michael orr

This second day was one of the longest and most demanding of the season. Drivers spent more than 14 hours behind the wheel and the 166.87km of special stages represented almost half the rally’s competitive distance. Blending some of the sport’s most famous roads with brand new tests, the route included narrow and tight sections with the traditional big, wide, roller-coaster roads which make this rally one of the sport’s classic events.Heavy rain in the early morning softened the road surface and provided excellent grip for Hirvonen and Latvala from their Pirelli Scorpion tyres. Conditions changed rapidly as the clouds cleared to leave a warm and sunny afternoon and the mud and standing water of the morning disappeared.Hirvonen won all three early morning stages to extend his overnight lead from 3.3sec to 10.9sec. He also claimed the next two tests, more than doubling his lead to 28.0sec as closest rival Sébastien Loeb hit a pot hole and damaged the front right tyre. With the pressure reduced, Hirvonen adopted a more cautious pace during the final group of stages, but added another stage win to his tally.I thought, and hoped, it would rain this morning.

It made the roads softer and improved the grip so it wasn’t as slippery as yesterday. Loeb’s puncture took the pressure off a little, but the lead wasn’t enough for me to relax, especially with the longest stage of the rally as the day’s final test. I’ve been pushing hard but always felt under control. I felt relaxed before the rally started and that has helped me to handle the pressure during the event.I’ve been really pleased with the set-up of the car. It’s handled superbly and I felt so confident this morning on the wet roads with great grip.

We have a good lead so there’s no need to go flat out tomorrow if I don’t feel comfortable, I don’t have to take risks, added 29-year-old Hirvonen, who lives in the rally base of Jyväskylä and has received superb support during the day from his home town fans.Latvala struggled to maintain the required pace this morning because of his illness. His health improved gradually as the day went on, a win in the middle group of tests providing the perfect medicine.

He moved into third, ahead of Dani Sordo, on the final stage of that loop and two more victories this afternoon enabled the 24-year-old Finn to open a 10.5sec lead over the Spaniard. It also ensured that Hirvonen and Latvala won all nine stages today between them.