2007 Rally New Zealand - After Leg Two

Leaderboard after Leg 2

1. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4

2hr 47min 25.1sec

2. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 47min

26.8sec

3. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr

48min 37.6sec

4. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr

49min 27.4sec

5. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 2hr 49min

37.9sec

6. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4

2hr 50min 14.5sec

7. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 2hr

50min 51.0sec

8. U Aava/K Sikk EE Mitsubishi Lancer

2hr 54min 42.3sec

9. M Wilson/M Orr GB Ford Focus RS 2hr

56min 00.6sec

10 H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS 2hr 56min

10.3sec

1. BP-Ford

2. Citroen Total

3. Subaru

4. OMV Kronos Citroen

5. Stobart M-Sport Ford

6. Munchis Ford

1. BP-Ford

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen face a thrilling final leg showdown tomorrow with arch rival Sébastien Loeb as the victory battle on Rally New Zealand reached a remarkable intensity today.

The Finns start the last day of this 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship just 1.7sec behind the Frenchman in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after two days and almost 260km of gripping competition over spectacular North Island roads.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "It wasn't such a perfect drive from me today. I didn't have that usual 'super' feeling with the car or my driving.

I've not been on the limit and hopefully I'll find that tomorrow. The gap is small and I hope I can turn it around. I would like to win this with the championship in mind, but if I don't, then I don't. Second wouldn't be a disaster, but it would make the championship very tight. Tonight we've made a few small changes to the differential programme and suspension for tomorrow. It will be a great battle!"

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "The roads were drier than we thought this morning and in general my tyres were too soft. This afternoon they were harder and it was a good choice. The afternoon stages were wider and faster, a bit more like the roads in Finland and I really enjoyed driving on those,"

2. Citroen Total

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will start the final day of the 2007 Rally New Zealand in the lead with their Citroën C4 WRC. Saturday's six stages, which were contested at a blistering pace, saw them take command while their team-mates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti completed the overcast day in provisional sixth place.

Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "As my tyres reached their ideal working temperature, my split times began to improve and I ended up setting the fastest time on SS10. I then gave it everything I had over the day's last stage and we also won that to take the lead, although we really weren't sure whether we had made the best tyre choice. We knew, however, that we had made a better choice than that of our rivals. I am pleased with our day and our C4 performed faultlessly. That said, the gap is still very small and I can only presume it won't be a very restful Sunday!"

Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: No quote available

3. Subaru

The second leg of Rally New Zealand ended this evening with Subaru World Rally Team drivers Chris Atkinson and Stephane Prevot locked in a thrilling, nip-and-tuck battle for fourth with Ford's Flying Finn, Jari-Matti Latvala.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "It's frustrating, but for me the situation is similar to yesterday - if anything a bit worse. The car just doesn't feel right - the rear end is moving around too much and there's no front grip.

The engineers are looking for a solution, and I hope they can find something to fix it. As the driver I'm doing my best - I can't do anything more than that."

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "We've tried our best out there today, and we've made some more progress with the competitiveness of the car. It was disappointing to lose fourth spot to Jari, but we changed the car a bit this afternoon and made some improvements to the high-speed handling. Okay, perhaps the tyre choice wasn't ideal for the first stage (SS10) but we managed to hold Latvala on the second, which I expected to lose a lot of time on, and right now to be able to do just about the same time as Mikko and him is a good result. I didn't know the stages this afternoon so well, so I didn't take too many risks - especially the first one because I went off there last year. Tomorrow we'll just have to wait and see what we can do. We've been pretty good on the twisty stuff - so stages like the Whaanga Coast could be really good. I'm looking forward to it."

Xavier Pons/Xavier Amigo: "Today it wasn't so easy and the conditions were very different to yesterday. It was dry, and running first on the road we had the worst of the loose, slippery gravel, but I made a mistake braking for a corner, the back of the car just touched the side of the road and then we rolled two or three times. We weren't going so fast, so Xevi and I are fine, but of course I'm disappointed because I wasn't pushing very hard - we just got caught out. It's a shame we didn't get more experience of these roads, but at least before the accident we had found a good set-up, and I was feeling very comfortable in the car. I think this is a good thing for us, and should help us on Japan and GB."

4. OMV Kronos Citroen

The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team completed the second day at the "Rally New Zealand" comparatively problem-free. But the thrill is gone.

Following the slip on day one tactics have changed. Since a top result has become impossible for Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor they now do some testing under racing conditions. The OMV pair nevertheless moved up from 34th to 16th place.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "We are working very hard on this problem and try out all possible set-ups. Therefore it wouldn't make sense to take full risk since the danger of taking off is too high. And you also take it easier when you find yourself in 34th place after day one. There is no chance of scoring points even under the most perfect circumstances. Therefore we will continue working on the our set-up tomorrow, thereby investing into future rallies."

5. Stobart M-Sport Ford

Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila continue to show phenomenal pace this year as they move up into fourth position after leg 2 of Rally New Zealand. In a fierce battle with Chris Atkinson all day, Latvala had the edge with a perfect tyre choice all the way to the final stage to finish 10.5 seconds ahead of the Australian.

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "This morning was going well for me except for the spin that we had which dropped us some time but we made some changes to the suspension at service and they helped for the stages in the afternoon. It was still slippery but the feeling with the car was much better. The car has been working well and we haven't had any problems except for having to stop twice on the stage where I spun. The bumper got pulled off and there was some plastic blocking the radiator. The engine was overheating so I had to stop and remove it. I will push harder tomorrow because I need to move up some places and get more points for the championship."

Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "The first two stages this morning were enjoyable but I had a bit of a moment on the third stage. We went a little too wide on one corner and got onto the loose gravel, slid wide, and hit a bank on the outside of the corner. This put the car onto two wheels and I was lucky to get away with it. The afternoon stages have gone really well for me, the feeling with the car and my confidence is much better now. The car and tyres have been perfect on those last two stages and I really enjoyed them. I think this morning I was driving a bit too aggressively and I changed my style to be smoother and cleaner. Obviously this has helped, it felt much better and my times have been improving also."

Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "It has been difficult today running close to the front of the field, the stages have been really slippery with all the loose gravel. We were hoping for some rain today which would have bound the gravel together and given us more grip but unfortunately this didn't happen.

But we have got faster and the split times today were really good, there were some sections on the last two stages that I remembered from last year and it felt fantastic through those. The experience from today has been invaluable, I need to be able to drive the car in these conditions and its something that we didn't have the opportunity to do last year."

6. Munchis Ford

Luis Perez Companc / Jose Maria Volta: Quotes not available.

Federico Villagra / Jorge Perez Companc: Quotes not available.

7. Skoda Czech Rally Team

Not entered in NZ.

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Remaining Event Schedule

Thursday 30 August: Ceremonial start

Start Hood Street, Hamilton 18.30

Friday 31 August: Leg 1 Mystery Creek - Mystery Creek

Start Mystery Creek 08.20

SS1 Pirongia West 1 18.31km 09.18

SS2 Waitomo 1 43.88km 10.21

Serv A Mystery Creek (30 mins) 12.39

SS3 Pirongia West 2 18.31km 14.07

SS4 Waitomo 2 43.88km 15.10

SS5 Mystery Creek 1 3.14km 17.03

Serv B Mystery Creek (45 mins) 17.21

Finish Mystery Creek 18.06

Saturday 1 September: Leg 2 Mystery Creek - Mystery Creek

Serv C Mystery Creek (10 mins) 06.50

SS6 Port Waikato 17.22km 09.03

SS7 Possum 13.88km 09.41

SS8 Franklin 31.58km 10.19

SS9 Mystery Creek 2 3.14km 12.32

Serv D Mystery Creek (30 mins) 13.10

SS10 Te Akau South 31.92km 14.58

SS11 Te Akau North 32.36km 15.41

Serv E Mystery Creek (45 mins) 17.44

Finish Mystery Creek 18.29

Sunday 2 September: Leg 3 Mystery Creek - Mystery Creek

Serv F Mystery Creek (10 mins) 07.40

SS12 Maungatawhiri 1 5.35km 09.03

SS13 Te Hutewai 1 11.23km 09.31

SS14 Whaanga Coast 1 29.82km 09.59

RSZ Raglan (15 mins) 10.55

SS15 Maungatawhiri 2 5.35km 11.38

SS16 Te Hutewai 2 11.23km 12.06

SS17 Whaanga Coast 2 29.82km 12.34

SS18 Mystery Creek 3 3.14km 14.18

Finish Mystery Creek 15.15