04/10/2009
RallyRACC, day 3: Loeb and Sordo's 1-2 secures the manufacturers' title for Citroën

Dani Sordo, Sébastien Loeb. RallyRACC 2009

Nobody and nothing could change the outcome of the third and last day of the 45th. RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España, second-to-last round of the season and the second held on tarmac. It was held during the last three days at the Costa Daurada, on the roads of the Tarragona and Lleida areas. Today was the day with less competitive kilometres (93,88km), and the two passes through the stages of Riudecanyes (16,32 km), Santa Marina (26,51 km) and La Serra d'Almos (4,11 km) followed the same trend of the last two days, with good weather and nice temperatures.

The Citroëns dominated the race again, and Dani Sordo, Petter Solberg and Sébastien Loeb take turns to win the stages of the first loop, while in the second loop, the Norwegian took the first two stages and Latvala (Ford), the last one. The French brand finished the race in style after taking the win in all the stages except one with Sordo (6), Loeb (5), Solberg (4) and Ogier (2).

So, mission accomplished for Citroën, which has mathematically secured the manufacturers' world championship title, the second consecutive and fifth of the team, achieved thanks to the Loeb-Sordo 1-2 of the RallyRACC. The French, current World Champion, achieved his 6th. victory of the year, 53rd of his sporting career. The second place of Dani Sordo confirms him as a great tarmac specialist, though in this occasion he was forced to follow team orders so that Loeb would have more options at the Wales GB Rally, where he will fight for the title with Mikko Hirvonen (Ford), who could only be third in the Spanish round.

At some moments, the pressure of Petter Solberg (Citroën), who was very effective and motivated with his new C4 WRC, could have given a hard time to the Finn driver, although Citroen believes his performance In Wales could be even better. The young French driver Sébastien Ogier (Citroën), also stood out with a very good performance, as he even achieved to stage wins in the second day and his progress will be rewarded next year, where he will have the support of the brand.

The championship, even closer
After the end of the RallyRACC, the season will finish with the Wales Rally. The provisional classification before the British round shows Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) in the lead, but with just one-point advantage over Sébastien Loeb (Citroën). They will both fight for the title in one of the most exciting finales of the last few years, as Loeb will need to win a rally where both the French and Finnish drivers have only won once. Nevertheless, the role of their respective teammates, Dani Sordo for Citroën and Jari-Matti Latvala with Ford, might be decisive.

The Junior-WRC finishes
Over at the Junior-WRC, which finished in this race, victory was for Hans Weijs (Citroën), followed by the Italian Simone Bertolotti (Suzuki), with the Spaniard Jordi Martí (Renault) third after an Incident In the last stage. Nevertheless, the World Champion In this class Is Martin Prokop (Citroën), who retired in the second day after an off.

In the Group N, victory was for the Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen (Skoda), followed by Hungary's Asi (Mitsubishi), who led the race until the first stage of the last loop, after receiving a penalty for changing the gearbox.

A RallyRACC with a massive amount of public
The amount of spectators exceeded all expectations based on last year, both in the quantity of people that visited the Service Park in PortAventura, as in Salou or on the stages. This result and the fact that the hotels were practically at 90% confirms that the Spanish round of the World Championship organized by RACC is an important boost for the economy and tourist sector In the Costa Daurada area. The RallyRACC of 2010 will be In October 22 to 24, and will be the second-to-last race of the calendar and the last of the Junior Championship.

Final classification of the 45 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España
1-Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC), 3h 22'14"7
2-Dani Sordo/Marc Martí (Citroën C4 WRC), a 12"0
3-Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC 2009), a 54"1
4-Petter Solberg/Phil Mills (Citroën C4 WRC), a 1'12"4
5-Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C4 WRC), a 1'41"6
6-Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Ford Focus RS WRC 2009), a 2'49"8
7-Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), a 7'15"5
8-Federico Villagra/Jorge Pérez Companc (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), a 8'28"1
9-Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), a 9'07"6
10-Dany Snobeck/Gilles Mondesir (Peugeot 307 CC WRC), a 10'56"0

Provisional classification of the World Rally Championship

Drivers
1- Mikko Hirvonen (Finland/Ford), 84 points
2- Sébastien Loeb (France/Citroën), 83 points
3- Dani Sordo (Spain/Citroën), 58 points
4- Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland/Ford), 39 points
5- Petter Solberg (Norway/Citroën), 30 points
6- Henning Solberg (Norway/Ford), 29 points
7- Matthew Wilson (Great Britain /Ford), 25 points
8- Sébastien Ogier (France/Citroën), 24 points
9- Federico Villagra (Argentina/Ford), 16 points
10- Conrad Rautenbach (Zimbabwe/Citroën), 8 points

Manufacturers/Teams
1- (Champion) Citroën Total World Rally Team, 151 points
2- BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, 130 points
3- Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team, 73 points
4- Citroën Junior Team, 42 points
5- Munchi's Ford World Rally Team, 23 points

Final Junior-WRC
1- (Champion) Martin Prokop (Czech Republic /Citroën), 46
2- (Runner-up) Michal Kosciuszko (Polonia/Suzuki), 42
3- Aaron Burkart (German/Suzuki), 39 points
4- Kevin Abbring (Netherlands/Renault), 27 points
5- Hans Weijs (Netherlands /Citroën), 26 points
5- Simone Bertolotti (Italia/Suzuki), 26 points