Al Attiyah Occupies 12th Place in First Day of Rally Germany

Trier, Germany, August 24 (QNA) - Bronze Medal winner of London 2012 Olympics Nasser Al-Attiyah occupied 12th place in the opening day of leg of the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Sebastien Loeb was quickest on four of the six special stages during today's opening leg of the Rally Germany. This evening he leads the event by 20.4 seconds from the highly combative Petter Solberg (Ford/Michelin), with Latvala and Neuville tussling for third. Despite leaden skies above the Mosel vineyards, the roads remained dry throughout the day. At the wheel of a factory Citro?n DS3 WRC fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport H1 (hard) tyres, Loeb gradually increased his advantage over Norwegian Solberg, his closest challenger. The Ford/Michelin driver did everything he could to stay on terms with Loeb. Solberg certainly dropped a few seconds here and there, but he remains in contention for what could be a 14th world championship success. His team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala was a little less consistent: he set fastest time on SS4, dropped 12.7 seconds on SS5 but was then quickest again on SS6. The Finn was third by the end of the day, trailing Solberg by nine seconds and Loeb by fewer than 30. (QNA)