Emilia Romagna GP || May 19 || 15h00 (Local time)

SS18: Hirvonen increases lead in Sweden

On the short Gustavsfors stage

By Franck Drui

13 February 2011 - 09:42

Mikko Hirvonen has increased his lead of Rally Sweden following the first run through the Gustavsfors stage north east of the service park in Hagfors.

Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Hirvonen was 1.6s faster than defending world champion Sebastien Loeb in a Citroen DS3 WRC.

Ostberg was third fastest through the run and is now 11.9s behind Hirvonen in the overall standings with four stages left to run.

Sebastien Ogier, in another DS3 WRC, continues to keep Jari-Matti Latvala at bay in fourth overall after going faster than the Finn for the second stage in a row.

Standings after SS18:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
01	M. HIRVONEN / J. LEHTINEN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	2h47m07.4s
02	M. ØSTBERG / J. ANDERSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+11.9s
03	P. SOLBERG / C. PATTERSSON	Citroën DS3 WRC	+24.4s
04	S. OGIER / J. INGRASSIA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+33.2s
05	J. LATVALA / M. ANTTILA	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+36.5s
06	S. LOEB / D. ELENA	Citroën DS3 WRC	+2m03.2s
07	P. ANDERSSON / E. AXELSSON	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+5m53.9s
08	K. RÄIKKONEN / K. LINDSTRÖM	Citroën DS3 WRC	+5m59.1s
09	K. AL QASSIMI / M. ORR	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+8m47.9s
10	M. WILSON / S. MARTIN	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+8m53.9s
11	P. SANDELL / S. PARMANDER	Skoda Fabia S2000	+10m00.4s
12	M. PROKOP / J. TOMANEK	Ford Fiesta S2000	+10m27.2s
13	D. KUIPERS / F. MICLOTTE	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+11m28.7s
14	K. BLOCK / A. GELSOMINO	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+14m39.4s
15	C. BREEN / G. ROBERTS	Ford Fiesta S2000	+15m57.7s