Loeb and Hirvonen joint fastest at Shakedown

Mikko Hirvonen and Sebastien Loeb, the two leading drivers in the 2009 World Championship for drivers, were joint fastest at this morning's Shakedown session for Rally Poland.

Hirvonen, driving a Ford Focus RS WRC, and Loeb, in a Citroen C4 WRC, both recorded a best time of 2min 13.5sec.

The four-hour test took place on a 3.40km gravel road close to the Service Park in Mikolajki. Heavy rain on Wednesday night had made the sandy road damp and the surface quickly became rutted. Weather conditions were humid and overcast with a temperature of 19°C.

Loeb made five passes through the stage in his Citroen, setting his quickest time on his first attempt, and declaring himself satisfied with the set-up he had found.

Hirvonen made only three passes, setting his best time on the third. "We had a good pre-event test last week and now we've managed to compare our times against everybody else. The set-up was still working, the car felt good and the times were okay. I'm happy with that," he said.

The opening stage of the rally, the 2.5km Mikolajki Super Special gets underway on Thursday evening at 2000hrs. Stage times will be streamed live here on wrc.com.

Today’s Shakedown times from the leading WRC crews:

=1. LOEB. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:13.5
=1. HIRVONEN. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:13.5
3. LATVALA. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:14.5
4. NOVIKOV. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:15.0
5. P. SOLBERG. Citroen Xsara WRC. 2:15.2
6. SORDO. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:15.8
7. WILSON. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:17.5
8. H. SOLBERG. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:17.7
9. MIKKELSEN. Skoda Fabia WRC 08. 2:19.4
10. OGIER. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:19.7
11. RAUTENBACH. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:19.9
12. ÖSTBERG. Subaru Impreza WRC. 2:21.4
13. HOLOWCZYC. Ford Focus RS WRC. 2:22.4

- full information on www.wrc.com