Written by Evan Rothman.
With torrential rain playing a telling part in the pace of the repeat of stages on Day One of Wales Rally GB, it was the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC of Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila who increased their slim advantage over their rivals only to have their perfect start to this event suffering a dramatic blow.
The 2010 World Rally Champions Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen Total World Rally Team) were first on the roads, but the heavy rain dampened the disadvantage of the road sweeping phenomena. The top six crews, running on large doses of adrenalin coursing through their veins, pushed the limits of physics through SS5, SS6 (the famous Sweet Lamb stage) and SS7 are still separated by a little over a minute.
Dani Sordo/Diego Vallejo (Citroen Junior Team) experienced a heart-in-throat-moment on SS5 when they miraculously emerged unscathed (but breathless) after a sixth gear right hand corner spin. The Spanish duo spun uncontrollably and luckily stopped spinning facing in the right direction.
Latvala took advantage of the brewing battle between Loeb and privateers Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson (Petter Solberg World Rally Team), with Solberg leapfrogging Loeb into second place overall to finish the stage 5.2sec behind Latvala.
Through the famous Sweet Lamb stage, Loeb attacked not only for second place but also for the rally lead. He managed to reel in Solberg but only closed in 0.7sec to Latvala.
The heavy rain persisted through SS7, making the going tough. Competitors on this event would probably consider no rain a greater oddity for Wales Rally GB. Rally leader Latvala lost his lead in the most unkind way when he first place position exploded with his tyre as it ripped off his car’s rim. The Flying Finn lost over a minute as he battled to keep his Ford Focus RS WRC on the road to bring his car to the end of the 27.88km Myherin 2 stage. Rally fans expect Latvala to stage a daring fight back on Day Two and Three.
Latvala’s misfortune handed Loeb the lead, and he will start Day Two first on the road once more.
Overall Standings after Day One:
01) S. Loeb – 1h 15m 34.6s
02) P. Solberg + 1.8s
03) S. Ogier + 3.6s
04) M. Hirvonen + 42.2s
05) D. Sordo + 48.9s
06) J-M. Latvala + 1m 07.0s
07) H. Solberg + 2m 30.5s
08) M. Wilson + 3m 19.3s
09) M. Ostberg + 3m 38.3s
10) K. Raikkonen + 4m 27.1s