Wales Rally GB / Rally review
Qualifying
In what, for now, will be the last qualifying stage ever, Latvala was 0.07 seconds slower than teammate Ogier. In
a lighthearted show hosted by BecsWRC-live-Williams Latvala puts the
rugby ball with his number on the first
spot. He chooses to be first on the road
in the slimy conditions the Welsh forest
roads have to offer. The other drivers
follow him apart from Mikko Hirvonen
who, tempted by Becs, kicks the ball far
into the audience, an excellent proof of
the playful atmosphere before the rally.
The rally
But once the start has been given. It’s
flat out, especially for Sebastien Ogier. Simply being the champion is not
enough to slow him down. And after
the first loop of stages he is in the lead.
Behind him an interesting fight develops between Latvala and Neuville, both
fighting for the runner up spot in the
championship. On the Clocaenog test,
the last one of the evening, Neuville
strikes his first blow by setting fastest
time. Transporting him to second position before his runner-up rival. But a 2
second lead in this stage of the rally of
course does not mean anything yet. On
Myherin (stage 6) Neuville has to bough
his head for Latvala. “I don’t seem to
get enough grip the Belgian explains
the considerable gap between him and
Latvala.
Flat right tightens to fifth
This is what Järmo Lehtinen should
have said, but after ‘Flat right...’ he stops
and Hirvonen keeps the car in sixth,
which is way to fast for the tightening
corner. Consequently the car starts rolling. It’s game over for the Finn, who did
not have his best of seasons. By then
Kubica has left the rally already after,
on stage 4, he rolled his car.
More of the same
Ogier controls the proceedings, so at
the end of Saturday’s stages he is still
enjoying a comfortable lead. Twenty
seconds behind him is teammate Latvala and half a minute behind the Finn
we find the revelation of this season
Thierry Neuville. Today’s casualties are
Novikov and (again) Kubica both on
stage 11. After his second off due to a
mistake in a pace note Kubica will not
come back. The Ford mechanics succeed in rebuilding the Fiësta so that
Novikov can end at least his miserable
season driving.
All is well...
The battle for the top three has been
fought but behind them we find a