Sébastien Loeb mastered challenging conditions to win a ninth ADAC Rallye Deutschland aboard his Citroen DS3 WRC, at the event's 10th anniversary. It all started on Friday for the Frenchman, when he picked up the lead of the rally on the opening stages and never looked back.
His lead grew until it turned into a win – Loeb's seventh this season. The eighth-time world champion now holds a 54 points advantage with four rounds remaining this season: Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain.
Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) picked up a discrete second-place finish, his best asphalt result in the WRC. Loeb's Citroën teammate Mikko Hirvonen, despite never shining, made it to the podium. Mads Ostberg (Adapta/Ford) picked up where he left of the day before, finishing fourth ahead of Chris Atkinson, who ends his first rally with WRC Team MINI Portugal in fifth position.
Young guns Ott Tanak (M-Sport/Ford) and Thierry Neuville (Citroën) failed to impress all the way. Tanak won two stages on Saturday before exiting the road. Thanks to Rally 2 rules, he was able to rejoin the competition and finished ninth on the road. Neuville, while running a strong fourth also had an off, plus a puncture, on his way to 12th.
Petter Solberg (Ford), Loeb's only opposition early on, was allowed back in the competition after his day 2 crash, but most importantly missed out on a chance to beat Loeb in the Power Stage. He finished just outside the top 10, in eleventh position.
Kudos to Volkswagen Motorsport's Sébastien Ogier, sixth overall in his Super 2000 Skoda Fabia.
His lead grew until it turned into a win – Loeb's seventh this season. The eighth-time world champion now holds a 54 points advantage with four rounds remaining this season: Great Britain, France, Italy and Spain.
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| Photo: WRC.com |
Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) picked up a discrete second-place finish, his best asphalt result in the WRC. Loeb's Citroën teammate Mikko Hirvonen, despite never shining, made it to the podium. Mads Ostberg (Adapta/Ford) picked up where he left of the day before, finishing fourth ahead of Chris Atkinson, who ends his first rally with WRC Team MINI Portugal in fifth position.
Young guns Ott Tanak (M-Sport/Ford) and Thierry Neuville (Citroën) failed to impress all the way. Tanak won two stages on Saturday before exiting the road. Thanks to Rally 2 rules, he was able to rejoin the competition and finished ninth on the road. Neuville, while running a strong fourth also had an off, plus a puncture, on his way to 12th.
Petter Solberg (Ford), Loeb's only opposition early on, was allowed back in the competition after his day 2 crash, but most importantly missed out on a chance to beat Loeb in the Power Stage. He finished just outside the top 10, in eleventh position.
Kudos to Volkswagen Motorsport's Sébastien Ogier, sixth overall in his Super 2000 Skoda Fabia.