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The fight for the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers will be decided on the final round of the series after Sébastien Loeb claimed maximum points in Rally Ireland and Marcus Gronholm crashed out of the event. The Citroën Total World Rally Team dominated, with Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena claiming victory and team-mates Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti finishing second. Third position was taken by Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Antilla, a career-best result for the Finns. The BP-Ford World Rally Team did however clinch the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA). Finishing fourth, Mikko Hirvonen's five points assured the team the world title for the second consecutive year.
Coming into Rally Ireland, Gronholm held a four point lead over Loeb. However, the tables have now turned on the Finn after he crashed in the opening leg and he now goes into the final gravel round of the series six points behind the Frenchman. Mikko Hirvonen's third position in the Drivers' Championship is assured.
The final leg of the inaugural Rally Ireland took in just four stages and 55.91 competitive kilometres. Sébastien Loeb's day started anxiously when an electrical problem delayed him out of service, although the Frenchman's lead was sufficient to ensure he could cruise to the finish despite this 10 second penalty. All positions within the top eight points scoring positions remained unchanged throughout the day.
The final round of the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship takes the crews to Wales Rally GB, which is based in Cardiff from 29 November - 2 December.
Rally Ireland - Final Results (subject to final scrutineering)
| 1 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena |
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 01 min 39.2sec |
| 2 |
Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti |
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 02 min 32.6sec |
| 3 |
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 03 min 27.4sec |
| 4 |
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 03 min 56.9sec |
| 5 |
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
3 hr 04 min 35.0sec |
| 6 |
Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh |
Subaru Impreza |
3 hr 07 min 37.1sec |
| 7 |
Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 11 min 44.1sec |
| 8 |
Gareth MacHale/Alan Harryman |
Ford Focus WRC |
3 hr 12 min 47.5sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 15 of 16 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) |
110 points |
| Marcus Grönholm (FIN) |
104 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) |
89 points |
| Daniel Sordo (E) |
61 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) |
42 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) |
34 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) |
30 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) |
29 points |
| François Duval |
12 points |
| Manfred Stohl (A) |
12 points |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 15 of 16 rounds)
| BP-Ford World Rally Team |
194 points |
| Citroën Total World Rally Team |
173 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team |
80 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team |
79 points |
| OMV Kronos Citroën World Rally Team |
43 points |
| Munchi's Ford World Rally Team |
14 points |
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