There wasn’t much drama for Sebastien Loeb at this years Rally in Spain, also known as the Catalunya Rally. Loeb wrapped up his 61st victory, leading from stage 1 all the way through the entire rally. “It was another very good result for us in Spain and I’m very happy,” said Loeb. “We had no pressure for the championship on this event, so we were just able to drive as we wanted. We pushed hard on the gravel on Friday and from then it was a little bit easier to control the advantage.” Even after backing off on the final few stages, Loeb finished the rally with a 35.3 second lead over runner-up Petter Solberg.
Loeb drove his Citroen C4 to another victory in Spain
Solberg on the other hand, had a real battle for 2nd place with Loeb’s teammate and Spanish countryman Dani Sordo. Solberg finished only 5.8 seconds ahead of Sordo, but was happy with his 2nd place finish. “I went really sideways on the final stage: maybe too much,” said Solberg. “I wasn’t sure if I could do it. This means so much to me to beat the factory cars because our car really isn’t the same.” The finish inched Solberg ever closer to the 3rd spot in the driver’s standings, now just 5 points behind Jari-Matti Latvala who finished 4th in Spain. The finish also put the privateer in reach of catching 2nd place Sebastien Ogier, who finished in 10th, putting him just 16 points ahead of Petter.
Petter Solberg finished in 2nd at WRC Rally de Espana
Solberg will pushing hard at the Great Britain rally and warned Ogier that he better avoid making any big mistakes. “Ogier needs to be careful,” said Solberg. “Myself and Jari-Matti are coming now, He’s not safe for second place in the championship, that’s for sure.” Solberg has previously won the Wales Rally Great Britain 4 times in his career, so a victory there is not out of reach. “Some people might laugh if I say that I absolutely think I can win the rally,” added Petter. “But let them laugh. I have to think that way and believe I can still finish second in the championship.”
Sordo on the other hand was a bit disappointed with his finish on his home rally, where he thought this was his best chance of wrapping up a victory this year. Sordo had fallen down as far as 6th place at one point during the event, but was able to battle his way back and put a lot of pressure on Solberg for the 2nd place spot. “I think I was trying a bit too much,” Sordo said. “But today has been a really nice day. I’m very grateful to all the spectators: I got a lot of support and so this third place is for everyone who came out to watch.” Sordo may have had a better chance of claiming a victory if not for the changes to a few gravel stages, from what is usually a completely tarmac rally. It’s no secret that Sordo is more comfortable on tarmac then gravel.
The Ford team did not fair as well again, finishing behind the Citroens once again. Latvala finished in 4th almost 5 minutes ahead of his teammate Mikko Hirvonen who suffered from turbo issues throughout the event. Hirvonen and Sordo had a close call when Hirvonen’s turbo hose popped off and his WRC Ford Focus lost huge amounts of power allowing Sordo to catch him on the stage.
Malcolm Wilson made an impressive showing in his Stobart Ford Focus RS, finishing behind Hirvonen in 6th. Henning Solberg, driving in a S2000 Ford Fiesta finished in a very impressive 7th, considering the Fiesta is way underpowered compared to the competition.
Ken Block lost part of his bumper at Rally Spain, but still managed to finish in 9th.
Ken Block was finally able to capture some championship points, finishing in 9th in his Monster World Rally Ford Focus RS, despite losing his front bumper and nearly 5 minutes early on Saturday. The off dropped him briefly down to 11th. He quickly moved back into the top 10 and was able to make his way back to 9th.
Sebastien Ogier also suffered an off on the same stage as Block. Ogier’s off was a bit more costly and Ogier lost 15 minutes on the stage, knocking him from 2nd down to 17th. Ogier was able to battle his way back to 10th and secure 1 point in the driver championship standings.
Kimi Raikkonen’s string of bad luck continued, when he rolled his Citroen only about a minute into the Shakedown practice stage. The roll caused enough damage that Raikkonen had to miss the entire event. Prior to his roll, Raikkonen had said, “If we can be near the top six then that would be great, but the main thing is just to get to the end. If you go like crazy on the first day and go off, then you don’t learn anything. And that’s why I’m here: to learn.”
The 2010 WRC season wraps up Nov. 11-14 at the Wales Rally GB.
Ken Block goes off course at WRC Rally Spain
Sebastien Ogier crashes at WRC Rally Spain
Kimi Raikkonen rolls his Citroen during the Shakedown stage at WRC Rally de Espana in Spain
