Saturday, March 26, 2011

GreenBkk.com WRC | SS6: Lead battle intensifies in Portugal

SS6: Lead battle intensifies in Portugal


Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS6, Ourique 2 (20.27 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Team Abu Dhabi co-driver Michael Orr: “It’s a much faster stage with more flow but still we’ve got tricky narrow sections. We have a couple of short sections of Tarmac then the rest is quite rough gravel with a lot of bedrock showing through which will probably be the first real challenge of the tyres. A general point about the stages is that on the first pass in the morning there will be a lot of loose gravel. It will clean and when the temperatures rise in the afternoon there will be a lot of bedrock so it could be a matter of preserving tyres especially on the uphill places when you’re on bedrock.”

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala has narrowed Sebastien Ogier’s overall lead of Vodafone Rally de Portugal after winning the sixth stage of the world championship counter.

Latvala, in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, was 1.4 seconds quicker than Sebastien Loeb through the stage to narrow Ogier’s advantage to 1.8s with one stage of day one remaining.

“The grip is quite good as long as you stay in the clean lines, otherwise it is very slippery,” said Latvala after completing the stage.

Citroen driver Ogier put his slight time loss down to his decision to preserve his Michelin tyres after of the final stage of the afternoon loop. “I did not attack in this one to save my tyres,” he said.

Loeb complained that his Citroen DS3 WRC understeered in the stage, adding: “I am not happy with the set-up, we need to find a solution.

Petter Solberg was third fastest through the stage, despite conceding that he is having to save his tyres following his puncture on stage five, which has left him with one spare tyre Friday’s last test.

Key moment:
Latvala narrows Ogier’s overall lead to 1.8 seconds.

Wrc.com rally results links:
NEW... LIVE... TEXT... SERVICE... WRC.com users can keep up to date with all the action from the World Rally Championship with our new live text service. The service will be constantly updated when stages are live to provide a detailed record as the battle for WRC glory unfolds. This link will take you straight to the Vodafone Rally de Portugal live text page

Credit: World Rally Championship (www.wrc.com)

No comments:

Post a Comment