The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena today won the Rally RACC Catalunya Costa Daurada - Rally de España. Team-mates Daniel Sordo and Marc Marti finished hot on their heels to claim an emphatic one-two for the team, while Ford’s Marcus Grönholm finished third.

In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Marcus Grönholm retains his lead. However the gap to second-placed Loeb has been cut to six points as the crews head immediately to Corsica for another tarmac event where the Frenchman could dominate once again. Mikko Hirvonen maintains third in the series. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, reigning champion Ford also retains its advantage but dropped seven points to Citroën.

Today’s leg took in two loops of four stages covering 85.66 competitive kilometres. Dry conditions again greeted the crews and with significant gaps between all the drivers, the top of the leaderboard remained unchanged.

The 13th round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes place in Corsica next week (11-14 October).

Rally de España – Final Results

1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC   3 hr 22 min 50.5sec
2. Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC   3 hr 23 min 04.3sec
3. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC  3 hr 23 min 30.3sec
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC  3 hr 24 min 16.3sec
5. François Duval/Patrick Pivato Citroën Xsara WRC   3 hr 25 min 19.2sec
6. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC  3 hr 25 min 44.6sec
7. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC  3 hr 26 min 28.7sec
8. Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC  3 hr 27 min 12.9sec

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 12 of 16 rounds)

Marcus Grönholm (FIN) 96 points
Sébastien Loeb (F) 90 points
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) 74 points
Daniel Sordo (E) 39 points
Petter Solberg (N) 34 points
Henning Solberg (N) 28 points
Chris Atkinson (AUS) 26 points
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) 19 points
François Duval 12 points
Toni Gardemeister (FIN) 10 points
Daniel Carlsson (S) 9 points
Manfred Stohl (A) 9 points

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 12 of 16 rounds)

BP-Ford World Rally Team 170 points
Citroën Total World Rally Team 131 points
Subaru World Rally Team 64 points
Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 57 points
OMV Kronos Citroën World Rally Team 39 points
Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team 6 points