WRC: Rallye de France - Result

[Rory Phoulorie]

Sunday, 12th October 2008

Sebastien Loeb wins in Corsica following a dominant display; Mikko Hirvonen takes the runners-up spot as a result of Ford's tactical manoeuvrings prior to the final stage...



Overall times after SS16 / Day 3 - Top 20:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 3hours 42mins 58.0secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +03mins 24.7secs M
3. Francois Duval BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +03mins 31.6secs M
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +03mins 37.5secs MT
5. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +05mins 35.4secs M
6. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +06mins 10.4secs M
7. Urmo Aava PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +07mins 25.2secs A8
8. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +09mins 02.2secs MT
9. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Subaru WRC +09mins 13.3secs A8
10. Barry Clark Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +13mins 38.3secs A8
11. Andreas Mikkelsen Ramsport Ford Focus WRC 07 +13mins 46.0secs A8
12. Khalid Al Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +14mins 06.3secs A8
13. Toni Gardemeister Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +14mins 31.2secs M
14. Conrad Rautenbach PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +14mins 42.2secs A8
15. Henning Solberg Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +15mins 53.4secs A8
16. Gareth Jones Subaru Impreza WRC S12B +18mins 45.0secs A8
17. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +18mins 57.0secs M
18. Alain Vauthier Peugeot 206 WRC +21mins 28.6secs A8
19. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +21mins 45.9secs J
20. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C2 S1600 +22mins 03.6secs J


Overall JWRC after SS16 / Day 3:

1. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 4hours 04mins 43.9secs J
2. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C2 S1600 +00mins 17.7secs J
3. Pierre Campana Renault Clio R3 MAXI +00mins 53.3secs J
4. Pierre Marche Suzuki Swift +02mins 07.9secs J
5. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +02mins 37.8secs J
6. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 +03mins 24.3secs J
7. Florian Niegel Suzuki Swift S1600 +04mins 19.8secs J
8. Kevin Abbring Renault Clio RS R3 +05mins 17.4secs J
9. Stefano Albertini Renault Clio +07mins 09.7secs J
10. Gilles Schammel Renault Clio R3 +13mins 44.5secs J
11. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift S1600 +15mins 24.4secs J
12. Hans Weijs Jr Citroen C2-R2 Max +17mins 42.4secs J


Notable retirements:

SS1. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 Accident. J
SS3. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC Accident. M
SS7. Arnaud Augoyard Renault Clio R3 Accident. J
SS10. Simone Bertolotti Renault Clio Sport CR R3 Accident. J
SS11. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC Went off the road. M*
SS14. Brice Tirabassi Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 Mechanical. A8
SS15. Alessandro Bettega Renault Clio R3 Stopped in stage. J

* denotes elected/able to re-start under SupeRally format.

M - denotes Manufacturer entry.
MT - denotes Manufacturer Team entry.
J - denotes Junior WRC entry.

all times unofficial

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[Rory Phoulorie]

Ford moves Hirvonen up to second.

Sunday, 12th October 2008

Ford uses tactics again as Tour de Corse ends controversially.



Ford opted to use rather extreme tactics on the final stage of the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse today in order to promote Mikko Hirvonen up to second and aid his - and the teams - title challenges.

Hirvonen had been second to event winner Sebastien Loeb pretty much throughout the three-days in Corsica, however, a puncture in the first test on Sunday cost him over a minute and dropped him behind fellow Ford runners Francois Duval and Jari-Matti Latvala, as well as Subaru's Petter Solberg.

With Solberg himself suffering a puncture in the next stage though, it left the way clear for the 'Blue Oval' to play with the final order and team boss Malcolm Wilson subsequently instructed both Duval and Latvala to let Hirvonen by.

Prior to the final test, the 26.32 kilometre Pietra Rossa-Verghia stage, Duval checked into the time control early and picked up a two minute penalty, while Latvala also purposely picked up a penalty by arriving at SS16 nine minutes late.

Mikko thus moved up from fourth to second and now scores 8 points, as opposed to the 5 he would have got for fourth. Going to Japan � the penultimate round in the series � the Finn will trail Loeb by 14 points in the race for the 2008 drivers' title.

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT also gains an extra point as Jari-Matti was nominated for the Stobart Ford team this weekend. Ford lies 23 points behind Citroen in the manufacturers' post-round 13.

It is not the first time the M-Sport-run outfit has used tactics this year - and only last weekend did a similar thing in Spain, when Duval gave up his podium place to allow Hirvonen to finish third.

Is this taking things too far though?

Or is it understandable given just what is at stake?

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