Hirvonen leads into Finland day twoFrom Autosport:
Mikko Hirvonen will start day two of the Rally Finland with a slender 3.3 second advantage over his championship rival Sebastien Loeb.
The Citroen driver won the Killeri superspecial that brought Friday's action to a close, but only trimmed 0.7s from the lead that Hirvonen (Ford) had established during today's full length stages.
Citroen number two Dani Sordo is now 10.1s ahead of his Ford counterpart Jari-Matti Latvala in their battle for third.
After starring with seventh on a one-off as a privateer in Finland last year, Matti Rantanen holds fifth for Munchi's Ford following an even more impressive performance today, although Stobart Ford's Henning Solberg has closed to within 2.6s of the Finn.
Subaru privateers Mads Ostberg and Jari Ketomaa complete the current points-scorers.
Kimi Raikkonen has completed his first full day as a World Rally Championship driver in 17th, fourth among the Group N/S2000 cars in his Abarth Grande Punto. His nearest rival, the experienced Janne Tuohino, is just 15.8s in front.
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Mikko Hirvonen Ford 1h04m12.3s
2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 3.3s
3. Dani Sordo Citroen + 20.0s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 30.1s
5. Matti Rantanen Ford + 1m14.1s
6. Henning Solberg Ford + 1m16.7s
7. Mads Ostberg Subaru + 1m36.5s
8. Jari Ketomaa Subaru + 1m38.4s
9. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 2m14.6s
10. Matthew Wilson Ford + 2m18.1s
More on Raikkonen's performance, including Tommi Makkinen tips Kimi for a podium, and that he would no doubt have been a WRC champion had he chosen rallying if he had not chosen circuits in the Kimi goes Rallying thread:http://www.australianmotorsportforums.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=2441.msg62549#msg62549
Topic: WRC Rally Finland 2009 (Read 332 times)
