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Loeb takes hard-fought 64th WRC win in Italy

The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their fourth victory in Rally Italia Sardegna today. The crew outpaced their rivals and finished 11.2 seconds ahead of the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team pairing of Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen, with Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson coming home in third position, their first podium of the season.

In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb extends his lead and heads Hirvonen by seven points. Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala are third and fourth respectively. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën also heads the leaderboard with a 17 point advantage over Ford.
 
The final day of competition in Sardinia covered just four stages and 65.58 competitive kilometres concluding with the Power Stage, in which additional points are awarded to the fastest three drivers through this single stage. Hirvonen took honours in the stage, claiming an additional three points, while Latvala and Loeb took more points for finishing second and third respectively.
 
Loeb started the day with a 20.2 second lead and was never seriously challenged throughout the final day. Behind him, the battle for second position raged, until Sébastien Ogier dropped back to fourth after hitting a rock and breaking the rear suspension in SS17. As a consequence, Solberg climbed to third leaving Ogier to take fourth. Mads Østberg claimed fifth with Dani Sordo taking points in the debut competitive outing of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. Ott Tänak took seventh, also claiming victory in the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship.
 
The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now head to the Americas for round six of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Argentina (26-29 May).

Final positions
1, S Loeb/D Elena, FRA, Citroen DS3, 3hr 45min 40.9sec
2, M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen, FIN, Ford Fiesta RS  3hr 45min 52.1sec
3, P Solberg/C Patterson, NOR, Citroen DS3, 3hr 46min 04.7sec
4, S Ogier/J Ingrassia, FRA, Citroen DS3, 3hr 47min 12.4sec
5, M Østberg/J Andersson, NOR, Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 48min 23.5sec
6, D Sordo/C Del Barrio, ESP, Mini John Cooper, 3hr 49min 08.5sec
7, O Tanak/K Sik, EST, Ford Fiesta S2000, 3hr 52min 51.8sec
8, J Hanninen/M Markkula, FIN, Skoda Fabia S2000, 3hr 53min 18.5sec
9, M Wilson/S Martin, GBR, Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 53min 41.3sec
10, N Al-Attiyah/G Bernacchini, QAT, Ford Fiesta S2000, 3hr 58min 14.7sec

Drivers                                        
1, S Loeb, 100pts                       
2, M Hirvonen, 93pts                  
3, S Ogier, 81pts                  
4, J-M Latvala, 68pts                  
5, P Solberg, 46pts                  
6, M Østberg, 38pts                  

Manufacturers
1, Citroen Total, 167pts
2, Ford Abu Dhabi, 150pts
3, M-Sport Stobart Ford, 61pts
4, Petter Solberg, 37pts
5, Ice 1 Racing, 26pts
6, Munchi's Ford, 24pts