The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed a record 40th world rally victory today when they took honours in Rally d’Italia Sardegna, the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. After a thrilling fight with Loeb, and against each other, the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team crews of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala finished second and third respectively.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Hirvonen’s second position ensures he retains his lead over Loeb. Chris Atkinson remains third, seven points ahead of Latvala. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, both Citroën and Ford claimed equal points, leaving the BP Ford team heading the series.
Today’s route took in two loops of two stages before finishing with a short 2.69 kilometre live TV stage. Loeb started the day with a 29.4 second lead over both Hirvonen and Latvala, but Hirvonen set the pace in the opening stage, closing the gap to 19.1 seconds. However, the Frenchman fought back in the next stage, winning it by 3.9 seconds. This afternoon, over the repeated stages, the Ford drivers continued to push hard put ultimately ran out of kilometres to overhaul Loeb.
Behind the leading trio, Gigi Galli and Dani Sordo battled for fourth position, the pair ultimately finishing 23.1 seconds apart with local hero Galli taking the position. Chris Atkinson, Henning Solberg and Urmo Aava all maintained position throughout the final day.
The seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews to the Acropolis Rally of Greece (29 May – 1 June).
Rally d’Italia Sardegna – Final Results (subject to scrutineering and routine fuel analysis)
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC | 3 hr 57 min 17.2sec |
| 2 | Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 57 min 27.8sec |
| 3 | Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 57 min 32.5sec |
| 4 | Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 58 min 59.7sec |
| 5 | Dani Sordo/Marc Marti | Citroën C4 WRC | 3 hr 59 min 22.8sec |
| 6 | Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot | Subaru Impreza WRC | 4 hr 02 min 25.8sec |
| 7 | Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 03 min 18.2sec |
| 8 | Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk | Citroën C4 WRC | 4 hr 03 min 38.5sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 6 of 15 rounds)
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) | 43 points |
| Sébastien Loeb (F) | 40 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) | 31 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) | 24 points |
| Dani Sordo (E) | 21 points |
| Gigi Galli (I) | 17 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) | 11 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) | 9 points |
| Federico Villagra (RA) | 8 points |
| Matthew Wilson (GB) | 7 points |
| François Duval (B) | 5 points |
| Conrad Rautenbach (ZW) | 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 |
| Urmo Aava (EE) | 1 point |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 6 of 15 rounds)
| BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 71 points |
| Citroën Total World Rally Team | 64 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team | 42 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 34 points |
| Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team | 16 points |
| Suzuki World Rally Team | 7 points |