Saturday wrap: Loeb leads after dramatic day two

The Acropolis Rally is set for a thrilling finale on Sunday with the top four drivers covered by a little more than 20 seconds with five stages left to run.

Sebastien Loeb, at the wheel of a Citroen DS3 WRC, holds top spot with team-mate Sebastien Ogier falling to second on the day’s final stage, 2.2s behind the world championship leader. Citroen privateer Petter Solberg is third, 20.9s behind Loeb with Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen 22.4s adrift of first place.

Saturday’s action consisted of seven special stages over a competitive distance of 141.89 kilometres and culminated in a 17.71-kilometre night stage close to the rally base in Loutraki.

Solberg began the day with a lead of 51.6s but was held back by running first on the road and an overshoot on the day’s second stage. With Ogier making the most of running fourth on the road on a slightly cleaner surface, Solberg was unable to fend off the flying Frenchman who took the lead on stage 10.

But when Ogier reported losing time in the dust clouds on the day-closing night stage, Loeb found himself in the lead. As a result he will start first on the final day, which means he will have to clean the road of the loose surface gravel and faces losing precious seconds. “We will see what will happen,” said Loeb. “We will continue to push and try and do our best.”

Mikko Hirvonen started day two in third overall in his Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC but slipped to fourth during the afternoon stages. He has vowed continue to battle on the final day. “We are in a good position for tomorrow and we can still fight,” said Hirvonen. “The game is on.”

Henning Solberg fought back from an early brake problem to complete day two in fifth position with M-Sport Stobart team-mate Matthew Wilson sixth having plagued for much of Saturday by a misfire.

Ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen continues to impress on his Acropolis Rally debut by maintaining his bid for a points’ finish in seventh overall in his Ice 1 Racing Citroen. “Today has been much better than the first day,” said Raikkonen.

Jari-Matti Latvala endured a miserable morning when he lost turbo boost pressure in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. However, repairs at midday service in Loutraki restored the car to full working order and the Finn was able to go fastest of all on stage 10 plus the Nea Politia night stage.

Super 2000 World Rally Championship leader Juho Hanninen is eighth for Red Bull Skoda, comfortably clear of class rival Bernardo Sousa. Dennis Kuipers completes the top 10 in his FERM Power Tools World Rally Team Fiesta after negotiating the demanding Greek stages without error in his Fiesta RS WRC. A fuel-related problem slowed the similar car of Federico Villagra.

Daniel Oliveira’s MINI John Cooper Works WRC was hampered by powersteering failure midway through stage seven. Despite the Brazilian reporting that his arms were “destroyed” when he reached service, he was able to continue and reached the overnight halt after reporting going off the road on the second corner of stage 13.

While Oliveira is still on course for a finish in Greece, Armindo Araujo, in the second MINI WRC, went no further than midday service when his car refused to restart following repairs to the car’s faltering powersteering. The Portuguese has retired from the event.

Lambros Athanassoulas and Mads Ostberg set competitive times following their retirements on Friday. Evgeny Novikov also proved rapid in his Fiesta but a broken alternator belt put him out prior to stage 12.