The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed victory in the Cyprus Rally, the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The BP Ford crew of Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen pushed hard yesterday and today but ultimately finished 27.2 seconds adrift. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills, driving a privately entered Citroën Xsara WRC, finished on the podium for the first time since the 2008 Acropolis Rally.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb extends his advantage to eight points over Hirvonen with Dani Sordo holding third position. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën Total’s haul of points with both Loeb and Sordo means it extends its advantage to 16 points over BP Ford.
Loeb started the day with a 49.8 second lead over Hirvonen and could afford to exercise caution over today’s closing 52.24 competitive kilometres. Running without problems all day, the Frenchman notched up his and Elena’s 50th world rally victory. Hirvonen admitted to losing the rally on the asphalt on Friday and despite a strong fight back on Saturday and Sunday, the deficit was too much to overcome, despite two fastest stage times. Former World Champion Petter Solberg overhauled Dani Sordo in the second stage to claim a momentous result in an older specification car run by Petter himself. Sordo finished fourth.
Matthew Wilson claimed fifth and equal fastest time in the final stage of the rally. He had been battling with reigning Junior World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier, the duo split by just 5.1 seconds going into the final stage. However, Ogier went off the road metres before the finish, leaving Wilson to claim the position. Conrad Rautenbach, Federico Villagra and Khalid Al Qassimi rounded off the top eight.
The FIA World Rally Championship crews now head to the first full gravel event of the season, the Rally de Portugal (2-5 April).
Cyprus Rally – Final Results (subject to scrutineering and a complete engine inspection for car No. 1)
| 1 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena |
Citroën C4 WRC |
4 hr 50 min 34.7sec |
| 2 |
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
4 hr 51 min 01.9sec |
| 3 |
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills |
Citroën Xsara WRC |
4 hr 52 min 24.1sec |
| 4 |
Dani Sordo/Marc Marti |
Citroën C4 WRC |
4 hr 53 min 01.0sec |
| 5 |
Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
4 hr 57 min 15.7sec |
| 6 |
Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barritt |
Citroën C4 WRC |
5 hr 01 min 46.6sec |
| 7 |
Federico Villagra/Jorge P Companc |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
5 hr 03 min 53.2sec |
| 8 |
Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
5 hr 04 min 18.8sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 3 of 12 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) |
30 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) |
22 points |
| Dani Sordo (E) |
17 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) |
10 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) |
9 points |
| Matthew Wilson (GB) |
8 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) |
6 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) |
4 points |
| Sébastien Ogier (F) |
3 points |
| Conrad Rautenbach (ZW) |
3 points |
| Federico Villagra (RA) |
2 points |
| Khalid Al Qassimi (UAE) |
2 points |
| Urmo Aava (EE) |
1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 3 of 12 rounds)
| Citroën Total World Rally Team |
48 points |
| BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team |
32 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team |
22 points |
| Citroën Junior Team |
11 points |
| Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team |
3 points |