05/10/2008
RallyRACC, day 3: The third consecutive 1-2 for Citroën, leaves WRC with a nearly settled situation

Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena (Citroën). Winners RallyRACC 2008

Third consecutive 1-2 of the season for the Citroën C4 of Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo-Marc Martí, this time in the 44 movistar RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España. So the FIA World Rally Championship title is getting an everyday clearer red colour of the French team. The Ford Focus’ of Mikko Hirvonen-Jarmo Lehtinen and François Duval-Patrick Pivato followed the C4’s in the overall classification of the Rally de España, in front of Petter Solberg-Phil Mills (Subaru), who were fifth.

The last day of the rally was nearly a copy of the two first days, with Loeb and Sordo leading the standings. The best times of Duval, Sordo and Hirvonen (3) broke a little bit Loeb’s continued dominion of the race but the French driver, apart from taking a best time, controlled the race from start to end. As Loeb always overcame his Spanish team mate, Duval did the same with Hirvonen, but in the final stages the positions were reversed. Today’s only mishap among the leading cars was a mechanical failure for Urmo Aava (Citroën), who was fifth until that moment.

The championship situation is much clearer for Citroën, especially when in five days; the C4 will take the Corsican tarmac as favourites. Sèbastien Loeb said: “Today I managed my advantage without taking any risks. This victory in Catalunya is my 45th. It is very important and enhances our options to win the title”. This is also the fourth consecutive win of the World Champion in the Rally de España, and the third consecutive time that Sordo is second in this race.

The J-WRC title will have to wait
The unexpected off of Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) in yesterday’s last special changed the situation completely in the sub28 class. The French driver could not get to the start today, so Martin Prokop (Citroën) just had to manage his advantage and leave Aaron Burkart, Michal Kosciuszko and Jaan Mölder to set best times. The championship, which will be decided in Corsica, is closer than ever, with the two only contestants for the title: Ogier and Burkart, separated by only 4 points.

The 44 RallyRACC showed a high organizational efficiency, something that commented both drivers and team managers. Aman Barfull, race director of the RallyRACC, summarizes the organization: “We had a new edition with a very high organizational level. The world championship managers could notice the improvements we presented this year, such as the online noticeboard that everyone can check at www.rallyracc.com, something that could possibly be transferred to the rest of the rounds of the championship”.

Barfull also praised the work of the security forces that collaborate in controlling the race. “From 2009, the responsibility of security will be entirely of the Mossos d’Esquadra, but the transfer of responsibilities from the Guardia Civil to the Catalan police has been model and from the RACC we would like to thank the collaboration of the this body during all this years”. As a reward for their work, the General of the VII Region of the Civil Guard, Mr. Luis Iglesias Martínez, received the FIA award “Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally”.

The next round of the championship will take place next week, from October 10th. To October 12th. In the island of Corsica. It will be another tarmac round and the drivers will use the same car as in Spain. The next edition of the Rally de España is set to be in October 1-4, 2009.

Overall classification 44 movistar RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España
1- Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC), 3h21’17”4
2- Daniel Sordo-Marc Martí (Citroën C4 WRC), a 24”9
3- Mikko Hirvonen-Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), a 1’02”5
4- François Duval-Patrick Pivato (Ford Focus RS WRC 2008), a 1’10”8
5- Petter Solberg-Phil Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC2008), a 3’27”4
6- Jari-Matti Latvala-Miikka Anttila (Ford Focus RS WRC 2007), a 4’03”8
7- Chris Atkinson-Stéphane Prévot (Subaru Impreza WRC2008), a 4’04”9
8- Andreas Mikkelsen-Ola Floene (Ford Focus RS WRC 2007), a 5'19"6
9- Matthew Wilson-Scott Martin (Ford Focus RS WRC 2007), a 7’43”2
10- Brice Tirabassi-Fabrice Gordon (Subaru Impreza WRC2008), a 9’05”0
Etcetera up to 48 drivers out of 69 who started the race

J-WRC
1- Martin Prokop-Jan Tománek (Citroën C2 S1600), 3h 41’25”0
2- Alessandro Bettega-Simone Scattolini (Renault Clio R3), a 24”6
3- Aaron Burkart-Michael Koelbach (Citroën C2 R2), a 1'04"5

Provisional classification of the FIA World Rally Championship

Drivers
1- Sébastien Loeb (France/Citroën), 96 points
2- Mikko Hirvonen (Finland/Ford), 84 points
3- Daniel Sordo (Spain/Citroën), 59 points
4- Chris Atkinson (Australia/Subaru), 42 points
5- Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland/Ford), 37 points
6- Petter Solberg (Norway/Subaru), 36 points
7- Henning Solberg (Norway/Ford), 22 points
8- Gigi Galli (Italy/Ford), 17 points
9- François Duval (Belgium/Ford), 16 points
10- Matthew Wilson (Great Britain/Ford), 12 points

Manufacturers/Teams
1- Citroën Total World Rally Team, 159 points
2- BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, 132 points
3- Subaru World Rally Team, 80 points
4- Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team, 55 points
5- Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team, 22 points
6- Suzuki World Rally Team, 20 points

Junior-WRC
1- Sébastien Ogier (France/Citroën), 34 points
2- Shaun Gallagher (Ireland/Citroën), 30 points
2- Aaron Nikolai Burkart (Germany/Citroën), 30 points
4- Michal Kosciuszko (Poland/Suzuki), 22 points
4- Martin Prokop (Czech Republic/Citroën), 22 points
4- Alessandro Bettega (Italy/Renault), 22 points
7- Patrik Sandell (Sweden/Renault), 18 points
8- Jaan Mölder (Estonia/Suzuki), 11 points
9- Stefano Albertini (Italy/Renault), 9 points
10- Gilles Schammel (Luxembourg/Renault), 8 points
10- Simone Bertolotti (Italy/Renault), 8 points