Petter ended 4 in New Zealand
Another thrilling day is finished in New Zealand – and Petter ended 4th in the overall classification. – It has been a tough rally, and we should be happy with the fourth position after this weekend. The car was even better today, we set some good time times along the day, and we are learning a lot. But, we are here to win and will not be satisfied until we are on the top, Petter said after the finish-ceremony.
Sebastien Loeb is the winner of the 2008 Repco Rally New Zealand. He started his final day being third on the road, with both Latvala and Hirvonen in front. Maybe because of the tactic yesterday.. But anyway, a clean run through the day, and winning the rally shouldn’t be too difficult for Loeb. But, a spin on the opening stage didn’t bring him closer to the others, it made him loose 10 seconds. On this stage, Petter drove in to 4th fastest time. After the next two stages, Loeb said it was impossible to catch up with Hirvonen, and that there was nothing more he could do. On SS15 Petter ended with third fastest time. And we know that the other drivers are driving as fast as they can, so this is good news for Subaru. Well – back to the battle between Loeb and Hirvonen. On SS17 – the battle is over for all the Fords. Latvala stops on the stage with an engine oil leak. Hirvonen picks up a puncture and a spin and looses more than 50 seconds, and finally Duval retires from the rally. And suddenly Loeb is the winner, another Citroen, Sordo, is second. And Hirvonen drops down to third. Henning climbed from 45. position on Friday and up to 9th. And managed to grab one manufacturer-point for the Muchis.
There will be a short break in the WRC now, next event is Rally Spain, 3. – 5. October.
Overall classification Rally New Zealand 2008
1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen 3.59.18,9
2. Dani Sordo, Citroen +17.5
3. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +41.5
4. Petter Solberg, Subaru +2:48.9
5. Urmo Aava, Citroen +3:30.7
6. PG Andersson, Suzuki +7:37.4
7. Toni Gardemeister, Suzuki +7:54.9
8. Federico Villagra, Ford +8:35.0
9. Henning Solberg, Ford +9:15.2
Well done! The time difference to the podium is bigger than we all expect, I think, but again a very professional job gives good points!
Well done Petter, Phil and Subaru. We know the car has reliability now and those stage times on the later stages were very good especially with Loeb and Hirvonen pushing for the win. Patience, your time on top of the podium will come.
Kate
Bra kjøring i natt Petter:) lover bra for neste sesong:D
awesome to watch you on all the recce and race days, i hope you enjoyed the wine!
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