THE HEAT IS ON IN HUNGARY
The fifth day of the 2008 Central Europe Rally featured an exciting agenda of 211km of competitive action. It saw Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret momentarily dislodged from the lead following a puncture, but the Frenchman overcame a gearbox problem in the afternoon's test to hit back and retrieve top spot this evening. After a cold and overcast start from Veszprem this morning, the clouds quickly cleared to make way for warm spring sunshine as competitors set out for the day's opener - a 157km loop northeast of Lake Balaton.
The first stage turned out to be a drama-packed affair, as World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz benefited from Peterhansel's puncture to ease into a temporary lead by a margin of just three seconds. "About 25km from the end of this long stage, we were forced to stop and change a wheel after one of our tyres was holed by a piece of metal," related Peterhansel. "We had a bit of trouble changing the wheel and the operation took a minute or so longer than it should have done. Otherwise Carlos wouldn't have passed us." After being toppled from the lead, Peterhansel decided to push hard in the afternoon's test and all was going well until the Frenchman began to have trouble with his gearbox. "We only had the first three gears for the final 20km of the stage, and that was obviously a huge handicap down the long straights. I was surprised at the finish to see that I had regained the lead by 22 seconds!"
Nani Roma drove consistently well to secure a pair of third-fastest times and he was rewarded with a place on tonight's provisional podium. "Today's stages were fast, with lots of long straights. You couldn't always see the hazards coming; you had to be on your guard all the time.” "Stéphane, Luc, and Nani all did a great job today," remarked Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Director Dominique Serieys. "After five days, there's less than half a minute between the top two and that says a great deal about the level of competition in this sport.”
