In contrast to yesterday, the second leg brought wet and gloomy conditions this morning. The weather posed tricky tyre selection questions as the cold and slippery roads begged soft compound rubber, but the abrasive surface and forecast of brighter and drier conditions suggested harder tyres might be the right option.
Grönholm gambled on the roads drying and opted for BFGoodrich s medium compound rubber with extra cuts carved in. The opening stage was slippery but the tracks started to dry quickly and the 39-year-old Finn was second fastest on all three stages as the gap between him and leader Sébastien Loeb widened from 3.1sec to 15.0sec.
“We had different tyres to Loeb, but I still don t know what the right choice was, ” said Grönholm. “I wasn t 100 per cent sure softer tyres would last more than 70km of stages on these roads. It was raining in service this morning but we knew from the recce that the roads were abrasive so I thought there was no alternative but to take a medium compound. Loeb had softer tyres for the wet conditions but I don t have a clear answer as to why he was quicker. “
The overcast skies gave way to bright sunshine this afternoon with a strong breeze. Grönholm opted for medium compound rubber but the choice proved too soft and the margin between the top two widened to 40.5sec. “Things didn t go so well this afternoon, ” he explained. “The tyres were too soft and were moving about too much but I m not sure that even with the right tyres I would have caught Loeb. It s disappointing but I think the gap is too big now unless Seb has problems. “
In contrast to Grönholm, team-mate Hirvonen opted for softer tyres this morning with small cuts in the rubber. He increased his advantage over fourth-placed Petter Solberg to 13.3sec. “Conditions were slippery but consistent, so it wasn t so bad, ” he said. “I was cautious on the first stage but pushed harder on the next two. My tyre choice was fine but from the times it looks like it would not have mattered what tyre we chose. Grip was consistent so there were no surprises, but I was a little worried about the slippery sections and was over-cautious in places. “
He also opted for medium compound tyres this afternoon and fought for every tenth of a second with Solberg, ending 13.0sec apart. “It was totally dry this afternoon and it was hard for the tyres, ” said 26-year-old Hirvonen. “My choice was OK, even though they are destroyed now. My performance was better than this morning but I don t understand how Marcus and Loeb can set those kind of times. “I m not completely happy and I want to improve but it s good to be in a podium position tonight. Tomorrow I need to fight hard to keep Petter behind me. It will be a good battle and I m not going to let him pass easily, ” he said.
BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson said it was a strong position for the team with both cars lying in the top three. “After the first three stages I felt Marcus still had a chance of catching Seb, even though we had lost ground. But as the afternoon group of stages continued, it became clear that he couldn t regain the time. Mikko has done well to keep in front of Petter Solberg and that will be his task tomorrow, ” he said.
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