Challenging SS13 sees Ostberg take quickest time

SS13 is a classic stage for the drivers. The 36.69km Coiluna – Loelle test is being run in the exact same format as last year. The majority of the stage is made up of fast, winding roads that go through the valleys with plenty of loose rocks, but ends with a large jump and a finishing section including the Budduso motorcross track. Due to dust, the crews are now leaving at three minute intervals instead of the usual two.

The stage wasn’t short of carnage. Andreas Mikkelsen, already running under Rally2, lost a wheel and looks to be out of the rally again. Dani Sordo made it through the sage but lost time, and him making it through the next stage could be in doubt. ‘We have a problem with the fuel pump – it is cutting out all the time. When there is no pressure the car loses power.’ he reported. Kubica lost over 40 seconds due to a puncture but made it to the end of the stage, while Jari-Matti Latvala had to stop to change the wheel 14km into the stage. Finally, Thierry Neuville lost around 27 seconds and ended the stage with badly leaking power steering – it’ll be a feat of endurance if he’s to make it through the next stage.

The winner of the stage was Mads Ostberg, piloting his Citroen to a time of 24:04.0. ‘An enjoyable stage, the feeling was quite nice and the time is too. That’s a relief. I thought if the time wasn’t any good after this stage then I would be in trouble.’ he commented. Second quickest was rally leader Hayden Paddon, meaning that he’s extended his rally lead over Sebastien Ogier – fourth quickest in this stage – by 5.8 seconds.

Third fastest through the stage was Ott Tanak, who’s also moved up to third overall due to Latvala’s misfortune. ‘It’s good, but we couldn’t follow our plan here because we had a puncture in the previous stage and didn’t have enough of the compounds we wanted.’ added Ott. This could well mean that we can expect even more pace from the M-Sport driver throughout the day. The problem-suffering Sordo finished fifth quickest, with Rally2 runner Kris Meeke in sixth.

Next up is the longest stage of the day, the 42.22 Monte Lerno section, beginning at 10.39 local time. With the carnage we’ve already seen this morning, we can only hope for a cleaner run for many of the drivers.