SS13: Sordo takes the rally lead

Dani Sordo is the new leader of ADAC Rallye Deutschland after he edged past Thierry Neuville with the fastest time on the repeated Peterberg test.

Sordo, who has started 106 WRC rallies but is yet to win one, now holds a slim 0.8sec advantage at the top of the standings in his Citroen DS3.

Having avoided the carnage on the previous test, and mastered the damp and slippery conditions in Peterberg, Sordo was in high spirits at the finish control. “That was great, really nice,” he said. “The stage was a bit dirty, with lots of gravel, but no problems. I’m very happy.”

Neuville was 1.9sec slower than Sordo, his car hampered by an exhaust pipe that had been squeezed half-closed by the incident on the previous stage.

“The handling is okay but the exhaust is quite bent so we lost a bit of power,” he explained. “I think it is okay, and actually we are lucky to be here at all because many cars hit trouble in that stage.”

Mikko Hirvonen put in another cautious performance and set the sixth fastest time to remain third, a distant 1m26s behind Neuville. “It’s muddy and slippery in many places, so I took it carefully while watching what’s happening in front,” said the Finn.

Former F1 driver Robert Kubica was fifth fastest in his DS3 RRC - beating the times of World Rally Car drivers Hirvonen, Martin Prokop and Khalid Al Qassimi. The Pole, who leads the WRC 2 category, is fifth overall, 1m26s behind Martin Prokop.

Stage 14 cancelled

The organisers of ADAC Rallye Deutschland have cancelled Stage 14, the repeat of Arena Panzerplatte, due to an incident in a demonstration event after the passage of the WRC competitors.

Panzerplatte was scheduled to be the final stage today and WRC competitors have been re-routed back to the the Service Park in Trier.

We’ll bring you more information when details are released by event organisers.