SS15: Loeb back on top in Greece

Loeb regains the advantage

By Franck Drui

19 June 2011 - 09:24
SS15: Loeb back on top in Greece

The thrilling battle for victory on the Acropolis Rally took another twist when Sebastien Loeb beat Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier through Sunday’s second stage.

Despite being hamstrung by running first on the road, Loeb bettered Ogier’s time by two-tenths of a second to retake the lead of the world championship qualifier by 0.1s.

Mikko Hirvonen strengthened his grip on third place by edging Petter Solberg on the stage. The Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver is now 14.4 clear of the Norwegian privateer and 14.7s behind new leader Loeb.

Jari-Matti Latvala was fastest of all once again in his Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta. The Finn is recovering from time lost on the opening two days of the event and is making the most of his lowly road position to set some impressive times.

Russian Evgeny Novikov, who restarted on Saturday under SupeRally regulations was third quickest in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.

Crews are now heading back to service in Loutraki. Three stages remain before this afternoon’s finish in the seaside town 90 kilometres west of the Greek capital Athens.

Standings after SS15:

Pos.DriverCarTime
01 S. LOEB / D. ELENA Citroën DS3 WRC 3h41m41.6s
02 S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA Citroën DS3 WRC +0.1s
03 M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN Ford Fiesta RS WRC +14.7s
04 P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON Citroën DS3 WRC +29.1s
05 H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR Ford Fiesta RS WRC +4m44.3s
06 M. WILSON / S. MARTIN Ford Fiesta RS WRC +6m05.5s
07 K. RAIKKONEN / K. LINDSTRÖM Citroën DS3 WRC +7m37.4s
08 J. HANNINEN / M. MARKKULA Skoda Fabia S2000 +10m00.4s
09 J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA Ford Fiesta RS WRC +13m06.9s
10 D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE Ford Fiesta RS WRC +13m37.6s
11 B. SOUSA / A. COSTA Ford Fiesta S2000 +14m16.0s
12 F. TURÁN / G. ZSIROS Ford Fiesta S2000 +15m29.7s
13 H. GASSNER JR / K. WUSTENHAGEN Skoda Fabia S2000 +16m46.1s
14 M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON Ford Fiesta RS WRC +16m49.7s
15 M. PROKOP / J. TOMÁNEK Ford Fiesta S2000 +19m02.6s

WRC

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