The final day of the Rally of Turkey provided a thrilling showdown to the finish, with no fewer than three crews capable of winning the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team crew of Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen ultimately triumphed to take their second win of the season. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Antilla finished second, just 7.9 seconds adrift, while reigning World Champions Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën Total) took third.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Hirvonen regains the lead and takes a three point advantage over Sébastien Loeb into the second half of the season and his home rally. Second position for Latvala moves him ahead of Chris Atkinson, into third in the standings. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, maximum points for BP Ford ensure it retains its lead over Citroën Total.
Today’s route took in just three stages, however the longest stage of the event was run twice, sandwiching a short 5.50 kilometre stage. Overnight leader Hirvonen lost time in the first stage, stalling on the start line but managed to hold on to his lead, despite a puncture in the final stage. One-two for Ford also represents its 100th consecutive point-scoring finish in the FIA World Rally Championship.
Behind the leading trio, Dani Sordo (Citroën Total) overhauled Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford) in the first stage when the Norwegian had minor brake problems. All other positions remained unchanged, with Conrad Rautenbach (Citroën C4) rounding off the top eight.
Gigi Galli (Stobart Ford), who ran in third position for most of yesterday before dropping down the order, withdrew early this morning. The Italian was forced out due to exhaustion and dehydration.
The FIA World Rally Championship crews now take a six week break prior to Rally Finland (1-3 August).
Rally of Turkey – Final Results (subject to routine fuel analysis and final scrutineering)
| 1 |
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
4 hr 42 min 07.1sec |
| 2 |
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
4 hr 42 min 15.0sec |
| 3 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena |
Citroën C4 WRC |
4 hr 42 min 32.8sec |
| 4 |
Dani Sordo/Marc Marti |
Citroën C4 WRC |
4 hr 44 min 32.7sec |
| 5 |
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
4 hr 44 min 40.8sec |
| 6 |
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills |
Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 |
4 hr 44 min 55.3sec |
| 7 |
Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
4 hr 46 min 31.3sec |
| 8 |
Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior |
Citroën C4 WRC |
4 hr 49 min 53.8sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 8 of 15 rounds)
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) |
59 points |
| Sébastien Loeb (F) |
56 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) |
34 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) |
31 points |
| Dani Sordo (E) |
30 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) |
20 points |
| Gigi Galli (I) |
17 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) |
16 points |
| Matthew Wilson (GB) |
12 points |
| Federico Villagra (RA) |
8 points |
| Urmo Aava (EE) |
6 points |
| Conrad Rautenbach (ZW) |
6 points |
| François Duval (B) |
5 points |
| Andreas Mikkelsen (N) |
4 points |
| Toni Gardemeister (FIN) |
2 points |
| Jean Marie Cuoq (F) |
2 points |
| Per-Gunnar Andersson (S) |
1 point |
| Juho Hanninen (FIN) |
1 point |
| Sébastien Ogier (F) |
1 point |
| Andreas Aigner (A) |
1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 8 of 15 rounds)
| BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team |
99 points |
| Citroën Total World Rally Team |
90 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team |
53 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team |
41 points |
| Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team |
19 points |
| Suzuki World Rally Team |
10 points |