2013 Rally de España - Day Three

27.10.13
FIA news bulletin from day 3 of the 2013 Rally de España
RALLYRACC RALLY DE ESPANA
(24-27 OCTOBER 2013)

RALLY NEWS

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia notched up their eighth victory of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship season today, winning RallyRACC Rally de España, the 12th round of the series. In doing so they - and their team-mates - have secured the Manufacturers’ Championship for Volkswagen Motorsport in a remarkable debut season for the German marque*. Second position was taken by Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila and third overall was claimed by Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.
  
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Thierry Neuville and Latvala continue to fight for second position behind newly-crowned World Champion Sébastien Ogier*. The Belgian remains ahead of the Finn and the rivals are split by 14 points as they go into the last round.
 
Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica also won his first-ever rally title after claiming the FIA WRC 2 Championship win in Spain, securing an unassailable lead in the series with one round remaining*. It was Kubica’s fifth category win from seven events and the Pole finished Rally de España in ninth position overall.
  
The final day of competition took in two identical loops of three stages covering 138.54 competitive kilometres and was the scene for a sensational fight-back by Ogier. The Frenchman started the day in fourth, 45.6 seconds adrift of the lead, but by the lunchtime service had slashed the deficit to just 14.4 seconds. This afternoon a string of fastest stage times saw him overhaul his rivals to claim an emphatic victory. Running first on the road, Latvala had better conditions in some of the dusty stages but was nevertheless still sweeping the roads of loose gravel for those behind. He was unable to hold off a charging Ogier, and was seriously hampered by transmission problems and also lucky to escape damage from an under-bonnet fire at the end of SS14. Hirvonen climbed from an overnight fifth to third, benefitting when team-mate Dani Sordo was forced into retirement with broken suspension.
  
Behind the leading trio, Neuville lost more than 30 seconds in SS11 with a puncture; he claimed fourth ahead of Evgeny Novikov who has enjoyed a trouble-free event. Mads Østberg rounded off the top six.
  
The final round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to Wales Rally GB (14-17 November), an all-gravel event this year based in north Wales.
   
* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA
 
RallyRACC Rally de España – Final Unofficial Classification (subject to scrutineering)
   
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia
2. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila
3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
4. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul
5. Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor
6. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson
7. Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst
8. Hayden Paddon/John Kennard
9. Robert Kubica/Maciek Baran
10. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari/Killian Duffy
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Citroën DS3 RRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
3hr 33 min 21.2sec
3hr 33 min 54.1sec
3hr 34 min 34.9sec
3hr 34 min 55.1sec
3hr 35 min 22.2sec
3hr 35 min 47.2sec
3hr 38 min 17.0sec
3hr 40 min 16.9sec
3hr 44 min 35.3sec
3hr 46 min 48.0sec

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 12 of 13 rounds)

Sébastien Ogier (FRA)
Thierry Neuville (BEL)
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)
Dani Sordo (ESP)
Mads Østberg (NOR)
Sébastien Loeb (FRA)
Evgeny Novikov (RUS)
Martin Prokop (CZE)
Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)
Robert Kubica (POL)
Elfyn Evans (GBR)
Bryan Bouffier (FRA)
Juho Hänninen (FIN)
Chris Atkinson (AUS)
Hayden Paddon (NZL)
Michal Kosciuszko (POL)
Ken Block (USA)
Jari Ketomaa (FIN)
Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE)
Sepp Weigand (DEU)
Per-Gunnar Andersson (SWE)
Henning Solberg (NOR)
Benito Guerra (MEX)
Nathan Quinn (AUS)
Olivier Burri (CHE)
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)
Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU)
Esapekka Lappi (FIN)
Roman Dumas (FRA)
265 points
158 points
144 points
126 points
117 points
89 points
68 points
67 points
55 points
40 points
30 points
18 points
16 points
10 points
8 points
8 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
4 points
4 points
4 points
4 points
2 points
2 points
1 point
1 point
1 point
 

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 12 of 13 rounds)

Volkswagen Motorsport
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team
Qatar World Rally Team
Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team
Jipocar Czech National Team
Volkswagen Motorsport II
Lotos WRC Team
382 points
274 points
174 points
169 points
63 points
57 points
40 points
20 points