After day 1 of Rally Germany, in which only 2 stages featured. Volkswagen lead the way on their home rally with Sebastien Ogier and team mate Jari-Matti Latvala in 2nd place.
The Frenchman wasn’t too happy with the first stage, Saying that he suffered from understeer, something of a complaint from many of the Crews on Stage 1, Possibly caused by cold tyres. But he still set the fastest time. And repeated that on the 2nd and final stage of the day, only this time coming to stage end with a smile on his face. “That was better than the first one,” said the Frenchman, who was fastest on both of Thursday’s tests. “I think the first stage was hard for everyone because there was no grip, but this was much better and I had more fun. Okay, not a bad start but it’s just the beginning. The real rally starts tomorrow.”
Latvala sits 5.7 seconds behind in 2nd “The dust on the first stage made it tricky but clearly this was much better,” said Latvala. “Generally a good run for me, braking too early in a couple of places, but better.”
Ending the day in 3rd is Qatar M-Sport’s Thierry Neuville in the Ford Fiesta RS “A much faster road, and less dirty too – the car is working well,” Dani Sordo is 4th, 7.8sec behind Neuville. Came to stage end with slight damage on front. “It happened on a hairpin, it’s nothing important, I hoped my time would be better. I’m very surprised by how fast they are, to be honest. I don’t feel bad in the stage, the car felt okay, but the times are different. We’ll see how we go tomorrow.” Mikko Hirvonen 5th overall, 5.2sec behind Sordo after a cautious start. “I just have to be braver over the cuts,” he said. “But okay, at least there’s room for improvement.”
Overall Results after Day 1
1. Ogier Leads 2. Latvala +5.7 3. Neuville +12.7 4. Sordo +20.5 5. Hirvonen +25.7 6. Ostberg +30.6 7. Al-Attiyah +41.4 8. Propkop +45.6 9. Kosciuszko +51.0 10.Kubica +59.8
Inside Rally 