Loeb top in Norwegian shakedown
Citroen's Sebastien Loeb set the pace on Thursday morning in the shakedown for the Rally Norway, the second round in the 2009 World Rally Championship.
Loeb completed the 3.35 kilometre stage near Nydal, 9 kilometres from the service park in Hamar, in 1 minute 59.3 seconds, 0.4 seconds up on Mikko Hirvonen, who won this event the last time it was run in 2007.
Citroen's Sebastien Loeb set the pace on Thursday morning in the shakedown for the Rally Norway, the second round in the 2009 World Rally Championship.
Loeb completed the 3.35 kilometre stage near Nydal, 9 kilometres from the service park in Hamar, in 1 minute 59.3 seconds, 0.4 seconds up on Mikko Hirvonen, who won this event the last time it was run in 2007.
Daniel Sordo meanwhile was third, just 0.1 seconds further back, while Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg completed the top five, the latter of course making his debut this weekend with his own team in his privately entered Citroen Xsara WRC.
Further down the order, Petter's brother, Henning, was sixth followed by his Stobart Ford team-mates, Matthew Wilson and Urmo Aava.
Per-Gunnar Andersson and Anders Gr?ndal rounded out the top ten, with Sebastien Ogier eleventh.
The Rally Norway now gets underway later on today with SS1, the short 2 km super special stage in Oslo, starting at 20.04 hours.
The action then begins 'proper' on Friday with eight stages on the bill, totalling around 124 competitive kilometres. SS2, the 14.98 kilometre run through Opaker 1, begins at 09.05 hours [all times local].
Leading shakedown times:
1. Sebastien LoebCitroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1min 59.3secs M
2. Mikko HirvonenBP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 1min 59.7secs M
3. Daniel SordoCitroen Total WRT C4 WRC1min 59.8secs M
4. Jari-Matti LatvalaBP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 2mins 00.0secs M
5. Petter SolbergPS WRT Citroen Xsara WRC2mins 01.1secs A8
6. Henning SolbergStobart VK Ford Focus RS WRC 2mins 02.1secs MT
7. Matthew WilsonStobart VK Ford Focus RS WRC 2mins 02.8secs A8
8. Urmo AavaStobart VK Ford Focus RS WRC 2mins 03.0secs MT
9. P-G AnderssonSkoda Fabia WRC2mins 03.3secs A8
10. Anders Gr?ndalSubaru Impreza WRC2mins 03.7secs A8
11. Sebastien OgierCitroen Junior Team C4 WRC2mins 03.9secs A8
12. Conrad RautenbachCitroen Junior Team C4 WRC2mins 04.5secs MT
13. Mads ?stbergAdapta AS Subaru Impreza WRC 2mins 04.9secs A8
14. Evgeny NovikovCitroen Junior Team C4 WRC2mins 07.8secs MT
M - denotes Manufacturer entry.
MT - denotes Manufacturer Team entry.
all times unofficial
