|
The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won the Rallye de France - Tour de Corse, claiming their third consecutive victory on the Mediterranean island. Second position was taken by BP-Ford driver Marcus Grönholm, while Loeb's team-mate Daniel Sordo finished third.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb has once again closed the gap to Grönholm after back-to-back victories in Spain and Corsica. Grönholm now leads by just four points with three rounds remaining in Japan, Ireland and Great Britain. In the fight for the Manufacturers' title, BP-Ford dropped another seven points to Citroën Total, but still has a 32 point advantage.
Today's final leg took in just four stages, but with 112.10 competitive kilometres to run, it was no cruise to the finish for the crews contesting the 13th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Last night, fourth-placed François Duval was forced into retirement on the road section back to the service park, after alternator problems halted his Citroën Xsara.
This morning, Ford Focus RS driver Jari-Matti Latvala therefore held fourth position and, in the thick of a battle with Subaru's Petter Solberg, managed to maintain position to the finish, equalling his best result in the WRC. Solberg's team-mate Chris Atkinson claimed sixth with Jan Kopecky (Škoda Fabia) taking two points for seventh position. Xavier Pons (Subaru) rounded off the top eight point scoring positions.
Subject to confirmation of the results by the FIA, Per-Gunnar Andersson, driving a Suzuki Swift, also won the 2007 FIA Junior Rally Championship. The Swede finished fourth in the category, claiming sufficient points to take the title in this, the final round of the Junior series.
The FIA World Rally Championship crews now head to Asia for Rally Japan (25-28 October).
Rallye de France - Tour de Corse - Final Results
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 13 of 16 rounds)
| 1 |
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena |
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 28 min 31.5sec |
| 2 |
Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 28 min 55.2sec |
| 3 |
Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti |
Citroën C4 WRC |
3 hr 29 min 15.8sec |
| 4 |
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila |
Ford Focus RS WRC |
3 hr 31 min 02.0sec |
| 5 |
Petter Solberg/Phil Mills |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
3 hr 31 min 13.6sec |
| 6 |
Chris Atkinson/Stéphane Prévot |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
3 hr 32 min 25.3sec |
| 7 |
Jan Kopecky/Filip Schovanek |
Škoda Fabia WRC |
3 hr 36 min 34.4sec |
| 8 |
Xavier Pons/Xavier Amigo |
Subaru Impreza WRC |
3 hr 38 min 05.7sec |
| Marcus Grönholm (FIN) |
104 points |
| Sébastien Loeb (F) |
100 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) |
74 points |
| Daniel Sordo (E) |
45 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) |
38 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) |
29 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) |
28 points |
| Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) |
24 points |
| François Duval |
12 points |
| Toni Gardemeister (FIN) |
10 points |
| Jan Kopecky (CZ) |
10 points |
| Daniel Carlsson (S) |
9 points |
| Manfred Stohl (A) |
9 points |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 13 of 16 rounds)
| BP-Ford World Rally Team |
179 points |
| Citroën Total World Rally Team |
147 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team |
71 points |
| Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team |
64 points |
| OMV Kronos Citroën World Rally Team |
39 points |
| Munchi's Ford World Rally Team |
6 points |
|
