Daniel Sordo takes top position

• Latvala loses lead
• Neuville with technical problems

Munich/Trier, 24 August 2013 – A lead change in the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Finn Jari-Matti Latvala had to retire early from the Saturday of the rally. On the twelfth stage of the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, in rainy conditions, the Finn slid off the road and damaged the rear of his Volkswagen Polo R WRC in such a way that he was forced to retire. While his team-mate Sébastien Ogier showed a remarkable recovery, Ford driver Thierry Neuville and Citroën’s Daniel Sordo had a fascinating battle for the overall lead in the rally. Belgian driver Neuville having damaged the exhaust on the same special stage and thus losing engine power, Spaniard Sordo moved up into the lead with the tiny margin of only 0.8 seconds.

Sordo’s Finnish team-mate Mikko Hirvonen is in third place overall, a little over 87 seconds down on the leader. As Latvala’s Polo can be repaired, the Finn will be allowed to start again for the final leg on Sunday. Sepp Wiegand, who had been the best-placed German, lost almost ten minutes following a puncture and the subsequent wheel change on stage 13 and dropped back to 16th place with his Skoda Fabia S2000.

The Saturday was overshadowed by a fatal accident during the show programme of the rally with historic cars. After that, the second running at Arena Panzerplatte was cancelled and the field was guided back to the finish of the leg in Trier on an alternative route. Having checked all the safety measures, DMSB, FIA and rally control decided to continue the event on Sunday according to its itinerary. There are still two special stages in the Moselle vineyards with a total distance of 49.16 kilometres.

Standings 3rd leg after 13 of 15 special stages:

1. Sordo/Del Barrio ESP/ESP Citroën DS3 WRC 2:43.48.5 hrs.
2. Neuville/Gilsoul BEL/BEL Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 0.8 sec.
3. Hirvonen/Lehtinen FIN/FIN Citroën DS3 WRC + 1.27.6 min.
4. Prokop/Ernst CZE/CZE Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 6.06.3 min.
5. Kubica/Baran POL/POL Citroën DS3 RRC + 7.33.1 min.
6. Evans/Barritt GBR/GBR Ford Fiesta R5 + 7.40.9 min.
7. Latvala/Anttila FIN/FIN Volkswagen Polo R WRC + 9.27.0 min.
…
16. Wiegand/Christian DEU/DEU Skoda Fabia S2000 + 20.21.8 min.
…
24. Ogier / Ingrassia FRA/FRA Volkswagen Polo R WRC + 26.39.9 min.