13/6/08
Hirvonen wins Rally Turkey!
BP Ford Abu Dhabi team driver Mikko Hirvonen has won Rally Turkey after a nail-biting finale that went right to the end of the final stage.
Hirvonen successfully defended his overnight rally lead, fending off enormous pressure on the final 31km Olympos stage from his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, and Citroen Total driver Sebastien Loeb.
A maximum 10 driver points for Mikko moves the Finn back into the lead of the 2008 championship, with a margin of three points over the man in second place, Sebastien Loeb.
“It’s fantastic!” said Hirvonen at the finish line. “But that was close!. My front tyres are finished and I had a puncture for the last few kilometres – I wasn’t sure I’d done enough!”
Latvala brought his Focus RS over the line in second, making a perfect one, two for Ford, and widening the team’s lead in the manufacturers’ competition.
“It’s been an unbelievable fight,” said Latvala as he congratulated Hirvonen. “I couldn’t have driven any better but in the end it wasn’t enough. It’s been a great fight and the final result is excellent for the team – and the sport.”
Latvala also owned up to a driving error on the penultimate stage. “I misjudged my braking on a downhill corner on SS18. I went wide and it cost me a few seconds,” he said.
Sebastien Loeb took the final podium place, the Frenchman saying his charge on the final stage was ended by tyre wear. “I tried hard, had a really good start, but like everybody we destroyed the tyres,” he said. “So I decided to go slowly to avoid a puncture. I will be back, though. We cannot win every time. Better a third place than a retirement!”
2008 Drivers’ championship standings
Drivers’ championship points are allocated to the top eight finishers on every WRC round on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
If two or more drivers have the same number of points (including zero), their positions in the championship are fixed according to the quality of their finishes. Under this system one first place is better than any number of second places, one second place is better than any number of third places, and so on.
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Total | ||
| 1. |  M. HIRVONEN |
8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 59 | |||||||
| 2. |  S. LOEB |
10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 56 | |||||||||
| 3. | J. LATVALA |
10 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 34 | |||||||||
| 4. |  C. ATKINSON |
6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 31 | ||||||||||
| 5. |  D. SORDO |
3 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 30 | |||||||||
| 6. |  P. SOLBERG |
4 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 20 | |||||||||||
| 7. |  G. GALLI |
3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 17 | ||||||||||
| 8. | H. SOLBERG |
4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 9. |  M. WILSON |
3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 12 | |||||||||||
| 10. |  F. VILLAGRA |
2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| 11. |  U. AAVA |
1 | 5 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| 12= |  F. DUVAL |
5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 12= |  C. RAUTENBACH |
5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 14. | A. MIKKELSEN |
4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 15= | T. GARDEMEISTER |
2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 15= | J. CUOQ |
2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 17= | B. Clark |
1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 17= |  P. ANDERSSON |
1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 17= | J. HÄNNINEN |
1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 17= |  A. AIGNER |
1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 17= | S. OGIER |
1 | 1 |
2008 Manufacturers’ championship standings
Six teams are contesting the 2008 WRC manufacturers’ championship. Teams nominate two cars per rally to score points for them. Points are allocated to the top eight nominated cars on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
If two or more manufacturer teams have the same number of points (including zero), their positions in the championship are fixed according to the quality of their finishes. Under this system one first place is better than any number of second places, one second place is better than any number of third places, and so on.
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Total | ||
| 1. |  BP FORD ABU DHABI WORLD RALLY TEAM |
8 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 99 | |||||||
| 2. |  CITROEN TOTAL WRT |
11 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 90 | |||||||
| 3. |  SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM |
10 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 53 | |||||||
| 4. | STOBART VK M-SPORT FORD RALLY TEAM |
8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 41 | |||||||
| 5. | MUNCHI’S FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM |
0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 19 | |||||||
| 6. |  SUZUKI WORLD RALLY TEAM |
2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
www.wrc.com
