Canadian GP || June 9 || 14h00 (Local time)

SS9/SS10: Ford duo share superspecial wins

At the conclusion of day one

By Franck Drui

9 September 2011 - 11:41

Rally Australia leader Mikko Hirvonen has completed the opening day of the world championship counter by winning the fourth pass through the Castrol EDGE Super Special Stage in Coffs Harbour.

The mainly asphalt stage, used twice on Thursday evening, was run two times this evening to bring Friday’s dramatic action to a close.

Hirvonen was 0.1s slower than Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala on the first pass this evening but went fastest of all on the second run, 0.5s quicker than M-Sport Stobart driver Henning Solberg.

“It’s been a very difficult day, not so enjoyable at times,” said Hirvonen, whose overnight lead stands at 7.0s. “I’m just happy to be here and we will see what we can do tomorrow.”

Coffs Coast resident Nathan Quinn set the pace in Group N on both runs through the stage.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	1h17m11.2s
02	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+7.0s
03	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+44.3s
04	H. SOLBERG / I. MINOR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+2m26.9s
05	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+3m03.1s
06	K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+4m47.3s
07	H. PADDON / J. KENNARD	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	+5m19.7s
08	M. KOSCIUSZKO / M. SZCZEPANIAK	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	+6m39.9s
09	O. SALIUK / P. CHEREPIN	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	+7m22.4s
10	B. GUERRA / B. ROZADA	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	+8m28.3s
11	B. REEVES / R. SMYTH	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	+8m35.6s
12	V. GORBAN / A. NIKOLAYEV	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	+10m17.1s
13	G. LINARI / N. ARENA	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	+13m31.2s
14	E. NOVIKOV / D. GIRAUDET	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+20m41.1s
15	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+24m37.7s