Saturday midday wrap: Loeb on course for victory

Sebastien Loeb’s bid for a ninth ADAC Rallye Deutschland victory remains on target after he completed Saturday morning’s loop of four stages with an advantage of 4.8s over Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier.

With a comfortable margin over the chasing pack, Citroen chiefs have indicated their desire for Loeb and Ogier to hold position at the top of the leaderboard in order to ensure a dominant one-two finish.

Although Ogier narrowed Loeb’s advantage with a rapid time through stage eight, normal service resumed on the next run when Loeb pulled clear. But a rare mistake by the seven-time world champion on the Arena Panzerplatte test has narrowed the gap once more.

“We went straight in a junction,” said Loeb. “I think it would have been okay to brake but I didn’t try, instead of a hairpin left I went right. I lost a bit of time but there was no problem.”

Ogier said: “It was a normal morning, we had a good drive, the car still working well and it’s okay for us at the moment.”

But asked about the possibility of team orders being applied, Ogier added: “I have noting to say about that. I just try to improve my speed here. We are in the right direction and that is the most important.”

Mikko Hirvonen had been looking comfortable in third overall in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC only to suffer a right-rear puncture nine kilometres from the end of Arena Panzerplatte. His delay means Dani Sordo grabs the final podium spot in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

Petter Solberg’s bid for a top five finish suffered a setback when he picked up a front puncture in his privateer Citroen. “It’s very easy to get a puncture,” said Solberg. “I do the best I can, that’s all I can say.”

Solberg’s delay means he has slipped to fifth behind MINI driver Kris Meeke, having moved ahead of the Briton when he overshot a junction on stage seven.

Meeke had been faster than team-mate Sordo on the day’s opening stage but dropped time when he overshot a junction nearing the end of the run: “You can’t make any mistakes at this level, it’s about perfection,” he said.

ICE 1 Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen heads a close battle for seventh place, 3.4s ahead of FERM Power Tools World Rally Team’s Dennis Kuipers in a Fiesta RS WRC. Henning Solberg is a further 3.6s down in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta.

Jari-Matti Latvala is back on form in his factory Fiesta following overnight repairs to his Fiesta. Despite a stomach upset the Finn was fastest on Saturday’s opening test. He has climbed up to 10th overall.

Matthew Wilson has endured a tough morning in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta. After striking a tree on the first stage a heavy landing on Arena Panzerplatte left him nursing a painful back. He’s 13th overall behind Peter van Merksteijn Jr and Armindo Araujo.

Leaking brakes have delayed Pierre Campana’s MINI WRC. Monster World Rally Team’s Ken Block and Grifone MINI driver Patrik Flodin both lost time with punctures on Arena Panzerplatte, while a broken driveshaft has hampered Brazil World Rally Team’s Daniel Oliveira.

Aaron Burkart restarted under SupeRally regulations this morning but hit trouble on stage eight with a mechanical fault on his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta. He continued to drop time on the subsequent two stages.

Estonian Ott Tanak holds a comfortable lead in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship as punctures delayed a number of his rivals, including title leader Juho Hanninen and Karl Kruuda, who was second after day one.

Yeray Lemes started day two leading the WRC Academy Cup but dropped behind Craig Breen when he missed a junction on stage eight and lost significant time. However, the gap is 12.1s between the pair following the Arena Panzerplatte test.