Rally Italia Sardegna - after stage 4
Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team pairing Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen made a strong start to Rally Italia Sardegna this morning to hold second place. The Finns led this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship in their Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car for part of the morning loop of speed tests, before reaching the mid-leg service break just 2.7sec from the lead.
Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila retired from today's action after damaging the front left suspension of their Fiesta RS WRC after hitting a wall.
Drivers made the long journey south from the rally base in Olbia to the west coast of the Mediterranean island, where they tackled four speed tests covering 65.53km. The gravel roads near Oristano were new to the WRC, and posed plenty of difficulties to the top drivers.
Hirvonen was second through the opening 10.21km Lago Omodeo stage, before taking the lead in the 21.32km Monte Grighini Nord test after setting fastest time by almost six seconds. Thirty-year-old Hirvonen saw his lead cut to just 0.3sec in the 14.34km Alta Marmilla, before ending the morning with third quickest time in the 19.66km Monte Grighini Sud.
"The roads were slippery, especially in the last two stages of the loop," he said. "For the first time this season I'm not first in the start order on gravel, and it helped because I didn't have to sweep loose stones from the surface. On the wide, hard-based sections I took advantage because I could see a clean line created by Sébastien Loeb ahead. But on the rougher, twistier roads there was no benefit.
"I was cautious in places and too fast in others, but it was difficult to stay in Loeb's line because it wasn't always the line I wanted to follow. I don't want to be first in the start order tomorrow, so I'm already thinking about how tactics might come into play this afternoon," he added.
Latvala barely had time to get into his stride. "About 3km after the start of the opening stage, Miikka made a mistake with a pace note and called a left corner much faster than it was. I approached the bend almost flat out, and by the time I realised it was slower and tighter it was too late. I tried to brake, but the road was slippery and the car went backwards into the ditch and hit a wall," he said.
"The car ended back on the road but the impact damaged the left steering arm. We drove to the finish and tried to make repairs for the next stage, but there was little we could do. We tried to drive the stage but it was too much for the suspension wishbone and steering arm, which snapped after 6km. I don't blame Miikka. I've made plenty of mistakes behind the wheel and every co-driver has made an error at some point. We all try to be perfect, but we're only human," explained Latvala.
Leaderboard after stage 4 of 18
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen DS3 44min 35.2sec
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Fiesta RS 44min 37.9sec
3. E Novikov/ S Prévot RUS Ford Fiesta RS 44min 47.1sec
4. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Ford Fiesta RS 44min 55.0sec
5. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen DS3 44min 56.0sec
6. P Solberg/C Patterson NOR Citroen DS3 45min 01.5sec
7. H Solberg/I Minor NOR Ford Fiesta RS 45min 17.6sec
8. D Sordo/C Del Barrio ESP Mini John Cooper 45min 20.7sec
9. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Fiesta RS 45min 54.2sec
10 F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Fiesta RS 46min 20.1sec
For more information: Contact Mark Wilford or Georgina Finney at the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team media desk in Olbia Tel: + 44 7770 756214. Images available at www.worldrallypics.com/ford