SS15: Mixed fortunes for Solberg brothers
Henning is stopped on the stage
There were mixed fortunes for the Solberg brothers on stage 15 of Rally Australia, round 10 of the World Rally Championship.
While Petter Solberg set the fourth fastest time, 0.8s down on rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala, older brother Henning failed to complete the run in his M-Sport Stobart Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Although the exact cause of his problem has yet to be confirmed he has parked up three kilometres from the end of the stage, promoting team-mate Matthew Wilson to fourth in the process.
For Petter Solberg, meanwhile, his time signaled an upturn in form after he struggled with the set-up of his Citroen DS3 WRC this morning.
"I’m very happy with it, very happy,” said Solberg, who carried out a number of set-up changes during midday service. “It’s very interesting actually. I could push hard and things will get better. I’m feeling very confident.”
Out front Latvala continues to increase his advantage over Ford team-mate Mikko Hirvonen after setting the second fastest time through the repeat of the Welshes test.
“It’s messed up in there,” said Hirvonen, who is now 21.3s behind Latvala. “The grip was consistent in the morning but now it’s slippery, very difficult. It’s a lot harder to push.”
Sebastien Ogier was fastest through the stage in his Citroen DS3 WRC, reporting that he was able to up his pace without taking risks having “validated” his pace notes on the first pass of the stage this morning. Team-mate Sebastien Loeb was third quickest.