Petter Solberg Rallye Deutschland leg 2 summary

PETTER SOLBERG WORLD RALLY TEAM-ADAC Rallye Deutschland 19th – 21st August 2011

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson, Citroën DS3 WRC, Petter Solberg Rallying

Photo by: xpb.cc

Petter and Chris hold onto sixth overall despite four punctures on day two in Germany

Day two of ADAC Rallye Deutschland started with a climb in position for The Petter Solberg World Rally Team from their starting position of sixth overall up to fifth but a puncture on SS9, the third stage of the morning, lost time for Petter and Chris and they slipped back down to sixth behind Mini’s Kris Meeke.

The afternoon saw a repeat of the morning’s four speedy Saarland stages and a further three punctures for Petter and Chris. The first a front right on SS11 which left only one spare but they still managed a fifth fastest time through the stage. The second was on SS13, 15.23kms Birkenfelder Land, where there were also punctures for Kris Meeke, Mads Østberg and Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala who was unable to start the following stage.

The final stage of the day was a re-run of the longest of the rally at 34.18kms and also the most famous: the Arena Panzerplatte, where huge hinkelstein kerbstones line the sides of the road. Petter and Chris were fourth fastest in this stage despite suffering their final puncture of the day and the stage win was taken by Citroën’s Sebastien Ogier after a puncture cost his team-mate Sebastien Loeb his rally lead.

- The speed has been good today, says Petter Solberg. – So I’m good and quite happy. For sure, the four punctures are four too many and we lost a lot of time, but I’m still OK with the day and will continue to push tomorrow.

Sebastien Ogier is the new leader of ADAC Rallye Deutschland, followed by Sebastien Loeb and then Mini’s Dani Sordo. Petter and Chris finish the day holding their sixth place.

ADAC Rallye Deutschland continues with five stages on Sunday, including the final Power Stage, which will be broadcast live on TV. The first car will be on the road from 0813 local time.