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Loeb wins WRC Spain; narrow lead over Hirvonen

The battle for the coveted FIA World Rally Championship title continues into the final round of the series after Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena clinched victory in Rally de España and archrivals Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished second overall.

The Citroen and Ford rivals go into the 10-13 November running of Wales Rally GB head to head, with Loeb aiming for an eighth title and Hirvonen seeking his first. Ford team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila claimed third overall in Spain, having dropped a position to aid their team-mates’ title chances.
 
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb heads Hirvonen by eight points and the battle for the title is now between the two; Ogier’s retirement in Spain putting him out of the fight. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroen has claimed the title for the seventh time (subject to official confirmation of the results by the FIA). The French manufacturer has an insurmountable advantage over Ford, who will claim second in the series.
 
The final day of Rally Spain was the shortest of the rally and took in two loops of three identical stages covering 102.62 competitive kilometres, concluding with the 4.32 kilometre Coll de la Teixeta Power Stage, where the fastest three drivers in this single stage picked up additional Championship points. Here, MINI driver Kris Meeke claimed his first World Rally Championship stage victory, with team-mate Dani Sordo second and Loeb third; each collected an additional three, two and one point respectively.
 
Loeb started the day with the advantage and while Latvala continued to mount an assault, the gap between the battling duo was too much to overcome. In addition, the Finn took penalties to allow Hirvonen to move into second, ensuring a thrilling finale to the season. Fourth position was claimed by Sordo, despite the Spaniard losing time with a puncture and power steering problems during the day. Team-mate Meeke finished fifth, picking up his first points of the season in the process. Mads Østberg claimed sixth, following the retirement of Sébastien Ogier with an engine problem. Matthew Wilson was also forced out of the final day when he knocked a wheel off the car.
 
The FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship title was also won in Spain by Juho Hänninen and co-driver Mikko Markkula (subject to official confirmation of the results by the FIA).
 
The final round of the FIA World Rally Championship will witness the ultimate showdown for the 2011 World title. Wales Rally GB (10-13 November) will pose another different challenge, with potentially wet and muddy conditions in the wintry Welsh forests.

Final positions
1.  S Loeb/D Elena                      FRA             Citroen DS3             4hr 05min 39.3sec
2.  M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen               FIN             Ford Fiesta RS  4hr 07min 46.2sec
3.  J-M Latvala/M Anttila               FIN             Ford Fiesta RS  4hr 08min 11.7sec
4.  D Sordo/C Del Barrio                ESP             Mini John Cooper        4hr 09min 03.4sec
5.  K Meeke/P Nagle                     GBR             Mini John Cooper        4hr 10min 54.3sec
6.  M Østberg/J Andersson               NOR             Ford Fiesta RS  4hr 11min 33.5sec
7.  E Novikov/D Giraudet                RUS             Citroen DS3             4hr 15min 11.1sec
8.  H Solberg/I Minor           NOR             Ford Fiesta RS  4hr 15min 19.4sec
9.  D Kuipers/F Miclotte                NLD             Ford Fiesta RS  4hr 16min 53.1sec
10 J Hänninen/M Markkula                FIN             Skoda Fabia S2000       4hr 19min 28.5sec
 
Drivers                                         
1.  S Loeb                      222pts                 
2.  M Hirvonen          214pts                 
3.  S Ogier                      193pts                 
4.  J-M Latvala         146pts                 
5.  P Solberg             110pts                 
6.  M Østberg                       70pts                 
 
Manufacturers
1.  Citroen Total                         397pts
2.  Ford Abu Dhabi                 351pts
3.  M-Sport Stobart Ford     145pts
4.  Petter Solberg                98pts
5.  FERM Power Tools    44pts
6.  Team Abu Dhabi               42pts