Overall Jordan Rally 2008

The winner of the 2008 Jordan Rally is Mikko Hirvonen. Going into the final day, Dani Sordo was in the lead, but after 4 stages today he had to give the lead to Mikko, and Sordo ended 2nd. Petters team-mate, Chris Atkinson, ended 3rd after another weekend with good driving. Henning has been climbing on the overall classification during the weekend, and ended 4th, after Latvala dropped down on the list today and Urmo Aava dropped out.

Petter went off the road on the final stage Saturday afternoon, and with a damaged roll-cage he was unable to restart again today. Rally Jordan has been a challenging rally for Petter and Phil, and it started on Friday with two broken dampers. Another broken damper on Saturday, before a broken brake calliper sent them off the road on the final stage Saturday.

Sebastien Loeb were forced to retire from the rally on Saturday, after he smashed into Conrad Rautenbach on the roadsection.

Next event is Rally Sardinia, 16. – 18. May 2008.

 
Overall classification Jordan Rally 2008

1. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford – total tid 4.02.47,9
2. Dani Sordo, Citroën +1.15,7
3. Chris Atkinson, Subaru +4.59,5
4. Henning Solberg, Ford +7.35,8
5. Matthew Wilson, Ford  +10.41,7
6. Frederico Villagra, Ford +11.22,2
7. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford +12.15,6
8. Gigi Galli, Ford +12.24,4

Atmosphere – Rally Jordan

Jordan Rally – day 2

Dani Sordo is still in the lead, when day 2, and a total of 16 stages are done. Latvala is 2nd and Mikko Hirvonen is 3rd. Sebastien Loeb, who set the fastest time on today’s two first stages, were forced to retire after an accident on the roadsection going from SS11.

Petter, who restarted again today under SupeRally-regulations, went off the road on SS16, the final stage of today. A broken brake calliper caused trouble braking down going into a corner, and they went off the road. Petter and Phil were not injured. When things were working well today, Petter followed the pace of the top three drivers, but another broken damper gave the duo some extra challenges on SS11 and SS12. Today it was the rear left damper that just gave up. The car’s roll-cage maybe damaged after the off on SS16, so at the moment we do not know if Petter is able to restart again tomorrow.

Jordan Rally continues with 6 more stages Sunday.

Overall classification day 2

1. Dani Sordo, Citroën
2. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford +8,5
3. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +10,4
4. Chris Atkinson, Subaru +2.02,5
5. Urmo Aava, Citroën +3.07,2
6. Matthew Wilson, Ford +4.56,5
7. Henning Solberg, Ford +5.10,9
8. Frederico Villagra, Ford +6.56,3

Petter talks about day 1

When Petter retired from the rally after SS6 today, he first thought he had hit a rock and damaged the dampers. But after a close inspection of the dampers, and watching the footage from the inboard-camera together with SWRT, they now know that the broken dampers are not caused by a rock. On the phone tonight Petter explains about the day, and what really happened on SS6.

- The first 4 stages went really well. We set a good time on SS1, and kept on following the pace of Sordo on SS2, but we felt something was happening with the traction. To help solve the problem, the team told me to adjust the dampers, before going on SS3. I did that, but it didn’t work very well. Before SS4 I changed it back, and things were better. 500 metres before the finish-line on SS5 I had to go in the ditch to avoid a big, and I mean really big, rock. We had to follow the ditch a bit, before we managed to get back on the road. Nothing happened, but of course we lost some time.

We were only two tenths of a second behind Sordo on SS6, when the dampers broke. First I thought we hade hit a rock, but the footage from the inboard-camera shows that this is not correct. We didn’t hit anything. What really happens is that we got a hydraulic-failure on the left damper, and after 100 metres the same thing happens with right damper. Because of the oil leaking out, we got a fire and some wires for the gear-box burns. What caused this “explosions” we don’t know yet, but Chris are having the same problems.

We will start again tomorrow.

Day 1 – Jordan Rally

Day 1, and 8 stages, is completed in the 2008 Jordan Rally. Sadly, Petter and Phil had to retire after SS6, after hitting a rock. Dani Sordo is in the lead, and his team-mate Sebastien Loeb is 2nd.

Today has mostly been about grip – or lack of grip. The hard-packed surface is covered with sand, making it difficult for the first driver to find grip. Petter started the day well, and ended with a joint fastest time together with Sordo on the first stage. After SS5 he was 5th overall, but only 16 seconds behind the leader. But 500 metres before the finish line on SS6, they hit a rock and damaged both dampers. They made it to the finish line, but lost more than 6 minutes. They did not start on SS7 and SS8, and for the moment it is not decided if they will restart tomorrow under SupeRally-regulations.

Jordan Rally has been a challenge to other drivers, as well. Loeb had a little spin on SS1, and he lost a few seconds. PG Andersson got stuck in a sandbank on SS1 and had to struggle to get out again. He lost so much time, that it was decided to retire from the day, and restart again tomorrow under SupeRally-regulations. Hirvonen went off the road on SS2, and said he couldn’t believe his luck when he managed to get back on the road and was able to continue. Toni Gardemeister retired on SS3 with an oil-leak, and Gigi Galli went off on SS7 and also had to retire.

Rally Jordan continues with 8 more stages Saturday, first car is on stage at 0853.

Overall classification – day 1 Jordan Rally

1. Dani Sordo, Citroën
2. Sebastien Loeb, Citroën +1,1
3. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford +8,5
4. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +13,4
5. Chris Atkinson, Subaru +1.08,0
6. Urmo Aava, Citroën +1.59,3
7. Matthew Wilson, Ford +2.52,7
8. Henning Solberg, Ford +3.22,3