Written by Evan Rothman
The battle for the overall victory of the WRC Wales Rally GB this morning saw Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Total C4 WRC) jump into the lead with an 11.5sec lead over Petter Solberg (Citroen C4 WRC) in the final day’s opening speed test.
In SS18, the following stage, Loeb was able to edge out an extra 2.8sec over Solberg, with the tide now firmly in favour of Loeb winning this event.
Mikko Hirvonen’s battle with BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala has intensified, with Latvala edging closer to Hirvonen in SS17. After SS18, Hirvonen’s lead over Latvala is only 5.4sec.
Crews now enjoy a visit to Service Park for new tyres and a check of their cars before repeating this morning’s stages later this afternoon to complete the rally.
Overall after SS18:
01) S. Loeb – 2h 53m 28.0s
02) P. Solberg + 14.3s
03) M. Hirvonen + 1m 45.3s
04) J-M. Latvala + 1m 48.7s
05) D. Sordo + 2m 19.6s
06) H. Solberg + 6m 18.3s
07) M. Wilson + 8m 05.1s
08) K. Raikkonen + 9m 54.6s
09) M. Ostberg + 11m 58.0s
10) A. Mikkelsen + 12m 40.5s