Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor made the history of the second day of the Acropolis Rally. Just like in Cyprus, the Austrian OMV World Rally Team was the best private team.
Thanks to eight top-8 special stage times they moved up from 53rd place (due to yesterday`s accident) by 25 places to 28th position. Xavi Pons is feeling more and more comfortable in the Citroen Xsara WRC and lies in 12th place before the last leg. For Sunday the Spanish OMV World Rally Team has its sights on the top-10.
Fourth place in today`s ranking
After the disappointment of day one Manfred Stohl promised – thanks to the SupeRally – to ride an attack on the second day. And he delivered. Eight top-8- times turned the 32-year-old Viennese into the man of the day. The special stage rankings in detail: two third, two fourth, one sixth, one seventh and two eighth places. In an inofficial daily ranking the OMV World Rally Team would be in fourth place behind Sebastien Loeb (Fra), Toni Gardemeister (Fin) and just six seconds behind Carlos Sainz (Spa). Stohl: "These results mean very much to me. They show that I`m able to compete with the best. Kronos Racing have prepared the Xsara perfectly. Too bad I had to retire on Friday. But, after all, I can do better in three weeks in Argentina.“
Three tyre damages in one day
After a very cautious beginning Xavi Pons starts getting into gear more and more. The Spanish OMV driver is getting closer to the top-10 with each special stage. He lies in twelfth overall place after two days – missing only 47 seconds on the top-10. Pons: "We`re doing okay. Unfortunately we had three tyre damages today. Our main goal remains to finish the rally but we naturally also have our sights on the top-10.“


Tags: omv, xavi, pons, acropolis, greece,