The tenth round of the thirteen-event 2011 World Rally Championship got underway tonight with two short 3.77km super special stages to mark the opening of the Rally Australia.
As was predicted the factory Citroën Total World Rally Team’s crews of Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier set the quickest stages times, one each, to end the opening section 2.2sec ahead of their closest rivals. Ogier set the scratch time through the narrow and tight first stage 0.7sec faster than Loeb. Loeb then pipped Ogier to snatch SS2 by 0.1sec, meaning that the younger Frenchman enjoys a 0.6sec leading going into the 29km opening stage of Day One proper.
The Coffs Harbour, with rain falling on the slippery car park roads to reduce available grip, made for a challenge to most crews it seems. The last position in the WRC field is some 37sec adrift of the leaders after nearly only 8km of competition thus far. Drivers bemoaned the lack of grip on the narrow and twisty super special stage, but followed up that it made for exciting driving and spectating.
It was Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) who finished third overall, 2.8sec off Ogier’s overnight lead. Right behind is teammate Mikko Hirvonen.
The only major incident to occur on the two opening stages was when Matthew Wilson (M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team) spun into a barrier to damage his car’s rear wing. It didn’t hamper his overall pace as he finished the two super special stages in ninth position overall.
Day One’s action gets underway at 10h03 (local Australian time and at 03h03 South African time – GMT+2) with a 29km stage.
Muy buenas fotos Matt!!!!!!! 😉 Saludos