SS2 : Solberg sets staggering Acropolis pace

Petter Solberg has gone more than 20 seconds faster than world champion Sebastien Loeb through the longest stage of the Acropolis Rally, the 39.10-kilometre Elatia test.

Driving a Citroen DS3 WRC, Solberg was a staggering 21.9s faster than Loeb and 19.8s quicker than Jari-Matti Latvala, who was second on the stage in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

“I drove very good, it felt good,” said Solberg, whose overall lead has increased to 20.3s. “There were big, big rocks in some places and I almost had a puncture. I really enjoyed it.”

Latvala said he wasn’t satisfied with his driving when he reached the stage finish, while Loeb, running first on the road, completed the stage with the left-rear tyre of his Citroen DS3 WRC off the rim. The world championship leader also reported a problem with his car’s electronic dashboard display towards the end of the stage, which he completed with the fourth best time.

Mikko Hirvonen was third fastest through the stage to move into third in the overall classification.
Sebastien Ogier, who was fifth quickest, said he lacked confidence in his Citroen, adding: “I had a bad feeling with the car. There was a lot of grass and I was not confident. The understeer I had before was okay on this one but it was so slippery and difficult to get the grip.”

Several drivers hit trouble in the stage. Evgeny Novikov stopped 28 kilometres into the test with broken suspension, Matthew Wilson suffered a half spin, Peter van Merksteijn Jr reported a scare following a misheard pace note in his Citroen, while Federico Villagra arrived at the finish control with a soft left-rear tyre.

“That was tough,” said the Munchi’s driver. “We bent something in the rear and then lost our brakes so we had to drive slowly for the last 18 kilometres.”

Standings after SS2: