WRC: Loeb builds Acropolis lead

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has increased his lead on the Acropolis Rally of Greece following the middle loop. Loeb, who began the afternoon 1.2 seconds up on Jari-Matti Latvala, was second fastest in SS5, 1.1 seconds behind his team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen, who set the pace in the sister works DS3 WRC car. The Frenchman then went quickest in SS6, increasing his lead from 5.7 seconds to 10.1 going into the second remote service zone in Itea. “It [10.1 seconds] is not much, but it's unusual for there to be big gaps when everyone is driving at very high speeds,” Loeb stated. “It's true, there was a lot of mud on SS6, but we chose the right option in keeping the hard tyres.” Latvala, who was fourth in SS5 and third in SS6, was less confident in the muddy conditions of Bauxites 1 and Drossohori: “It was surprisingly damp and I didn't have enough traction,” he explained. “The tyres didn't warm up quickly enough at the start of the stage and the car understeered. Once they had heated up then I was able to pull time back. I'll change the set-up now to better suit the conditions.” Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile is up to third, and he reported he was much happier with his DS3 WRC: “I felt much better on these two stages,” said the Finn. “I didn't make any mistakes and I'm glad to have turned my good form into a stage win. I thought I'd done a little better on SS6, which means I should have driven differently on this very muddy stage. It's good to be close to the Fiestas – the fight goes on!” Petter Solberg is now fourth having lost time in the final section of Drossohori after his car's underbody struck a rock in a compression following a crest. The impact damaged the rear left wheel rim and punctured the tyre. “It was a huge shock,” Solberg admitted. “The impact threw the car into the air and I was lucky to keep it on the road. The incident cost about 10sec because of the puncture, but this is a long rally and it's still wide open.” Behind, Evgeny Novikov continues to run fifth, albeit now more than a minute back, followed by Mads Ostberg, Ott Tanak, Thierry Neuville, Martin Prokop and Sebastien Ogier in positions six through to 10. In the support categories, Valeriy Gorban and Elfyn Evans both remain out front respectively in the PWRC and the WRC Academy. The leg now concludes with another loop of three stages, before competitors head back to Loutraki for the overnight service.