Zadnji letošnji rally se vozi po ledenih cestah Walesa.
Rezultati po 17 hitrostnih preizkušnjah:
1. Latvala - Ford
2. Loeb - Citoren + 1.4s
3. Sordo - Citroen + 42.9s
4. Solberg - Subaru + 1min 29.3s
5. Andersson - Suzuki + 2min 57.5s
6. Solberg - Ford + 3min 8.9s
9. Hirvonen - Ford + 5min 21.2s
Zalednele ceste v Walesu terajajo svoj davek. Atkinson je v SS7 v prvem ovinku, 180m od štarta zletel s ceste in močno poškodoval svojo Imprezo. Sam je nesrečo označil: "That was my biggest crash - by a long way." Atkinsona so odpeljali v bolnišnico na opazovanje, iz katere so sporočili da je vse v redu in ga včeraj ob 21.20 izpustili. Njegov sovoznika Stéphana Prévota je pregledala zdravniška ekipa na prizorišču in tudi z njim je vse vredu. Avto so danes vrnili ekipi, Atkinson in Prévot pa sta končala sezono.
“We have seen time and again that consistency and precision are absolutely crucial to success on this rally, and the same is proving true this year” said David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal. “Petter and Phil have not put a wheel wrong and, along with some good stage times, have climbed to fourth today as a result. Conversely, it is shame to see Mads Ostberg retire today on stage 14 as he was running strongly for Subaru in fifth position.”
“The roads are so icy here and that’s where I’m losing time. Everywhere on the fast stuff I’m as fast as or faster than everybody else, but it’s just on the ice that I’m losing” said Petter Solberg. “It’s all about having consistent grip here, but the car is going forward and looking more positive. So many places I have been much faster than anybody but then we come to ice and it goes. I’m quite happy with my performance and the improvements in the car so we’ll see for tomorrow. We will make some small changes to the dampers, but otherwise I’m quite happy with everything else with the car.”
After their heavy accident yesterday evening, Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot were both back in the service park this morning before departing for their respective homes. Both drivers are well and have no significant injuries.
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