So Hirvonen did again and became the first man to win on the new format car for the 2011 championship. People watching the rally and following it from day 1 are probably very impressed by the level of competition, the new regulation brought us. The work’s teams and the privateers where on the same level, Sebastian Loeb was beaten by his teammate, and many other pleasant surprises.
The first four drivers where just 47 seconds apart and the rally saw amazing competition through the 3 rally days and 22 stages. The rally lead was changing constantly and the Fords where always ahead. The main competition though was between Hirvonen and Østberg, and the rally finished with only 6.5 seconds difference in favor of the Finn who was victorious here last year.
In terms of manufacturers fight, For finished on top. Three drivers on the podium followed by three citroens. The Fords seemed to have the edge, and most notable on the last day winning 5 out of 6 stages and 12 out of 22 stages throughout the rally. In addition to this the rally was impressive in terms of reliability and although its the first rally for the new WRC cars we had not reliability issues that we can mention and all the prime contestants reached the finish line.
Going back to internal battles, Ogier beat his world champion teammate fair and square and Solberg on a similar car did the same to Loeb. At Ford Hirvonen proved that he has the speed and wisdom to beat the young and “ever so furious Latvala”. Other things to note was Kimi Raikkonen finishing 8th with some strong displays and Khalid Al Qassimi finishing 10th scoring a valuable point.
The rally also features some weird encounters, Petter Solberg’s co-driver Chris Patterson says he has no intention of switching careers – despite finishing his first ever World Rally Championship stage as a driver ahead of world champion Sebastien Loeb.
Patterson was forced to take the wheel of the Citroen DS3 WRC after Solberg was banned from driving after being caught speeding on Friday afternoon. The Norwegian was caught at 112kph in an 80kph limit. The law in Sweden states that if you are 30kph or more over the limit, you are banned instantly. It has yet to be decided how long Solberg’s ban will run for, but it is not expected to last until next year’s Rally Sweden.
From 1400 hours today, 48 hours after the pair were caught, Patterson took the wheel of the Citroen and drove until the end of the rally. “If you’re going to make your debut as a driver, do it in style,” said Patterson at the end of the stage.
Ogier won the last stage which was live on TV taking its points to add on his tally, and to deepen Loeb’s wounds after the rally.
We had one hell of a rally this weekend. Will the excitement continue? Can Sebastian Loeb be dethroned?
Overall Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Time | Diff Prev |
Diff 1st |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 3 | M. HIRVONEN | M | 3:23:56.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2. | 6 | M. ØSTBERG | M | 3:24:03.1 | +6.5 | +6.5 |
| 3. | 4 | J. LATVALA | M | 3:24:30.6 | +27.5 | +34.0 |
| 4. | 2 | S. OGIER | M | 3:24:44.3 | +13.7 | +47.7 |
| 5. | 11 | P. SOLBERG | 3:25:27.8 | +43.5 | +1:31.2 | |
| 6. | 1 | S. LOEB | M | 3:26:26.9 | +59.1 | +2:30.3 |
| 7. | 16 | P. ANDERSSON | 3:30:18.6 | +3:51.7 | +6:22.0 | |
| 8. | 8 | K. RÄIKKONEN | M | 3:30:58.9 | +40.3 | +7:02.3 |
| 9. | 15 | M. WILSON | 3:34:08.1 | +3:09.2 | +10:11.5 | |
| 10. | 10 | K. AL QASSIMI | M | 3:34:27.7 | +19.6 | +10:31.1 |
| 11. | 18 | P. SANDELL | 3:36:21.1 | +1:53.4 | +12:24.5 | |
| 12. | 19 | M. PROKOP | 3:37:39.7 | +1:18.6 | +13:43.1 | |
| 13. | 9 | D. KUIPERS | M | 3:37:54.3 | +14.6 | +13:57.7 |
| 14. | 43 | K. BLOCK | M | 3:40:48.4 | +2:54.1 | +16:51.8 |
| 15. | 51 | C. BREEN | 3:42:29.3 | +1:40.9 | +18:32.7 | |
| 16. | 26 | M. SEMERAD | P | 3:46:59.8 | +4:30.5 | +23:03.2 |
| 17. | 54 | R. GÖRANSSON | 3:50:36.5 | +3:36.7 | +26:39.9 | |
| 18. | 53 | A. LAIVOLA | 3:52:10.1 | +1:33.6 | +28:13.5 | |
| 19. | 34 | Y. PROTASOV | P | 3:52:17.1 | +7.0 | +28:20.5 |
| 20. | 64 | F. ÅHLIN | 3:53:11.9 | +54.8 | +29:15.3 | |
| 21. | 35 | N. FUCHS | P | 3:53:43.9 | +32.0 | +29:47.3 |
| 22. | 32 | V. GORBAN | P | 3:53:49.3 | +5.4 | +29:52.7 |
| 23. | 57 | R. MUHONEN | 3:55:58.7 | +2:09.4 | +32:02.1 | |
| 24. | 60 | S. KARYAKIN | 3:58:40.6 | +2:41.9 | +34:44.0 | |
| 25. | 56 | J. SALOMAA | 4:04:42.3 | +6:01.7 | +40:45.7 | |
| 26. | 65 | L. STORM | 4:05:19.2 | +36.9 | +41:22.6 | |
| 27. | 63 | A. VILLANUEVA | 4:06:55.2 | +1:36.0 | +42:58.6 | |
| 28. | 23 | G. LINARI | P | 4:14:45.3 | +7:50.1 | +50:48.7 |
| 29. | 17 | R. KUIPERS | 4:15:43.4 | +58.1 | +51:46.8 | |
| 30. | 59 | E. BOLAND | 4:16:06.3 | +22.9 | +52:09.7 | |
| 31. | 33 | D. TAGIROV | P | 4:21:53.4 | +5:47.1 | +57:56.8 |
| 32. | 30 | O. SALIUK | P | 4:22:52.5 | +59.1 | +58:55.9 |
| 33. | 28 | M. AL SHAMSI | P | 4:29:52.6 | +7:00.1 | +1:05:56.0 |
| 34. | 62 | J. BESSON | 4:52:33.4 | +22:40.8 | +1:28:36.8 |
Driver’s Championhsip
Pos Driver
1. M. HIRVONEN 25
2. M. OSTBERG 18
3. J. LATVALA 16
4. S. OGIER 15
5. P. SOLBERG 10
6. S. LOEB 10
7. P. ANDERSSON 6
8. K. RAIKKONEN 4
9. M. WILSON 2
10. K. AL QASSIMI 1
Constructors’ Championship
Pos Team
1. Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 40
2. Citroen Total World Rally Team 22
3. M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team 18
4. Ice 1 Racing 8
5. Team Abu Dhabi 6
6. FERM Power Tools World Rally Team 4
7. Monster World Rally Team 2
8. Munchis Ford World Rally Team –
