SOLBERG AND PIRELLI MAINTAIN THEIR ADVANTAGE

The Subaru Impreza WRC2004 of Petter Solberg, running on Pirelli tyres, has ended leg two of the Rally New Zealand in first place, having taken the lead on the opening day. Solberg won the final stage of the second leg and carries an advantage of 15 seconds into the final day. His team mate Mikko Hirvonen ends the leg in eighth place. Both drivers again used the new KP tyre from the PZero range today, which is designed for predominantly dry conditions with wet and slippery patches. Today's stages were faster than those used yesterday, but with similar road surfaces. Conditions remained dry and hot, but with patches of mud that were very slippery. Temperatures were higher than usual for autumn in New Zealand. The Subaru team started the rally with a choice between the new KP tyres and the tried and trusted KM's, which are better suited to damper conditions. Both drivers chose the KP step 2 tyre the hardest compound of the range in the morning, and they stuck with the same choice for the afternoon's stages. Tomorrow's final leg of Rally New Zealand contains six special stages divided into two groups of three, totalling 114 competitive kilometres. Fiorenzo Brivio, Pirelli's Rally Manager, commented: Using our new KP step 2 tyre, Petter was able to maintain the lead of the rally despite a strong challenge from his rivals. Tomorrow's stages are used twice so they will clean up during the course of the leg, and they are also slower than today's stages. If temperatures remain as unexpectedly high as they have been, the tyre's resistance and wear rate will once again be crucial. Saturday 17 April Classification after SS17 1 Solberg-Mills, Subaru Impreza WRC, 2h42m11.4s 2 Gronholm-Rautiainen, Peugeot 307 WRC, +19.5 3 Martin-Park, Ford Focus RS WRC, +24.2 4 Rovanpera-Pietilainen, Peugeot 307 WRC, +45.1 5 Loeb-Elena, Citroen Xsara WRC, +1m01.3 6 Sainz-Marti, Citroen Xsara WRC, +2m10.8 7 Duval-Prevot, Ford Focus RS WRC, +2m29.2 8 Hirvonen-Lehtinen, Subaru Impreza, WRC, +2m48.3 9 Carlsson-Andersson, Peugeot 206 WRC, +4m47.3 10 Sola-Amigo, Mitsubishi Lancer (Gp.N), +11m30.4 Leg 3: Sunday 18 April, 6 special stages Finish: Sunday 18 April 17.00 (23 stages in total)