Petter is fourth

Good driving from Petter today, and he is now 4th in the overall classification. Jari-Matti Latvala is leading the rally, while Mikko Hirvonen is 2nd. Italian Gigi Galli is on third.

Mads Østberg gave us a good start on the day, setting the fastest time on several splits on SS9, until he went off. The surface of the road suddenly changed from gravel to snow, making it impossible for Mads to keep the car on the road.

On SS11 Henning went of the road, got stuck, and had to retire. “I’m so disappointing for him, he has been pushing really hard today” said Petter afterwards.

The organizers chose to cancel SS12 due to bad road conditions. Instead all the drivers, cars and crews were held back at regroup before the remote service. The got to spend 1,5 hrs on a parkinglot in Hagfors, together with spectators and reporters.

When leaving the remote service, Sebastien Loeb went towards Karlstad instead of going up to stage 13, and retired from the rally.

The finish line on SS13 was at the Motor-arena in Hagfors. Mikko Hirvonen said on the radio after he had completed the stage that this stage should have been cancelled too. The surface went from gravel to tarmac at one place, and studs in not an advantage on tarmac.

Rally Sweden continues tomorrow with the final 6 stages of the rally. First car is starting 0808 on SS15.

Overall classification Day 2

1. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford
2. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +49,8
3. Gigi Galli, Ford +1.35,9
4. Petter, Subaru +2.40,9
5. Matthew Wilson, Ford +4.37,6
6. Andreas Mikkelsen, Ford +4.48,1
7. Dani Sordo, Citroën +5.51,9
8. Toni Gardemeister, Suzuki +8.49,3