It has been a weekend of attrition. With nearly half of the WRC field running under SupeRally regulations, the leader board at the end of Day Two of the WRC Rally Australia looks rather very different from other rounds.
For fans of the Blue Oval this WRC event has been a branding exercise par excellence, for the Fiesta RS WRCs have dominated the proceedings thus far when the factory Citroën crews fell by the wayside on Day One and were relegated to high-speed spectators for the overall rally win.
Jari-Matti Latvala, the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team’s younger driver, reached the overnight halt with a lead of 22.7sec over his teammate and fellow Finn Mikko Hirvonen. These Ford Fiesta RS WRC drivers swapped positions at the midday service halt after Hirvonen struggled with grip while serving as road sweeper. Latvala set four successive fastest stage times on the morning loop, and then backed off the pace to secure his position for the final day’s speed tests.
Day Two’s rally action was comprised of 10 stages in sunny and dry weather conditions, a relief for crews and team principals after the heavy rain that marred the opening day of the event.
Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson rounded out the podium positions in their privateer Citroën DS3 WRC, but were one minute adrift of Hirvonen in second place overall.
A handful number of minutes further back was Matthew Wilson (M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team) in fourth, his equal best position on a WRC rally. He moved up the leader board in the afternoon stages after teammate Henning Solberg was forced to retire with electrical problems.
Braving the tough event was Team Abu Dhabi’s Khalid Al Qassimi in fifth place, his personal best since joining the series. He does, however, have to be ever mindful of the threat from the chasing Kiwi rally ace Hayden Paddon in a Production Car World Rally Championship Subaru Impreza in sixth place overall.
Russian star Evgeniy Novikov, in the third M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team, Fiesta RS WRC, moved to 10th overall after having to restart Day Two under SupeRally regulations.
Sebastien Ogier worked his way to within reach of the top ten thanks to a trio of fastest stage times on the afternoon loop.
Like Ogier, Sebastien Loeb also restarted Day Two under SupeRally regulations after he crashed out of the event on SS4, but was nearly 30min behind the leaders.
