After a drama-filled final day of competition, Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford) won the inaugural Jordan Rally, the fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Citroën’s Dani Sordo claimed second and Chris Atkinson took the final podium position for Subaru.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Hirvonen re-takes the lead and now holds a five point advantage over Sébastien Loeb, the Frenchman out of the points after crashing on a road section yesterday. Atkinson’s third consecutive podium finish consolidates his third place in the series. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, BP Ford has extended its lead over Citroën Total to seven points. Subaru retains third.
Today’s leg was the longest of the rally and included two runs through the longest stage of the event - Jordan River (41.45 kilometres). Following their tactical manoeuvre last night, the Fords of Jari-Matti Latvala and Hirvonen powered ahead of Sordo in the first stage of the day, dropping the Spaniard to third. However, in the following stage, a number of crews hit problems, including Latvala and Urmo Aava (Citroën C4), who both broke suspension components. Latvala managed to limp on to service, but dropped from first to eighth in two stages. Aava eventually retired from fifth position on the road section after the stage. While it was no cruise through the three repeated stages this afternoon, Hirvonen eventually claimed the win with more than a minute in hand to Sordo, who spun near the start of the final stage.
Behind the leading trio, Henning Solberg took fourth, his best result this season, and Matthew Wilson was fifth, another career-best and his second point-scoring finish of the season. Latvala managed to climb one position up the leaderboard, the result of a titanic effort to get the car through the stages and back to service for repairs. Loeb eventually finished 10th, claiming the final manufacturer point for Citroën.
The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews back to Europe. Rally d’Italia is hosted on the island of Sardinia from 15-18 May.
Jordan Rally – Final Results (* subject to routine fuel analysis)
| 1 | Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen * | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 02 min 47.9sec |
| 2 | Dani Sordo/Marc Marti * | Citroën C4 WRC | 4 hr 04 min 03.6sec |
| 3 | Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot * | Subaru Impreza WRC | 4 hr 07 min 47.4sec |
| 4 | Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 10 min 23.7sec |
| 5 | Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 13 min 29.6sec |
| 6 | Federico Villagra/Jorge P Companc | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 14 min 10.1sec |
| 7 | Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila * | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 15 min 03.5sec |
| 8 | Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini | Ford Focus RS WRC | 4 hr 15 min 12.3sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 5 of 15 rounds)
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) | 35 points |
| Sébastien Loeb (F) | 30 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) | 28 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) | 18 points |
| Dani Sordo (E) | 17 points |
| Gigi Galli (I) | 12 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) | 9 points |
| Henning 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 |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 5 of 15 rounds)
| BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 57 points |
| Citroën Total World Rally Team | 50 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team | 39 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team | 29 points |
| Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team | 14 points |
| Suzuki World Rally Team | 6 points |
