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SS11: Solberg fastest as Hirvonen takes the lead

Hirvonen is the new leader as Ostberg drops to second

By Franck Drui

12 February 2011 - 12:12

Mikko Hirvonen is the new leader of Rally Sweden after going faster than Mads Ostberg through stage 11.

The factory Ford driver is now 0.3s ahead of his Norwegian rival heading to the midday service halt in Hagfors.

“I’ve really pushed and the car is really, really good,” said Hirvonen after completing the 15.42-kilometre stage in his Fiesta RS WRC with the fifth quickest time.

Petter Solberg, who was fastest through the stage in his Citroen DS3 WRC, said: “It was so much fun. I hit the back tyre towards the end of the stage but I did not loose too much time. Everything is possible now.”

Sweden’s PG Andersson set the second fastest time to climb in to seventh in the overall standings.

Ford Fiesta pilot Jari-Matti Latvala was third fastest with Sebastien Ogier fourth quickest in his factory DS3 WRC.

Standings after SS11:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	1h54m57.5s
02	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+0.3s
03	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+31.0s
04	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+44.3s
05	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+1m10.0s
06	S. LOEB / D. ELENA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+2m43.6s
07	P. ANDERSSON / E. AXELSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+4m11.0s
08	P. SANDELL / S. PARMANDER	Skoda Fabia S2000	+4m19.8s
09	K. RÄIKKONEN / K. LINDSTRÖM	Citroën DS3 WRC	+5m22.4s
10	A. GRØNDAL / V. ENGAN	Subaru Impreza STI	+7m00.0s
11	K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+7m03.7s
12	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+7m07.6s
13	M. PROKOP / J. TOMANEK	Ford Fiesta S2000	+7m38.9s
14	D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+8m19.7s
15	K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+11m57.0s