![]() We gained a lot of ground in the course of the day thanks to our good times, and tomorrow we will again try to gather pace and not leave the teams in front of us in peace. If we had changed the tyre, we would have had to have gone back in behind the first WRC-2 car, which had started only a minute behind us – and driving in a cloud of dust would have robbed us of even more time. The tyre went flat, but we decided to carry on anyway. There were jagged rocks sticking out of the ground along the sides of the course after about five kilometres, and they were obviously what damaged our tyre. If only we hadn’t had that flat tyre in the first stage. “The day was actually very good – we were the fastest in the field along with Séb and Julien. Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #7 And it was another highly successful day for Volkswagen, with the car make clinching six fastest times in the eight special stages of the day. WRC 8 TOO UNFORGIVING DRIVERSA total of 147.12 timed kilometres and a night-time stage to wrap things up turned the longest day of the year into a 16-hour marathon for the drivers and co-drivers. WRC 8 TOO UNFORGIVING FULLAnd in addition to the heat, a key issue was how the tyres were used over the full distance. The entrants were put to the test in the first half of the rally by ‘Micky’s Jump’ on special stages one and six, a loose layer of sand on top of the gravel, narrow tracks lined by natural rocks, and the intense heat. And the first day of Rally Italy was anything but easy. And Volkswagen has surpassed all expectations by holding the lead not only in the driver/co-driver standings, but also in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Half time in Sardinia – with the end of Friday’s proceedings in Olbia, the Volkswagen Motorsport team has now also completed the first half of the WRC season. Their team colleagues Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/FIN) finished in a strong sixth place. After a flat tyre that knocked the Volkswagen duo Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) back to twelfth place, the two Finns pluckily grappled their way back up the ranking and wrapped up the first of the two rally days in fifth place overall, thanks to six out of a possible eight top-three times. With eight special stages completed, Ogier/Ingrassia are 46.6 seconds ahead of Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) and 49.7 seconds in front of Thierry Neuville (Ford). In the seventh event of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season, the current championship leaders took the lead straight away in the first special stage – and went on to gradually extend this lead with two more fastest times and top-three placements in all the other stages. Some literally hot rally action and a strong performance: Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) are in the lead in Rally Italy with their Volkswagen Polo R WRC. ![]()
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