2010 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
WALES RALLY GB
14.11.2010
The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena maintained their advantage in Wales Rally GB today to clinch victory on the final round of the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship. The pair fought hard to stay ahead of Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson, who finished a close second in their privately-run Citroën C4 WRC. Third position was claimed by Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila in a Ford Focus RS WRC.
The FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers was clinched by Loeb* on his home round in France. However, the battle for second and third positions in the series was intense. Third place in Wales was sufficient for Latvala to claim second and Petter Solberg finished third in the series. Sébastien Ogier’s retirement from the event on Saturday dropped him from second to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. The Citroën Total World Rally Team also won the Manufacturers’ Championship* in France and the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team finished second.
The final leg of Wales Rally GB took in just 76.14 competitive kilometres over two loops of two stages, however conditions remained tricky. Loeb started the day with a slim 4.8 second lead, but in the first run through the Resolfen stage increased his advantage after Solberg backed off in the slippery conditions. By the mid-day service, the Frenchman had pulled out a 14.3 second lead and this afternoon he again extended that when Solberg hit a rock and damaged a wheel in SS18 and then briefly went off the road in stage 19.
Jari-Matti Latvala spent the day closing in on team-mate Hirvonen. The Finn had a problem when the steering column came loose in the opening stage of the day, but went on to overhaul Hirvonen in stage 19 to clinch second in the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers. Dani Sordo finished fifth, 18.9 seconds adrift of Hirvonen. All other positions within the top 10 remained unchanged throughout the day.
(*subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA)
Wales Rally GB – Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)
1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena
2. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson
3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
5. Dani Sordo/Diego Vallejo
6. Henning Solberg/Stephane Prévot
7. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin
8. Kimi Räikkönen/Kaj Lindström
9. Mads Ostberg/Jonas Andersson
10. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene |
Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Ford Focus RS WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
Subaru Impreza WRC
Skoda Fabia S2000 |
3 hr 14 min 54.0sec
3 hr 15 min 13.1sec
3 hr 16 min 29.3sec
3 hr 16 min 47.3sec
3 hr 17 min 06.2sec
3 hr 21 min 20.5sec
3 hr 23 min 31.8sec
3 hr 25 min 21.9sec
3 hr 27 min 07.7sec
3 hr 28 min 55.2sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 13 of 13 rounds)
|
Sébastien Loeb (FRA)
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)
Petter Solberg (NOR)
Sébastien Ogier (FRA)
Dani Sordo (ESP)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)
Matthew Wilson (GBR)
Henning Solberg (NOR)
Federico Villagra (ARG)
Kimi Räikkönen (FIN)
Mads Östberg (NOR)
Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE)
Per-Gunnar Andersson (SWE)
Jari Ketomaa (FIN)
Xevi Pons (ESP)
Frigyes Turan (HUN)
Juha Kankkunen (FIN)
Martin Prokop (CZE)
Dennis Kuipers (NLD)
Ken Block (USA)
Juho Hanninen (FIN)
Mark van Eldik (NLD)
Patrik Sandell (SWE)
Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)
Armindo Araújo (PRT)
Aaron Burkart (DEU) |
276 points
171 points
169 points
167 points
150 points
126 points
74 points
45 points
36 points
25 points
18 points
12 points
8 points
6 points
6 points
4 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
2 points
2 points
2 points
2 points
1 point
1 point
1 point |
|
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 13 of 13 rounds)
Citroën Total World Rally Team
BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Citroën Junior Team
Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team
Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team |
456 points
337 points
217 points
176 points
58 points |
|
Note to Editors:
A downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally is available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following link:
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/championships/wrc/2010/gb/Pages/stage_chart.aspx