Date: Friday, March 9th
Day: 2 Flash N°: 7
Special stage: El Chocolate 2 Distance: 31.44 km
Weather: Warm and sunny
Road conditions: Dry
The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team have confirmed that Evans/Barritt (Car 2) will not be restarting on Saturday.
STAT OF THE DAY – 78
Sébastien Loeb has won 78 WRC rallies. The other 10 World Rally Car drivers have won 78 between them – until now…..
Car 1. OGIER/INGRASSIA
“Not so good. We had a spin. Not a good run.”
Car 3. SUNINEN/MARKKULA
Stopped in the stage after a heavy collision with an armco barrier after 15km and was stuck in a ditch.
Car 4. MIKKELSEN/JAEGER-SYNNEVAAG
“We try with the hard tyres, It was very slippery in there. A couple of mistakes but I am happy with the
stage in general.”
Car 5. NEUVILLE/GILSOUL
Three seconds slower than Sordo’s fastest time in the morning. “It was okay I did my best. I was on
three soft and one hard. It was moving around a lot. It was very hot in the car. It was really demanding.”
Car 6. SORDO/DEL BARRIO
“It was good, I tried to manage with the soft tyres I think it’s okay.”
Car 7. LATVALA/ANTTILA
“It was better than in the morning. It is still difficult. It’s a very demanding stage. Hard tyres I think was a
correct choice. Some places it is difficult to get the grip. The ground and the tyres are getting very hot.”
Car 8. TÄNÄK/JARVEOJA
“Just in the last corner we hit a wall but nothing too much.”
Car 9. LAPPI/FERM
Off in the stage after 14.1km. Crew okay.
Car 10. MEEKE/NAGLE
“I had a spin three-quarters of the way through there and lost six or seven seocnds We got caught in a
rut in hairpin and had to reverse. Silly mistake.”
Car 11. LOEB/ELENA
Unofficially a first stage win for Loeb since Monte Carlo 2015 and he moves up to second place……”We
had the hard tyres this afternoon. There is no grip in some places. I tried to drive in the line. It was not
easy. It was a long stage. It was good at the end…!”
Car 32. HUTTUNEN/LINNAKETO
Radiator issues cannot be repaired and the car was returned to service before this stage after problems
In SS6