MINI WRC Team leads Rally France-Alsace
News that every red blooded British rally enthusiast has been waiting for, the MINI WRC Team is currently leading the Rally France-Alsace round of the WRC at the end of an action packed day one after Dani Sordo proved just how fast he is with his MINI John Cooper Works WRC on tarmac stages.
After taking 1hour 23 minutes to complete the 148 kilometres over eight stages Sordo and Carlos del Barrio were a second ahead of Petter Solberg in his Citroen. It was also a good day for Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle on their debut in this event as they were fourth overall in the number 52 MINI.
The rally has not been without its dramas as on the third stage, which at 36 kilometres is the longest on the rally, World Champion and local hero, Sebastian Loeb, retired his Citroen with engine failure. Also on this stage the Fords of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala also encountered problems. However, the MINIs ran like clockwork and both survived moments when hitting marker poles put there to stop drivers cutting corners that had come lose.
The story of the day was Sordo and Meeke seventh and eighth after stage one, fifth and seventh after stage two, third and fourth after stage three, and then with his second fastest stage time Sordo took the lead on the last stage of the day. Ahead of the crews on day two are another nine stages over 148 kilometres, but this time they will have a remote service in Colmar and only return to Strasbourg in the evening.
30th September, 2011