Loeb tops shakedown
Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb made the best possible start in his bid to take back-to-back Swedish Rally wins, when he posted the fastest official time at the shakedown stage for this week's second round of the World Rally Championship
The reigning world champion's time of 1m57.2s was 1.6s faster than his nearest rival, Ford's Roman Kresta. The 2.5-mile shakedown stage, 60 miles north of the rally's base in Karlstad, benefited from an overnight snowfall of 5cm - although by the end of the three-hour session, the road surface was cutting up badly in places.
Former Subaru works driver Mikko Hirvonen was third fastest, in a 2003-specification Ford Focus RS WRC. The Finn was the first of numerous privateers to find themselves near the top of the timsheets, with local driver Daniel Carlsson (Bozian-run Peugeot 307 WRC) and Tobias Johansson (Subaru Impreza WRC) ducking under the two-minute barrier.
Skoda driver Mattias Ekstrom began his first WRC event as a factory driver well, sufficiently confident in the Fabia WRC to take his girlfriend - and former Ladies World Champion co-driver - Tina Thorner for a run on his final attempt at the stage.
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