Day 1 standings - Acropolis Rally.

[kam_baker]

Friday, 30th May 2008

Sebastien Loeb leads the Acropolis at the end of day 1 - 15.7 seconds up on his Citroen team-mate, Dani Sordo; Petter Solberg completes top three in the new Impreza...

Overall times after SS7 / Day 1 - Top 20:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1hour 21mins 34.8secs M
2. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 15.7secs M
3. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +00mins 59.1secs M
4. Henning Solberg Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +01mins 06.0secs MT
5. Urmo Aava PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +01mins 15.5secs A8
6. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 07 +01mins 18.9secs M
7. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 07 +01mins 36.4secs M
8. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +01mins 37.8secs M
9. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +02mins 23.8secs M
10. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 07 +02mins 29.3secs MT
11. Toni Gardemeister Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +02mins 51.8secs M
12. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +02mins 54.3secs A8
13. Aris Vovos Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 07 +02mins 55.0secs MT
14. Conrad Rautenbach PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +03mins 28.2secs A8
15. Khalid Al-Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 07 +06mins 07.6secs A8
16. Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STi +06mins 09.2secs P
17. Juho Hanninen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +07mins 19.4secs P
18. Mirco Baldacci Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +07mins 21.1secs P
19. Patrik Sandell Peugeot 207 S2000 +07mins 32.8secs P
20. Simone Campedelli Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +07mins 37.7secs P

Overall PWRC after SS7 / Day 1 - Top 10:

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1hour 27mins 44.0secs P
2. Juho Hanninen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 10.2secs P
3. Mirco Baldacci Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 11.9secs P
4. Patrik Sandell Peugeot 207 S2000 +01mins 23.6secs P
5. Simone Campedelli Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 28.5secs P
6. Fumio Nutahara Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 30.1secs P
7. Andreas Aigner Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 37.4secs P
8. Martin Rauam Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 39.6secs P
9. Toshi Arai Subaru Impreza WRX STi +01mins 40.0secs P
10. Bernardo Sousa Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 53.1secs P

Sebastien Loeb [Citroen Total WRT]:

"The phenomenon we saw in Sardinia didn't materialise here. This time, there was an acceptable amount of grip second time through once all the other competitors had been through; sufficient, in any case, to close the gap, move into the lead and then pull clear. But we couldn't afford to hang about! Daniel and I pushed extremely hard and we only lifted over the trickiest portions. On top of that, my Citroën C4 was in great form all day and it took all the different types of conditions in its stride, from the sand of Shimatari (SS1/4) and the gravel on Thiva (SS2/5) to the rocky Psatha (SS3/6). Psatha was actually a foretaste of what we can expect tomorrow. This rally is far from over and we could be in for a drama-packed weekend."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We have come through the first three stages in second position overall, just 4.2 seconds behind the leader. That's not bad. We were running second on the road which meant we once again had 'road-sweeping' to do, so I'm quite pleased with our performance so far. We have succeeded in keeping the gap small compared with the drivers running further down the order. We were especially handicapped on the first stage, Schimatari, which was very sandy. The others were more typical of the Acropolis Rally and more in keeping with what we were expecting. Our C4 went like clockwork on all three tests. We will now see how much the conditions have changed for the second pass."

Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]:

"I stayed focused on my objective. That enabled me to make the most of our car's strengths to keep a footing on the podium. We tried to reproduce the same pace as this morning and that seemed to function. We are now in a good position to target a top result for Citroën. We will need to profit from that and do all we can to steer clear of all the pitfalls associated with this event."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We got off to a strong start. The work done during testing meant we started with a good set-up which worked very well. I felt confident with my C4 and we were able to keep up a good pace, although I was perhaps a little over-cautious on SS3. But there were rocks all over the place and I didn't want to push my car too hard. We ended the first loop in third position, 6.2s off the lead, and that was encouraging."

Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]:

"The car has so much potential! I am happy with the way today has gone, and it is so important for the team to be third on a very special day for us. We have had no problems all day which is very good. The car is good to drive, and the team has worked so hard to get it here so it is great to be third. But there is much more to come. We are coming, step by step!"

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "Well it was not bad at all this morning. Things worked well and we didn't have any problems at all. It's good and I am very happy so far. We're pushing hard but it's quite early and we'll just do little bits as we go to try and get it just right. It's very important for us to be at this service with no problems. The car worked very well and I am happy. I am enjoying my new car so it is really good fun."

Henning Solberg [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT]:

"We had a good feeling with the car all morning and it is staying strong in these tough conditions. The stages are not as rough as I thought they were going to be but it is extremely hot in the car so I am just trying my best to concentrate on my driving. The exception to this was stage 6, it was incredible, and the roads were right down to bedrock. I had to back off so as not to damage the car. We lost some time but it was definitely the right decision as some of the others had problems and now we have moved up to fourth position."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We had a couple of small overshoots coming into some hairpins on stage 3 which lost us about six seconds but this was our only problem this morning I am not pushing that hard yet so this afternoon we will look to improve our pace some more."

Urmo Aava [PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC]:

"What a wonderful day! I am very happy. Everything went OK with the car. I didn't find the special stages too hard. We only had minor problems with the big stones. Tomorrow it will be rougher. We will try to learn and drive as fast as possible. But we'll keep in mind the need to bring the car to the finish."

Jari-Matti Latvala [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT]:

"This day started well, but it wasn't so good at the end. We had a puncture at SS4, when the tyre went off the rim and cost us lot of time. At SS6, on the last corner, at the last braking point there was a huge rock, which we couldn't avoid. So, the rear right suspension broke down. Tomorrow we will try to keep the speed. Maybe we'll go faster than today, so as to climb up to the results."

"A rock was jutting out from the bedrock in a rut in the middle of the corner [in SS6]. I was doing about 150kph when I hit it and the impact damaged the rear right suspension. I didn't see the rock until I hit it. It was a very rough stage and the rock wasn't in my pace notes. It was close to the stage finish so I didn't lose much time. The trailing arm in the suspension broke and we stopped after the finish to strap it up so that we could complete the final stage. We were unlucky because the repairs were holding until we drove over a speed bump before the start of the last stage and it broke again. t has been the same story for me in recent events. I have had a good start, hit trouble and then have to fight back up the leaderboard. I tried to look after my tyres this morning as it's important to keep them in good condition here. I was playing with the throttle on the uphill sections to preserve them and that's something I need to work on because tomorrow will be even tougher."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "I've not driven at 100 per cent so I hope I can be quicker this afternoon. If I finish today in first I need a lead of more than 20sec because I would be first on the road in slippery conditions tomorrow. My road position today gives me a small advantage over the drivers ahead, but they would have that advantage tomorrow."

Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT]:

"It was so rough and the damage could have happened anywhere. Just before the finish I braked going into a corner and the front right compression strut broke. We tried to fix it after the finish but I had to drive slowly through the final stage. I have a better road position for tomorrow, and that's the best positive I can draw from today. Third could still be possible, but that will be the best I can achieve."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "My road position wasn't easy and it was so slippery I slid wide on many corners, so it may not have been much better for Sébastien Loeb behind me. It doesn't seem to matter whether I drive neatly or not, my speed is about the same. The third stage was very rough and I drove as hard as I could, but I dare not risk going flat out. The Focus is strong enough to take these conditions though and I have to try to stay as close to the leaders as I can this afternoon."

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]:

"Okay, we have finished the first day which is very important. It's good to be in the new car, and we know we still have some work to do. We damaged a control arm in the afternoon on the roughest stage of the day which lost us some time. We knew bringing it in early would be tough, and we need to find a bit more, but that's what we came here to learn, and we are learning."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We had no major problems this morning with the new car which is really good. We had a good clean run but ok, our road position didn't help and we're not quite there yet. Considering how rough stage three is, we got through there no problem and the car is running well. We'll find more speed when the whole package is working well for sure, but at the moment we will make changes here and there to get that and just keep pushing."

Per-Gunnar Andersson [Suzuki WRT]:

"The first and third stages today were really technical, very twisty, but good fun in the SX4 WRC. I haven't been going at the maximum today; this rally is about surviving until the finish and that's what we've got our sights firmly set on. Tomorrow's a really tough day. There's still a very long way to go in this event."


Federico Villagra [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

"It is getting rougher but is okay. SS6 was a good stage for us with no problems. We will try to get points for the team."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We have no problems except from a little intercom failure in the second stage. We are going to make adjustments on the suspension so that the ride gets smoother."

Toni Gardemeister [Suzuki WRT]:

"Everything has been quite okay today. We had some trouble this morning with the fuel pumps, but the afternoon was good. I was at 95 per cent. There is more to come."

Matthew Wilson [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT]:

"We had a really good start to the rally and the car was feeling strong in the first two stages and my confidence was much better than in Sardinia. The first stage was very technical so I just tried to stay neat and this worked because we set a good time. However the third stage was totally the opposite, we had two overshoots, first at a hairpin and then second at a slow corner when I tried to avoid a big rock and we stalled the engine. Then with three kilometres to go the prop-shaft broke and we just had to cruise to the end of the stage. But the mechanics did a great job in service to get everything fixed and good as new. Stage 6 though was very rough and we backed off as there was no point causing any more damage to the car."

Aris Vovos [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

"We had a hard time from dust inside the cockpit until the fifth stage. Fortunately we solved the problem, which was located in the driver's door. It's been good, because we are getting used to the car. We hope to make use of its advantages even more tomorrow. A hard, difficult day - but okay."

Conrad Rautenbach [PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC]:

"It's been a tough day – the kind you expect on the Acropolis Rally. In myself, I feel much better. I had a good nights sleep and was ready to attack this morning. The first stage was a bit nadgery: tight and twisty. I didn't really enjoy it that much. After that, the roads opened up a bit, but we hit something with the front-left of the car. It's a bit bizarre: I don't remember hitting anything and thinking: 'Ouch! That's going to break the car'. But, obviously, something was broken on the front-left. We were going off the road over small bumps which we didn't even have in our notes. On the third stage, this damper problem threw us off the road in sixth gear. That got my attention. That was a bit crazy and pretty dangerous. We could easily have had an accident.

"With the damper thing fixed, I really wanted to push on this afternoon, but halfway through SS4, the car dropped power, it had overheated and gone into the safe mode. We drove the second half of the stage like that and lost a lot of time. It was okay for the next two stages, but I stalled a couple of times in stage five and then couldn't get into the rhythm in the next one. It's frustrating. I want a clean run at a rally. Actually, never mind a rally - just a full day. We did that in Sardinia on the Sunday and it was great, I felt the confidence and the times coming to me. Okay, tomorrow is another day and anything can still happen on this event. That last stage tonight
(Psatha) was really rough, but I reckon the roads are going to be even worse tomorrow and Sunday. There's plenty of action left on this event."

Khalid Al-Qassimi [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT]:

"I noticed a tyre going flat halfway through the stage [SS6] but the car was still driveable. Then about 100m from the finish there must have been a bedded rock and the impact on the rear right of the car was huge. The trailing arm snapped instantly, I lost control of the wheel and limped over the line. On the road section to the last stage, Michael [Orr – my co-driver] and I had to change the tyre three times because it was rubbing on the car's bodywork and puncturing again and again. It's a miracle we made it back, especially after doing the super special with a flat tyre."

Notable retirements:

Gigi Galli [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired from day 1 in SS2 - suspension damage - will re-start on Saturday under the SupeRally]
"The first stage didn't start off so well as we had a small spin after just one kilometre and the rest of the stage just didn't flow; I was driving too fast and was sideways in too many places. Then the second stage was much better, more neat and the split times up until my problem were great. I think we were fastest to that point. Then we hit a big rock which had been dragged out into the middle of the road and it broke the front suspension and we could go no further. This was disappointing for me as I wanted to get a good start to this rally."

Team principals:

Olivier Quesnel [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:

"The Acropolis Rally is probably the most punishing round of the year and we went into the first leg today very cautiously. At the same time, however, we knew we had some trump cards in our hand, not the least of which was the lessons taught by our performance in Sardinia which showed that the C4 has real potential. Our testing for the Acropolis proved very instructive, too, and both our crews were determined to get the weekend off to a flying start. Today's stage times and their overnight positions justify the positive feeling we had before coming to Greece. Sébastien and Daniel have a handy cushion going into the second day, while Dani and Marc were consistent and quick and were in the provisional top-three all day. Tomorrow, I expect them to produce the same sort of performance. I would also like to highlight the first class run of Urmo Aava and Kuldar Sikk who are fifth with their Citroën C4 WRC run by PH Sport with support from Citroën Technologies technicians. Today's terrain wasn't too rough, but the rest of the route promises to be tougher, and the weather even hotter, so we can't afford to take our eye off the ball. This rally is far from over."

David Richards [Subaru WRT - managing director]:

"It was a brave move to bring the new car to an event like this, but to succeed in motorsport you must be bold. Petter and Chris did a great job and demonstrated a steady and consistent pace today on an event which claimed other front-runners. You have to balance the risk of pushing flat out whilst treating this event as an endurance test, and today the mix worked well for Petter especially. This car is a definite step forward for us. By competing at this stage of the season we put ourselves in the best possible position to exploit the huge potential in the car and achieve our objective of winning again by the end of the year."

"Our drivers had a very sensible start. As everybody sees, it is going to be a long, tough event. Starting with a new car makes our work more interesting. I have told the drivers we haven't still seen everything yet. They are saying that tomorrow's stages are some of the roughest they've ever driven. So, our aim is to get the cars to the finish."

Malcolm Wilson [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:

"It's been a great performance and a clever drive by Henning today and it's probably one of his best runs on an opening day of a rally for a long while. He has used his head in the rough conditions and knows when to push and when to back off. Now he's in a great position for tomorrow. Matthew has also being going well and done a great job to get close to the top ten after his mechanical problem this morning. Unfortunately it hasn't been a good day for Gigi but, as we saw in Sardinia, he has the ability to come back and punch in some fastest times on day 2."

Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT - team director]:

"We faced problems at the end of the day. Mikko broke his front suspension and Jari-Matti had even worse damage on his own suspension. We tried just to come to the SSS, in which we lost costly places. The Rally is rougher than in previous years. It was a little disappointing for us today, because we had done a good job at the start."

Paul Wilding [Suzuki WRT - team manager]:

"Suzuki's target for this event is to get the SX4 WRCs to the end of the rally. We're one-third of the way through the toughest rally of the year - and we've had a clean run. The team is very pleased with that. We're not so focused on stage times here in Greece, what we want to see is good, consistent pace and reliability and both drivers have delivered that. We're looking forward to more of the same tomorrow, but we remain mindful of just how hard this rally can be."