Ogier takes Acropolis lead
Sebastien Ogier has moved into the lead of the Acropolis Rally heading for the after-dark stage that closes leg two
After charging onto Friday leader Petter Solberg's tail this morning, works Citroen duo Ogier and Sebastien Loeb rapidly swept into first and second following today's lunchtime service.
Ogier now leads the rally by 15 seconds over Loeb and 22s over Solberg, but fears that will be adequate if he is running first on the road tomorrow.
"We still have to improve our lead so we will have to push on the last one as well," said Ogier.
Solberg said he was doing his utmost to stay in touch with the factory cars so he could retaliate tomorrow. Although the Norwegian will be first on the road for tonight's Nea Politia stage too, he may find this is an advantage at night time as his pursuers could have visibility issues in his dust.
"I'm pushing very, very hard," said Solberg. "I can't push any more. I don't want to lose too much to Ogier before tomorrow."
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen has not been able to match the Citroens so far today and is 12.8s behind Solberg in fourth, ahead of the remaining Stobart Fords and Kimi Raikkonen.
Leading positions after SS12: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Ogier Citroen 3h07m16.3s 2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 15.1s 3. Petter Solberg Solberg Citroen + 22.6s 4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 35.4s 5. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford + 3m36.0s 6. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford + 5m14.8s 7. Kimi Raikkonen Ice 1 Citroen + 6m34.3s 8. Juho Hanninen Red Bull Skoda + 8m33.6s 9. Bernardo Sousa Quinta Ford + 11m40.3s 10. Dennis Kuipers FERM Ford + 12m00.4s
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