Sébastien Chardonnet keeps out of trouble (WRC 3)

Dominated by Sébastien Chardonnet and Thibault de la Haye, day two of the German round of the Citroën Top Driver also saw several retirements. Events conspired to leave the route clear for Keith Cronin and Mohammed al Mutawaa to take the second and third positions in the competition’s provisional standings.

The second leg featured six timed stages, contested in the heart of the German vineyards and in changeable weather conditions as a few showers fell towards the end of the morning. With just nine seconds between the four leading crews, it promised to be a close battle.

One of the leading drivers, Simone Campedelli was the first to call it a day as he went off at the start of Mittelmosel. The young Italian driver was soon joined by Federico Della Casa, who went off later on the same stage.

At the start of Moselland, Irishman Keith Cronin checked in at the control point over nine minutes late after he tried to repair a brake line whilst the event’s local boy, Christian Riedemann, was forced to retire after a minor impact.

Meanwhile, Sébastien Chardonnet consolidated his position as leader by winning all three of the morning’s stages, enabling him to extend his lead over his nearest challenger, Quentin Gilbert. The young man from Vosges wasn’t faring too badly, however, moving into second place. But luck proved not to be on his side this time, as he was unable to line up for the start of the second loop due to a technical problem.

Despite suffering an accident involving a dog on the sixth stage that damaged the radiator of his DS3 R3, Sébastien Chardonnet ended this first full day with a lead of 1m 56s over Keith Cronin. Meanwhile, the Irishman won the final two stages of the day to take a solid second place.

The young Emirati Mohammed Al Mutawaa drove consistently and was thrilled with the experience gained on the 131 kilometres covered today. He ended the day in third position in the provisional standings for the event.