WRC
Rally Norway: Citroen WRT leg two summary
Loeb and Elena's show on ice Overnight leaders Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena profited from the second day of the 2009 Rally Norway to put in a perfectly paced run which has seen them extend their margin at the top of the provisional leaderboard.
Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:38 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Loeb and Elena's show on ice
Overnight leaders Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena profited from the second day of the 2009 Rally Norway to put in a perfectly paced run which has seen them extend their margin at the top of the provisional leaderboard. The five-time World Champions claimed five of the day's fastest times with their Citroen C4 WRC as they pulled progressively clear of their pursuers. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti are fifth overall this evening.
The icy stages of Rally Norway's second leg, which took crews to the Lillehammer region, home to the 1994 Winter Olympics, were noticeably different in style to Friday's slower, narrower tests. As overnight leaders, Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena faced the tough prospect of running first on the road all day, but the five-time World Champions simply knuckled down to the job in hand to produce a perfect run over the morning's loop. A score of four fastest times from four saw them extend their advantage over Mikko Hirvonen to 10.7 seconds. "We were pretty sure that being first on the road this morning wouldn't be a handicap, so we pushed as hard as we could to try to pull out a gap; it was the only option we had," observed Sebastien at the midday service halt in Hamar.
"We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with our C4 WRC. These stages are superb and the conditions are excellent. I would even go as far as to say that this is the finest winter rally we have ever contested!" The Citroen pair was nonetheless aware that the second visit to the same stages was likely to be a little more challenging: "We will probably need to sweep aside the snow dragged onto the ideal line by other runners first time round. I will no doubt have to adapt the way I drive."
Although still fourth overall, Dani Sordo was a little more guarded at this point in the proceedings: "I stalled twice on SS10, once at the start and a second time in a hairpin. That cost me about half a minute. I also dropped time on SS12, primarily because we were running without the rear anti-roll bar, but also because I really wasn't in the rhythm. I'm still having trouble through the narrower portions. I just need to hang on in there and stay on the road to try to make sure of scoring points for Citroen..."
As expected, Sebastien and Daniel didn't dominate in the same way during the afternoon's loop, although they still managed to increase their cushion over Mikko Hirvonen. They rounded off their performance with their fifth fastest time of the day on the leg's final test through parkland in Hamar.
"That turned out to be quite difficult; I had to fight with my car to stay on the road," recognised Sebastien Loeb, "but to have succeeded in increasing our lead in these conditions is all the more satisfying. It's looking good for tomorrow, but the organisers have kept the longest leg of the weekend for the end."
Dani Sordo and Marc Marti completed the afternoon in fifth place thanks to a more consistent drive. "I feel that I made progress this afternoon, but I wasn't able to ward off Henning Solberg who was setting times on a par with those of the two front-runners. We'll see if we can't pass him again tomorrow," commented Dani Sordo.
"Sebastien did an extraordinary job today, very similar to the performance he put in last year in Finland," said Olivier Quesnel. "Two years ago, Mikko Hirvonen took an emphatic win on this rally ahead of Marcus Gronholm and Sebastien. This year, all the stage times have been improved and that, I believe, speaks volumes for the ferocity of the scrap that's going on out there. That said, a lead of just 15 seconds is nothing with 126km of competitive action still to come tomorrow. Fighting on two fronts at the same time could be dangerous, so we've asked Dani to hold position and try to reach the finish. If he sees a chance to grab back fourth place, that will be fine, but it won't be a priority."
-credit: citroen
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rally Norway SS14 results
Next article Rally Norway: Stobart M-Sport leg two summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sébastien Loeb
Sebastien Loeb tests new Project Rally One 2027 WRC car
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
Sebastien Loeb tests new Project Rally One 2027 WRC car
Sebastien Loeb to make traditional stage rallying return
WRC
WRC
Sebastien Loeb to make traditional stage rallying return
Sebastien Loeb after 13 Dakar punctures: Cars now extremely robust, tyres the weak link
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Sebastien Loeb after 13 Dakar punctures: Cars now extremely robust, tyres the weak link
More from
Citroën World Rally Team
Citroen reveals new-look 2025 WRC line-up
WRC
WRC
Rally Monte Carlo
Citroen reveals new-look 2025 WRC line-up
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
WRC
WRC
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
WRC
WRC
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
Latest news
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 49 min
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
58 min
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
1 h
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
7 h
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe