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Ogier wins WRC France; Hirvonen & Loeb tied for championship lead

After a thrilling two-way fight to the finish, the Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia clinched victory on their home round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rallye de France. The Frenchmen finished just 6.3 seconds ahead of the MINI WRC Team crew of Dani Sordo and Carlos Del Barrio.

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson provisionally finished third. However, following a report by the FIA Technical Delegate, the crew was excluded from the event when it was deemed by the Stewards that the car weight did not comply with Appendix J Art. 255A-4. The crew will not be appealing the Decision.
 
As a consequence, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claim third position, significantly boosting their Championship chances. In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Sébastien Loeb’s retirement and Hirvonen’s additional points put the duo equal first in the standings with two rounds remaining. Sébastien Ogier is third, just three points adrift, setting up a three-way battle for the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship title. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën continues to lead but Ford has narrowed the gap to 54 points.
 
Today’s route covered six stages but just 40.66 competitive kilometres over gravel-strewn Tarmac roads and in foggy conditions early this morning. The rally concluded with the Power Stage, run around the streets of Haguenau, where the fastest three drivers in this single stage picked up additional Championship points. Here, Jari-Matti Latvala claimed three additional points, with Sordo and Ogier picking up two and one point respectively.
 
Ogier and Sordo continued to fight throughout the day but the Spaniard simply ran out of kilometres to overhaul the Frenchman. It was nevertheless an impressive performance on only the MINI’s fourth outing in the WRC. Once again, Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala sacrificed position for team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. By dropping two minutes, Hirvonen was able to climb into fourth position before the final stage and was then elevated to third following the exclusion of Solberg. Latvala also demonstrated the pace of the Fiesta RS WRC on Tarmac today, setting four of the six fastest stage times to ultimately finish fourth. Dennis Kuipers had a career-best result of fifth overall.
 
Solberg's exclusion leaves Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen tied forthe lead of the drivers’ championship with Sébastien Loeb, who retired from the rally in Friday’s opening leg with engine problems.  Just three points cover the leading trio, with two rounds remaining in Spain later this month and in Britain next month.
 

Revised final positions
1.  S Ogier/J Ingrassia (FRA) Citroen DS3, 3hr 06min 20.4sec
2.  D Sordo/C Del Barrio (ESP) Mini John Cooper, 3hr 06min 26.7sec
3.  M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen (FIN) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 09min 47.0sec
4.  J-M Latvala/M Anttila (FIN) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 09min 50.7sec
5.  D Kuipers/F Miclotte (NLD) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 13min 02.4sec
6.  H Solberg/I Minor (NOR) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 13min 28.7sec
7.  M Østberg/J Andersson (NOR) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 14min 18.7sec
8.  K Block/A Gelsomino (USA) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 14min 45.9sec
9.  P Campana/S De Castelli (FRA) Mini John Cooper, 3hr 14min 59.1sec
10. M Wilson/S Martin (GBR) Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 16min 21.2sec
 
Drivers                                         
1= M Hirvonen, 196pts                 
1= S Loeb, 196pts                 
3.  S Ogier, 193pts                 
4.  J-M Latvala, 131pts                 
5.  P Solberg, 110pts                 
6.  M Østberg, 62pts                 
 
Manufacturers
1.  Citroen Total, 372pts
2.  Ford Abu Dhabi, 318pts
3.  M-Sport Stobart Ford, 133pts
4.  Petter Solberg, 98pts
5= FERM Power Tools, 34pts
5= Team Abu Dhabi, 34pts