will return under SupeRally regulations on Saturday.

Hirvonen’s Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala continues to lead the third round of the WRC, although his overnight advantage has been slashed from 30.2 seconds to 4.7s after three special stages.

“It has been a difficult morning and I dropped more time in Jordan River than I thought,” said Latvala. “My pacenotes were too ambitious in places and I slid wide.” Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb, the six-time WRC champion and current championship leader, is up to second place after going fastest on Friday’s first stage and the daunting Jordan River test, which at 41.45 kilometres is the longest of this demanding gravel event.

“I am happy so far with no problems,” said Loeb. “I was a bit slower in the second stage because it was not so clean and it was difficult to find a rhythm.”

Sebastien Ogier is currently third for the Citroen Junior Team, 13.9 seconds up on Petter Solberg. The Norwegian moved into second in his privately-run Citroen C4 after winning stage nine, the 17.20-kilometre Kafrain test. However, he lost time on the Jordan River stage due to a lack of grip caused by running stiffer spring settings.

Dani Sordo, in the second factory C4, is 6.3 seconds behind Solberg after the Spaniard suffered a half spin close to the end of the Jordan River stage. Henning Solberg had been sixth but lost several minutes when he nudged his right-rear tyre off its rim hitting a rock on the Jordan River stage and drove on for approximately 18 kilometres. He complained of a brake problem afterwards.

Solberg’s misfortune has promoted Stobart M-Sport team-mate Matthew Wilson into sixth with Federico Villagra now in seventh in his Munchi’s Ford Focus.

Ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen is up to eighth after an encouraging start to the day when he set the sixth fastest time on the Suwayma stage. He reported losing more than a minute stuck behind the slow-moving Solberg on Jordan River.




SS11: Loeb pulls level with Latvala

Defending Champion Sebastien Loeb leapt into the joint lead of the Jordan Rally on the first stage after service and is hoping to pull at least 30 seconds clear by the end of the day.

Capitalising on his advantageous position of third in Friday's start order, the Frenchman completed the 10.49km repeated Suwayma stage 4.7sec quicker than Latvala, who is first on the road.

At the stage end Loeb said: "I really tried hard in there. If I'm to lead the rally into tomorrow then I'll need a good lead - 30 seconds would be the minimum because Saturday's roads are very difficult. I'll keep pushing and see how we do."

Petter Solberg set the second fastest time, with Dani Sordo rounding off the top three.

Xevi Pons has moved ahead of Bernardo Sousa in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship category. Patrik Flodin still leads the race race for Production Car World Rally Championship honours, despite an overshoot on stage ten.

Of the original 33 starters, 31 made the re-start at the Dead Sea this morning. There are three stages remaining before crews reach the overnight halt.



SS12: Loeb pulls ahead

Citroen C4 WRC driver Sebastien Loeb emerged from SS12 the clear leader of the Jordan Rally, having pulled 5.4 seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala who had held the position since SS4.

But while Loeb held first place overall, he couldn't match the pace of his Citroen stable-mate Petter Solberg, who was fastest through the repeated 17.20km Kafrain.

The result moved the Norwegian, who is fourth, closer to the closely bunched trio ahead of him. After SS12, and before the crucial repeat of the Jordan River stage, just 19.8sec separates the top four drivers



SS13: Loeb leads after day two in Jordan

Sebastien Loeb will take a 24-second lead into Saturday's final day of the Jordan Rally after ending Friday's competition with a fastest time though the repeated Jordan River stage.

Earlier in the day Loeb said he was hoping for a 30-second cushion over Ford rival Jari-Matti Latvala, to counteract the disadvantage of running first on the road through Saturday's remaining eight stages.

In the event, he accepted a margin of 27.7sec over the Finn who holds third place after Sebastien Ogier unexpectedly moved ahead into second.

The last stage position switch - which Ogier claimed was intentional - is likely to benefit Latvala on Saturday


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