Hirvonen takes inaugural Jordan victory, title lead

The first Rally Jordan wrapped up today for the World Rally Championship. After this weekend the WRC can fully brag that their series has an event in every region of the world. In the final leg the teams wound their way around the Jordan River, following paths that have been used by men since before the biblical times.

Once Sebastien Loeb retired after a head-on collision with another competitor on an access road yesterday, the race came down to Dani Sordo’s Citroen and the Fords of Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen. Sordo did his best first on the road but couldn’t hold off Hirvonen from taking the overall lead by today’s second stage. Latvala lost time with a broken suspension on this test and fell out of contention. Hirvonen didn’t look back and will enter the record books as the first winner of the newest WRC event.

Yesterday’s strategy for the Ford team was to allow Sordo the overnight lead so their drivers could follow the Citroen out on the morning loop. The tactic paid off for Hirvonen as he was the fastest man of the top three in all three stages. By midday he had a narrow amount of time over Sordo but it was stretched out to over a minute when the Citroen driver backed off to insure the second place finish. To cap off a smartly played weekend Hirvonen claimed the final stage win, showing his Ford had the speed all weekend but chose to let strategy win the race instead of a risky pace. Hirvonen retakes the title lead with five precious points over Loeb.

“My strategy paid off but I was nervous in the final stage,” said Hirvonen. “No split times were available for Sordo and I didn’t know how hard he was pushing. I really needed these 10 points and this is a great result for my championship challenge. I need to keep my feet on the ground and continue trying to find more speed and more wins. I’ve learned how important it is to consistently score points on every rally but 10 is perfect. It was a tough rally but it’s good to lead the series again.

“When I woke up it was raining but as we were in Jordan I hoped it wouldn’t last so that the gravel wasn’t dampened down. It stopped quickly, although I expected the driving line to be cleaner. It was really slippery, just like the ball-bearing surface in Australia, and hard to keep on the road,” he added.

Sordo had every intention of giving the Finn a run for the win but it was clear by the penultimate stage the Spaniard just didn’t have enough to get by. Sordo lead the event in the first two days and is pleased to have ended on the podium after a very challenging final leg. He sits fifth in the points championship and helped his team stay within seven points from their manufacturer rival Ford.

“I was fully aware this morning that the cards weren’t stacked in our favour,” acknowledged the young Spaniard, “but I tried to put that to the back of my mind and push as hard as possible. That paid because we were only 7.7 seconds off the lead after the first loop, and there was still everything to play for second time round.”

“I did all I could to recover the lead but it wasn’t enough,” reported Dani. “Even so, I am pleased with our performance this weekend. We led on two occasions and I was delighted with my feeling at the wheel of the Citroen C4 WRC from start to finish. The rally was quite stressful but it was also beneficial for me. I’m sure the experience will come in useful on the forthcoming events.”

Latvala would have been in the mix as well but the suspension woes meant his charge was ended premature. The young Finn learned a great deal this weekend and took a stage win after repairs were made to his damaged Focus. The leader after the first morning stage managed to finish seventh by the afternoon, his lowest position today was ninth. Latvala keeps his fourth spot in the points but is losing touch with the top three.

“In the morning’s first stage I hit a rock, but felt nothing,” admitted Latvala. “Halfway through the next test the support link in the rear left suspension snapped. After the stage we tried to strap the suspension together but it wouldn’t hold and I had to drive many kilometers with the tyre bent in. I was lucky to get back. I had two perfect days on Friday and Saturday but today was a long one. I need to be more consistent and concentrate without making mistakes. I’m disappointed not to score more points.”

Third went to Chris Atkinson, his fourth podium in five events. The Subaru driver was never near the front in terms of time but he kept his nose clean and was ready to slot into a better position when trouble struck the top two teams. Atkinson and Subaru are both shown in third for their respective point battles.

“We scored good points again and it’s good for us and good for the team as it keeps us close to the guys at the front of the championship” said Atkinson. “It was a difficult rally for us as almost from the start we were in the middle of nowhere with big gaps in front and behind of us. We managed to go along at our own pace, keeping it on the road.

“We had some hard times when things weren’t going well but we managed to get through. It was a bit of misfortune for others, but lucky for us. Sometimes that’s just how it goes. We’ve still got a lot of work to do and we want to be more competitive on pace and pushing for wins, but four podiums from five rallies is a very consistent start for us so with that I’m happy,” added the smiling Aussie.

The fastest man today was Loeb who, under SuperRally rules, was on a tear to break into the top eight and try to get a few points for the Citroen team. Treating the day like a test session the reigning champ developed ideas for a better setup for future events and won three stages while out racing on his own. Clearly the Frenchman would have taken the win this weekend had it not been for the freak accident he couldn’t control.

“It was especially useful to see how our Pirelli Scorpion tyres stood up to the long stage,” pointed out Loeb. “There was also a chance we score points for Citroen. We are now five points behind in the Drivers’ standings but they won’t be impossible to make up. There is still a long way to go this season and the way our C4 performed here was very encouraging.”

Almost a full month will pass before the WRC circus pulls into a new town, the beautiful Porto Cervo in Italy for Rally Sardinia. Loeb has been traditionally strong at this event, winning two out of four since the venue changed to the twisty mountain gravel roads. Hirvonen is expected to be on pace as well, so this event might be the first of the season where the top guns for Ford and Citroen will be neck and neck.

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Orlando Motors Sport üzerinde şu anda okumakta olduğunuz 'Hirvonen takes inaugural Jordan victory, title lead' isimli yazı 28 Apr 2008 tarihinde, saat: 01:26 'de admin tarafından gönderilmiş.

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