News

Ogier wins WRC Germany from Loeb

The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia has won ADAC Rallye Deutschland, the ninth round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship.

In doing so, the Frenchmen become the first crew to beat team-mates Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena on an all-asphalt WRC event since 2004. Loeb claimed second in Germany – having won the event for the past eight years – and Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio put the MINI John Cooper Works WRC on the podium for the first time.
 
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb continues to head the leaderboard but victory in Germany has moved Ogier ahead of Mikko Hirvonen. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, maximum points for Citroën puts the French team 90 points ahead of Ford. With victory in Germany, Citroën has now also become the most successful manufacturer in the WRC with 78 wins.
 
The final day of competition - the shortest of the event - took the crews over two loops of two stages before returning to Trier for the 4.37 kilometre Circus Maximus Power Stage, in which additional points are awarded to the fastest three drivers through this single street stage. Here, Loeb collected three additional points with Ogier and Petter Solberg adding two and one point respectively to their points hauls.
 
Ogier started the day with a healthy advantage over Loeb and the duo were able to cruise to the finish, such were the gaps to their rivals. Sordo claimed a momentous victory for MINI by finishing third, his team-mate Kris Meeke holding sixth until forced into retirement in the penultimate stage with a suspected alternator problem. Hirvonen finished as the leading Ford driver in fourth position, having gone off the road in SS16, overshot a junction in SS17 and sustained a puncture in the final stage. Petter Solberg, who moved into fifth following Meeke’s problems earlier in the day, also briefly went off the road. Kimi Räikkönen claimed sixth overall, despite never feeling he had got into the rhythm during the rally.
 
The FIA World Rally Championship now takes the crews to the gravel roads in New South Wales for Rally Australia (8-11 September).

Final positions
1, S Ogier/J Ingrassia, FRA, Citroen DS3, 3hr 32min 15.9sec
2, S Loeb/D Elena, FRA, Citroen DS3, 3hr 32min 55.7sec
3, D Sordo/C Del Barrio, ESP, Mini John Cooper, 3hr 34min 11.5sec
4, M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen, FIN, Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 34min 59.6sec
5, P Solberg/C Patterson, NOR, Citroen DS3, 3hr 36min 03.9sec
6, K Räikkönen/K Lindström, FIN, Citroen DS3, 3hr 39min 40.5sec
7, H Solberg/I Minor, NOR, Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 40min 01.8sec
8, A Araujo/M Ramalho, PRT, Mini John Cooper, 3hr 41min 45.7sec
9, P Van Merksteijn/E Mombaerts, NLD, Citroen DS3, 3hr 42min 17.5sec
10, D Kuipers/F Miclotte, NLD, Ford Fiesta RS, 3hr 42min 24.9sec

Drivers                                        
1, S Loeb, 192pts                       
2, S Ogier, 167pts                       
3, M Hirvonen, 156pts                       
4, J-M Latvala, 96pts                  
5, P Solberg, 94pts                  
6, M Østberg, 56pts                  

Manufacturers
1, Citroen Total, 333pts
2, Ford Abu Dhabi, 242pts
3, M-Sport Stobart Ford, 105pts
4, Petter Solberg, 83pts
5, Ice 1 Racing, 48pts
6, Munchi's Ford, 32pts