FROM: PETTER SOLBERG WORLD RALLY TEAM
Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson take four stage wins in a row in Greece.
The Petter Solberg World Rally Team have led Rally Greece from start to finish on day one, getting off to a great start. Petter and Chris were flying all morning, ahead by 20.3s at the remote service point after SS2. On the hottest day of the week so far, they set the fastest time on the first stage and followed that with a fantastic time on SS2, which saw them 19.8s faster than the next place car of Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala.
Continuing to extend their lead after service, the team were again fastest through both SS3 and SS4. Citroën’s Sebastien Ogier was fastest on SS5 ahead of Petter and Chris and Jari-Matti Latvala was third fastest through. Citroën driver Sebastien Loeb took the final stage win of the day, followed again by Petter and Chris. The overnight leaders after an amazing day, the team end day one 51.6s ahead of closest rival Loeb and will be first on the road tomorrow.
– I’m very happy with the day today, says Petter Solberg. – I had a good starting position and planned to make the most of it! Will be another tough day tomorrow, the stages are very rough, and I will have to be cautious to keep my lead.
Acropolis Rally of Greece continues with seven stages tomorrow, including Nea Politia night stage. The first car will be on the road from 1102 local time.
Overall classification Day 1:
1. Petter, Citroën
2. Loeb, Citroën +51,6
3. Hirvonen, Ford +55,3
4. Ogier, Citroën +57,2
5. Henning, Ford +1.43,2
6. Wilson, Ford +2.27,7
7. Tänak, Ford +3.32,4
8. Latvala, Ford +3.55,0
9. Hanninen, Skoda +4.01,6
10. Räikkönen, Citroën +4.04,7
