* Seventh-best time for starters for Manfred Stohl in Sweden
* Daniel Carlsson avoided any risk at first
It was a smooth beginning for the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team at the “Uddeholm Swedish Rallyâ€. Seventh place by Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor and 19th place by Daniel Carlsson/Denis Giraudet meant that no risk was taken on the 1,9 kilometres long super stage. But this was only the beginning. The real thing will only start on Friday with almost 114 special stage kilometres. In any case, prior to today’s opening, Manfred Stohl & Co. did some stirring and shaking.
Show was in the foreground
The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team has completed the first superstage of the Sweden Rally. And both Manfred Stohl and Daniel Carlsson stayed on the safe side. The Austrian OMV driver finished in seventh overall place. Daniel Carlsson (Swe) was a little more cautious and currently lies in 19th place. Stohl: “It is a lot of fun to drive on snow but you can lose a lot at a super stage if you get to high-spirited. You can’t win the rally during 1,9 kilometres.“ Daniel Carlsson saw things the same way: “We haven’t even completed 100 kilometres yet with the Citroen Xsara. But if you want to be up front at a super stage you have to be at the limit the whole time. We didn’t take this risk.“
“Shakedown Fever†or should it be “100 Mango Flyâ€
Prior to the super stage on Thursday the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team with Manfred Stohl, Ilka Minor, Daniel Carlsson and Denis Giraudet already cut a fine figure behind the bar. In the course of the press conference “World Rally against drunk driving“ the quartet did some shaking and mixed anti-alcoholic cocktails for the attending journalists. There one could choose between “Shakedown Fever“ by Manfred Stohl, “Banana Hairpin“ by Ilka Minor, “100 Mango Fly“ by Daniel Carlsson and “Right Pineapple into Left Co-Conut“ by Denis Giraudet. The recipes can be found at www.owrt.com.
First best-time for Toni Gardemeister
The first best-time of the second run to the FIA World Rally Championship was achieved by Finn Toni Gardemeister. The Mitsubishi driver needed 1:31,9 minutes for the 1,9 kilometres long super stage. Only 0,5 seconds behind was last year’s winner Marcus Grönholm (Fin/Ford Focus WRC). Petter Solberg (Nor/Subaru Imperza WRC) was a further tenth of a second slower. The engine of World Champion Sebastien Loeb (Fra/Citroen C4 WRC) stalled at the start of the stage. In Grönholm’s snow flurry he lost eight seconds on the best-time and currently lies in 18th place.
113 special stage kilometres on Friday
On Friday seven special stages are scheduled at the Uddeholm Swedish Rally 2007. In other words, 113,81 special stage kilometres have to be completed. The start will be at 6:00 in Karlstad where the first car is also expected back at about 17:20. Weather forecasts promise temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius but the snow layer will only be about 20 to 30 centimetres high.
Intermediate standings after one of 20 special stages
01. Toni Gardemeister/Jak. Honkanen (Fin) Mitsubishi WR05 1:31,9 min.
02. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen (Fin) Ford Focus WRC +0,5 sec.
03. Petter Solberg/Philip Mills (N) Subaru Impreza WRC +0,6 sec.
04. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Fin) Ford Focus WRC +1,4 sec.
05. Jari-Matti Latvala/Mikka Anttila (Fin) Ford Focus WRC +2,2 sec.
06. Patrik Flodin/Maria Andersson (Swe) Subaru Impreza WRC +2,6 sec.
07. Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor (A) Citroen Xsara WRC +2,8 sec.
07. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (E) Citroen C4 WRC +2,8 sec.
09. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini (Ita) Citroen Xsara WRC +3,0 sec.
10. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Nor) Ford Focus WRC +3,9 sec.
19. Daniel Carlsson/Denis Giraudet (Swe) Citroen Xsara WRC +7,4 sec.
20. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (F) Citroen C4 WRC +8,1 sec.
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