Important points up for Grabs!

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Important points up for Grabs!

Sunday, 04. 10. 2015 - 09:45, Public relations

The Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team ended day two of the Tour de Corse as the only team with both its cars in the top six of the overall standings.

Fourth-placed Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, along with sixth-placed Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson, are in position to reclaim second place in the manufacturers' championship.
The final leg will take the crews from Porto-Vecchio to Ajaccio, without a service break.
Flooding and landslides had made the road between Casamozza and Ponte Leccia impassable yesterday, and it remained closed this morning. The rally organisers had therefore decided to cancel the 43.69 kilometre-long SS4, reducing the day's schedule to just two stages.

In the morning, the crews completed their second run on Francardo - Sermano in trickier conditions than those they had faced day before. With road surface very greasy and a host of tricky sections, the stage-winning time was two seconds slower than on SS3. Kris Meeke took advantage to climb four places in the overall standings and move ahead of his team-mate Mads Østberg.

After calling in to the Corte service park, the crews headed south for the 48.46 kilometres of Muracciole - Col de Sorba. On roads that have witnessed some of the Tour de Corse's greatest stories down the years, Kris Meeke moved further up the standings to claim fourth position, whilst Mads Østberg consolidated his sixth place.

In the third DS 3 WRC, Stéphane Lefebvre and Stéphane Prévot lost time in the morning after stalling on a hairpin. Closer to the pace in the afternoon, the rising French star set the eighth fastest time on the rally's decisive stage to remain twelfth overall.

Back in Corte, the crews are set to end the day in Porto-Vecchio after a long, three-hour road section. Tomorrow's leg features three timed stages, covering 95 kilometres, with the rally scheduled to finish at 1.05pm in Ajaccio. All the drivers will be able to choose their tyres before SS7 and before SS9, but no service breaks are permitted until the end of the Tour de Corse.

QUOTE, UNQUOTE

Mads Østberg: "We were finally able to drive on a dry stage at this year's Tour de Corse. The conditions were still very difficult. This rally is a genuine challenge. I did my best on the roads and we are still in a good position. We'll have to keep pushing tomorrow to try and grab fifth place, as we're only six seconds behind. We need to do more work on the set-up and on my driving."

Kris Meeke: "It was another long day, but again there were only two stages... This rally really is like no other. At least we had a more consistent road surface today, with more grip. We managed to go from eighth to fourth position on today's leg. The DS 3 WRC worked perfectly throughout the day. The points are very important for the manufacturers' standings so we need to make sure we finish the job tomorrow."

Stéphane Lefebvre: "This morning, there were a lot of tricky sections and it was easy to make a mistake. I decided to drive more cautiously and not take any risks. This afternoon, I felt confident in the DS 3 WRC. I drove well and I must say that it was nice to contest a stage in conditions like these. I'll be looking to keep it up tomorrow and here's hoping that it remains dry!"

HOW THE ACTION UNFOLDED

SS4 - Casamozza - Ponte Leccia 2 (43.69km) - Stage cancelled due to the bad weather.

SS5 - Francardo - Sermano 2 (36.43km) - Jari-Matti Latvala won the stage to move into second position, just 1.7 seconds adrift of overall leader Elfyn Evans. Kris Meeke set the fourth fastest time to move up three places in the overall standings, edging ahead of Mads Østberg. Stéphane Lefebvre ended the stage fourteenth overall.

SS6 - Murraciole - Col de Sorba (48.46km) - On the longest stage of the event, Sébastien Ogier set the fastest time, followed by Jari-Matti Latvala and Elfyn Evans. Kris Meeke finished sixth to move ahead of Kevin Abbring in the overall standings. Stéphane Lefebvre was eighth fastest on the stage, just ahead of Mads Østberg.

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2

1. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 1:42:24.8
2. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2.0
3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Ola Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +30.8
4. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (DS 3 WRC) +53.6
5. Kevin Abbring / Sebastian Marshall (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:00.1
6. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (DS 3 WRC) +1:05.7
7. Hayden Paddon / John Keenard (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:25.5
8. Bryan Bouffier / Thibault de la Haye (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:37.2
9. Stéphane Sarrazin / Jacques-Julien Renucci (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:51.6
10. Ott Tanak / Raigo Molder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:53.9...
12. Stéphane Lefebvre / Stéphane Prévot (DS 3 WRC) +2:26.9