Rally of Great Britain : Loeb and Elena; 14 out of 16 and 10 out of 13 on the island of Corsica

Loeb and Elena; 14 out of 16 and 10 out of 13 on the island of Corsica

Mikko Hirvonen set fastest time on Corsica's 16th and final stage. Team orders kept his title hope alive.

Les Kolczak

12 October 2008, 8:38 pm

Sébastien Loeb was on brilliant form to set fastest or joint fastest time on 14 of Corsica's 16 timed special stages to win his "home" rally by the largest margin of any 2008 WRC round - 3 minutes, 24.7 seconds. This was their fourth consecutive victory on Rallye de France and their fifth consecutive win in this year's World Rally Championship - two on consecutive weekends! Together they have now won 46th WRC qualifying rounds.

This year’s WRC could have been decided on Corsica had it not been for shrewd tactics from the Ford Team. Going into the 16th and final stage Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were in fourth place in their BP Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Ford Focus WRC, behind team mates François Duval and Jari-Matti Latvala, after a puncture in Stage 11 relegated them from second overall. Team orders were issued allowing the Ford Team leader (who set fastest time on the final stage) to move ahead and keep his and Ford’s title hope alive, with just two WRC rounds remaining.

François Duval with Patrick Pivato and Jari-Matti Latvala also left the Mediterranean island – often described as the rally of 10,000 corners - with one fastest time to their credit.

Citroen’s celebrations were somewhat muted by Dani Sordo’s retirement on the third stage; “...about 800 metres after the start of SS3, there was a small bump in the braking zone for a left hand turn at the end of a particularly fast, narrow, downhill section, and that was enough to cause my car to lift slightly. I braked as hard as I could, taking care not to lock the wheels, but the rear of my C4 swiped a bank which sent the front end into a rock. That in turn ripped off the left-side wheel and we were unable to continue.”

However Citroen still hold a 23 point advantage over the Cumbria-based Ford Team in the Manufacturers' Championship but with a potential 36 points still available. the Championship may still go down to the wire on Wales Rally GB.

A deflated tyre in SS14 slowed Norway’s Petter Solberg and Welshman Phil Mills but they recovered to finish fifth in their Subaru Impreza, one place ahead of their team-mates Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot, who lost time with a puncture in SS9. Australian Atkinson, holds onto third place in the Drivers' Championship, but is coming under pressure from Latvala, who has closed the gap to three points.

The Suzuki’s of Finland’s Toni Gardemeister and Sweden’s Per-Gunnar Andersson were classified 13th and 17th after a fraught rally for the Japanese car-maker.

Of the “Home Nations”, England’s Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin in their Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Focus WRC were eighth, earning one World Championship point. Scotland’s Barry Clark with Ireland’s Paul Nagle finished a creditable 10th. Michael Orr co-driving with Kalid Al Qassimi (Ford Focus WRC) was 12th. Suffolk’s David Senior co-driving with Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen C4 WRC) was 14th and Wales’ Gareth Jones with Clive Jenkins (Subaru Impreza) was 16th.

For news and results from Rallye de France (10 – 12 October), the 13th event in the 15-round FIA World Rally Championship, visit; www.rallyedefrance.com/en

For latest standings in the FIA World Rally Championship, news, video clips, etc; www.wrc.com

WRC Manufacturer Team websites;

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; www.bpfordwrc.com

Citroën Total World Rally Team; www.citroen-wrc.com

Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team; www.munchis.com.ar

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team; www.stobartmotorsport.com

Suzuki World Rally Team; www.suzukisport.com/wrc

Subaru World Rally Team; www.swrt.com

Other WRC websites;

Pirelli - WRC; www.pirellityre.com/web/motorsport/rally/wrc/default.page

For details of Rally Japan (24 – 26th October) the 14th event in the 15-round FIA World Rally Championship visit www.rallyjapan.jp/e/

Ends.

Sebastien Loeb has won Rallye Monte-Carlo for a sixth time following a dominant performance behind the wheel of the Citroen DS3 WRC he shares with Monegasque co-driver Daniel Elena.

Of the 74 starters who began Wales Rally GB in Llandudno on Thursday 10th November, 40 were classified at the end of the four-day,1860 kms rally which featured 23 timed special stages as it wound its way from the North coast to the ceremonial finish in Cardiff.

As this year's Wales Rally GB - the final and deciding round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship - draws to a close, Business Minister, Edwina Hart has announced a funding package of £1.4 million for the 2012 event.