Citroën: No let up in hostilities

Held on roads along the banks of the Mosel river, the second leg of Rallye Deutschland provided a thrilling four-way contest at the front of the field. In the thick of the action, the two Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team crews ended the day in third and fourth positions, with Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio ahead of Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen.

With six special stages over a total of 131km of timed sections, day two of Rallye Deutschland served up the first big chunk of the rally. Held on roads winding through the vineyards, the Mittelmosel, Moselland and Grafschaft stages were damp in places when the crews had to choose their tyres for the first loop. The Citroën Racing decided on different options, with five hard Michelin Pilot Sport tyres for Mikko Hirvonen and a mix of four hard and two soft tyres for Dani Sordo.

And yet the gaps between the four leading drivers remained very small after Sébastien Ogier went off. At the midday service, Latvala held first place ahead of Neuville, Sordo and Hirvonen. 15.1s off the pace, the Spaniard was pleased with his performance: “It’s a really exciting fight. Despite carrying a second spare wheel and have a set-up that could be improved, I managed to set some times that were similar to those of the leaders. I think I can go even quicker on the second runs.”

“This is definitely one of my best performances on tarmac,” commented a delighted Mikko. “I had good pace and I think there is still room for improvement. The margins are so fine, sometimes, though. Just by taking your foot off the gas a little bit too early on a corner leading into a long straight, you can end up losing several tenths of a second. I have to be more consistent, sometimes by being a bit braver, sometimes by adopting driving more cleanly.”

Still within striking distance at the start of the afternoon, Dani Sordo lost a few seconds on the final stage of the day. He ended the leg in third position, 26.3s behind Latvala: “I kept pushing hard, but I braked too late and ended up overshooting a hairpin. I now have to concentrate on tomorrow’s leg, which will be very different with the stage in the Baumholder military base. We have to remain confident and keep pushing all the way.”

Meanwhile, Mikko Hirvonen saw the gap to the top three grow throughout the afternoon: “It has been a pretty positive day, but I didn’t manage to improve as much as I would have liked. The others are also really pushing hard! I expect the third leg to be tough. The weather forecast doesn’t look too good, so there may well be other incidents tomorrow.”

Continuing to acquire experience in the DS3 WRC on tarmac, Khalid Al Qassimi and Scott Martin finished the day in 12th place overall. “I tried to push a bit more on the second runs but driving on these stages, which combine quick sections and hairpins, does not really come naturally to me.”

An ending the day an excellent eighth overall, Robert Kubica still tops the WRC2 standings with a 12.4s lead over Elfyn Evans: “It wasn’t an easy day, as I had some problems with the handbrake this morning. I had to put the car into reverse on some of the hairpins. The afternoon went better, although I was hampered by damage to the rear spoiler and a broken rear window after a big compression. So, it’s positive to be still in front!”