Citroën Total World Rally Team 1st Podium

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen ended their second rally with the Citroen Total World Rally of the 2012 Rally of Sweden on the podium. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena didn’t lose their lead in the Drivers’ World Championship. They were awarded points for sixth place, they also earned the best time in the Power Stage. In addition, Citroën took hold of the first position in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Day three of Rally Sweden was much shorter than the first two days. It took place on stages that are close to the service park: Lesjöfors, Rämmen and Hagfors, a stage that was formerly used in 2010 and that had also been where the Power Stage was held at the end of the rally. The drivers went through the forests and roads that now had a thin layer of snow. With just a 23-second gap from Jari-Matti Latvala is second placer Mikko Hirvonen who had been focused on making up ground.
Ten seconds were lost to his rival at the first loop of the three stages. He said since he wasn’t comfortable on the first stage, the set-up was revised and this led to some difficulty in driving through the narrow portions. Sébastien Loeb, who was dreading the Power Stage, was in sixth place. He said that he wasn’t used to drive in such “unpleasant” roads, which were slippery and worsened by the surrounding “large rocks.” He said that this meant the taking of “huge risks.” Mikko Hirvonen was more at ease on his second runs and he narrowed the gap to Latvala to 8.4seconds after his rival got a puncture on Lesjöfors 2 (SS22).