Citroen aces in epic battle for Greece victory

Citroen DS3 WRC stars Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier have vowed to keep pushing for victory on the Acropolis Rally after reaching mid-morning service in Loutraki separated by a mere 0.1s.

Loeb, who is running first on the road, dropped behind Ogier on Sunday’s opening test but moved back in front on stage 15 with a determined drive. He said: “It depends of the road cleaning on the second pass but we have to push. Eighteen points [for second] is better than no points but the others are still pushing and Ogier is closing the gap so we have to push to do a podium.”

As well as trailing Loeb in the overall classification, Ogier is 30 points adrift of the seven-time world champion in the drivers’ standings and needs to beat his more experienced team-mate to boost his hopes of his first world crown.

“He has been very fast and it’s always very difficult to beat Seb,” said Ogier. “It was cleaning a bit less on the second stage and maybe I did not push enough.”

Mikko Hirvonen remains in contention for victory in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, 14.7s behind Loeb with three stages remaining. “We’ve managed to get a little bit closer and we will still try,” said Hirvonen. “If there was another 20-kilometre stage I would be feeling more confident but now it’s going to be close. It’s going to be a big fight.”

Petter Solberg is 14.4s behind Hirvonen in fourth but having fallen 29.1s adrift of leader Loeb. He said his chances of winning in Greece were all but over in his privateer Citroen. “I am pushing flat out, I know the stages well but I lose everything in the up hill, that’s it,” said the Norwegian. “I’m pushing very hard but I’m not even close. Don’t ask me why. There is no chance now to win. I’m not giving up for the podium but it looks like we are not on the pace.”

Henning Solberg is fifth for the M-Sport Stobart Ford squad. His team-mate Matthew Wilson remains sixth and reported the misfire that plagued him on day two had now been cured. Kimi Raikkonen is seventh in his Ice 1 Racing Citroen, while fellow Finn Juho Hanninen continues to lead the Super 2000 World Rally Championship classification in eighth overall.

Jari-Matti Latvala has moved up to ninth after winning Sunday’s opening brace of stages in his factory Fiesta. Dennis Kuipers has dropped back to 10th in his FERM Power Tools World Rally Team entry, with SWRC runner Bernardo Sousa slipping outside of the top 10 to 11th.

Mads Ostberg reported a steering problem on his Fiesta, while Greek Fiesta driver Lambros Athanassoulas has adopted a cautious approach to ensure he reaches the finish in Loutraki, his home town, this afternoon.

Daniel Oliveira stopped approximately halfway through stage 14 with a suspected mechanical failure on his Brazil World Rally Team MINI John Cooper Works WRC.