Tyre Selection Gamble Leaves Loeb Adrift in WRC Sweden
Mikko Hirvonen won the Rally of Sweden stage of the World Rally Championship, after his nearest rival and 2009 champion Sebastien Loeb chose to hold onto his worn tyres at stage 14. Hirvonen changed the Pirelli tyres on his Ford and opened up a 6.2-second gap, finally ending the second day 16 seconds ahead of Loeb, whose change to new front tyres at the next stage saw his challenge effectively ended: “Having new tyres at the front and destroyed ones at the rear was worse than have four destroyed ones,” he said. The margin widened during the latter stages of the third day, allowing the Finn to claim victory for BPFord AbuDhabi WRT.