WILSON SETS PACE AS SOLBERG SUFFERS SUSPENSION WOES
Matthew Wilson has set the pace for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team on the second morning of the Acropolis Rally of Greece, notching up top-five times on all three stages. But team-mate Henning Solberg fell victim to the rough, rocky conditions and was forced to retire from day two with broken suspension.

After the disappointment of day one when an oil pressure problem forced him out of the rally, Wilson was making up for lost time this morning, showing blistering pace on SS7 Klenia Mycenae 1, to set the second fastest stage time. Despite Friday’s problems, Wilson is still in the hunt to score good manufacturer points for the team. Top-five times in SS8 and the final stage of the morning SS9, where a stall cost him a few seconds, moved the young Briton up nine places to 23rd overall.

Solberg started the day in fifth place giving him an excellent start position for the rough, dusty stages. But after a steady start to the morning the Norwegian’s challenge was brought to an abrupt halt on SS9 Kefalari 1 as he adjusted his position on the road to avoid the Citroen of Dani Sordo which was stopped on the stage. He hit a large rock which broke the front right suspension on his Ford Focus RS WRC.

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Henning Solberg said:
“I’m very disappointed. We stayed out of trouble all day yesterday so I’m really cross that this happened on just the third stage of the day today. We were forced too far to the inside of the corner as someone was warning us about Sordo’s car which we couldn’t see stopped around the bend. It’s very frustrating.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson said:
“The stages are very difficult but it will be good for us to get through today and to get more experience of the stages and of the tyre wear. The only way to do that is by driving quickly but I think I took it a little bit too easy on the middle stage when I was saving the tyres. I was a little bit too smooth and not aggressive enough. The last stage was looking quite good until we stalled at a hairpin and lost five or six seconds. The second pass is definitely going to be really rough this afternoon but the car feels good so we’ll just be trying to do the same again.”

Leaderboard after SS9
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen(FIN) Ford Focus RS 2h17m48.6s
2. P Solberg/P Mills (NOR) Citroën Xsara +24.8s
3. S Ogier//J Ingrassia (FRA) Citroën C4 +1m26.8s
4. M Ostberg/J Andersson (NOR) Subaru Impreza +2m44.5s
5. J-M Latvala/M Anttila (FIN) Ford Focus RS +2m58.8s
6. F Villagra/J Diaz (ARG) Ford Focus RS +3m11.7s
7. C Rautenbach/D Barrit (ZIM) Citroën C4 +3m23.2s
8. E Novikov/D Moscatt (RUS) Citroën C4 +4m09.3s
9. K Al Qassimi/M Orr (UAE) Ford Focus RS +4m17.5s
10. D Sordo/M Marti (ESP) Citroën C4 +5m03.1s
11. H Solberg/C Menkerud (NOR) Ford Focus RS +6m26.9s
23. M Wilson/S Martin (GB) Ford Focus RS +19m59.1s

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