WRC: Loeb wins... a seventh win for him in Germany!From the World Rally Championship
A trouble-free drive through the Super Special in Trier was enough for Sebastien Loeb to clinch a record breaking seventh consecutive Rallye Deutschland victory this afternoon. The Frenchman and his co-driver Daniel Elena finished the rally with an overall lead of 47.7sec over their team-mates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti in the second Citroen Total team C4 WRC. His 43rd world rally win, and a maximum 10 points, moves Loeb into the lead of the 2008 drivers' championship, four ahead of his nearest rival Mikko Hirvonen, while a perfect score of 18 points for Citroen moves them into the lead of the manufacturers' contest, eight clear of Ford. Including the 2001 WRC candidate event, today's result was the eighth consecutive Rallye Deutschland victory for Citroen. The French company's 49th WRC win moves them third in the all time WRC Manufacturers' rankings. Eight championship points for Dani Sordo moved him ahead of Chris Atkinson and up to third in the drivers' standings. Francois Duval finished the stage third for the Stobart VK M-sport World Rally Team. The Belgian fought off an attack from Mikko Hirvonen throughout day, but completed the Super Special 10.1sec ahead of his fellow Focus RS WRC driver. Fourth place netted Hirvonen five drivers' championship points, and despite the disappointment of missing out on a podium spot the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team driver said he was encouraged by his weekend. Rallye Deutschland final classification : 1. Loeb-Elena (Citroën C4 WRC) in 3h26'19''7 2. Sordo-Marti (Citroën C4 WRC) + 47''70 3. Duval-Pivato (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 1'20''00 4. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 1'30''10 5. Solberg-Mills (Subaru Impreza WRC) + 2'35''30 6. Atkinson-Prévot (Subaru Impreza WRC) + 4'45''90 7. H.Solberg-Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 5'36''20 8. Aava-Sikk (Citroën C4 WRC) + 5'37''80 Etc. Provisional championship classification : 1. Sébastien Loeb 76 pts, 2. Mikko Hirvonen 72, 3. Daniel Sordo 43, 4. Chris Atkinson 40, 5. Jari-Matti Latvala 34, 6. Petter Solberg 27, 7. Henning Solberg 22, 8. Gianluigi Galli 17, 9. Matthew Wilson 12, 10 François Duval 11, etc. |
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