Story by Evan Rothman
Pictures by WorldRallyPics: BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team, Munchi’s World Rally Team, Citroen Racing.
It is the last stage. The 366,85km and 20 stages leading up to this the final stage of the WRC Rally New Zealand has been fast yet punishing. Four crews from four different teams stand a chance to take the victory at this the fifth round of the World Rally Championship.
Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassi (Citroen Junior Team) takes to SS21 as the overall leaders of the rally. Valiantly driving for his first WRC victory in only his second full season in the top-flight rally series, Ogier’s slender lead of 6,7s over Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila (BP Ford World Rally Team) is not enough for him to coast through the final 29,67km-long stage.
Entering the stage with the determination to win, Petter Solberg/Phils Mills (Petter Solberg World Rally Team) started SS21 in third overall and 16,8s adrift of rally leaders Ogier/Ingrassi. Having seen the Citroen C4 WRCs of Loeb and Ogier flounder as they compete in a high-speed dance for the top slot on the overall classification in New Zealand through the previous stages, Solberg pushes his privately-run Citroen C4 WRC to its limits…
Meanwhile, Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroen Total World Rally Team) take to the final stage of the rally 17,7s behind Ogier, and hungry for the win after a storming performance on Day Two to drive themselves back into the fight. After an earlier spin on the second stage of Day Three, and losing the overall rally lead to Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier, Loeb aims to not only leapfrog Petter Solberg who is only 0,9s ahead of him, but to also to attack both Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila (BP Ford World Rally Team) and Ogier for the rally victory.
Loeb uncharacteristically makes a mistake early on in the stage, spinning his car. Quickly righting himself and his Citroen C4, Loeb continues in his bid to catch Nordic rival.
Running wide on the exit of a corner in this 29,67km-long stage, Petter Solberg smashes into a telegraph pole and abruptly ends his rally weekend in a smouldering heap of expensive metal and carbon fibre. And then there were only two…
With only three corners left to the finish, Ogier runs his Citroen C4 WRC wide and off the road. This loses him time, but he is able to rejoin the road to cross the finish line to record a superb Rally New Zealand performance.
Setting consistently quick stage times, the young Finn Latvala steers his Ford Focus RS WRC to an unlikely victory. It was the cool head and hands of Latvala that reigned supreme this weekend, to finish the rally 2,4s clear of his closest rivals.
“I didn’t think it could happen, it’s the most amazing and beautiful win,” said Latvala. “Whaanga Coast showed its teeth. I neared the end of the stage and could see a car’s bumper on the road but I didn’t know which car it was from. I didn’t know we had won until three minutes after the finish of the stage and Miikka did the calculations. It’s my best win and makes up for my disappointments.
“I can’t believe I’m second in the championship. I wasn’t the fastest here but I was the most consistent and that paid off when it mattered. I need to carry on doing the job I’m doing as second driver because my strategy is working. It was a fantastic rally over the most beautiful roads in the world,” he added.
Latvala’s 2,4s winning margin is the third closest in the history of the WRC, moves him into second place in the Drivers’ Standings and also handed Ford its 75th WRC victory to make this manufacturer the most successful in the history of the sport.
What happened in the rest of the rally:
Sebastien Loeb recovered from a miserable Day One (after striking a bridge and losing over a minute in stage time trying to steer his Citroen C4 while holding the driver’s side door closed) to storm through Day Two’s stages to close his 01m 19,8s deficit to the rally leader Ogier to only 5,2s at the end of Day Two. After the opening stage of Day Three, Loeb eclipsed Ogier to take the lead, but a spin in the very next stage undid all his hard work and dropped him to fourth position overall.
At the midday halt of Day Three, Ogier was 5,6s ahead of Latvala who was 11s ahead of Petter Solberg who in turn was 5s ahead of Loeb. Racing the penultimate stage of the rally, Loeb looked certain to regain his position atop the rally timesheets, and it would take a big ask form Petter Solberg and Ogier to stop him from winning here; it was, to put it plainly, Ogier, Solberg and Loeb’s doing to throw the rally win away. No-one in Service Park expected Latvala to come up trumps in New Zealand…
Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (team-mates to Latvala) finished the rally fourth overall. They struggled for outright pace this weekend, but were able to pip Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroen Total World Rally Team) to the finish line after a two-day long tussle for position.
Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin and Henning Solberg/Ilke Minor (both Stobart Ford World Rally Team crews) were locked in battle for seventh this weekend, but it was Wilson/Martin who for the second successive rally beat their more experienced team-mates to take sixth place.
Jari Ketomaa (Ford Fiesta S2000) was the fastest of the S-WRC runners, and finished an impressive eighth overall.
Day One – What happened:
Loeb hit the ill-fated bridge on SS4, but his team-mate Sordo put on a brave display to top the leaderboard for much of Day One. He led the rally from SS2 to SS7, as Petter Solberg and Latvala shadowed his stage times. Petter, who set the early pace through SS1, attacked Sordo on the penultimate stage of the day (SS8) to snatch the rally lead back from the factory Citroen driver. Petter finished Day One a slender 1,4s ahead of Latvala.
Day Two – What happened:
Loeb dominated the attention Day Two of WRC Rally New Zealand: starting the day 01m 19,8s adrift of Petter Solberg, Latvala and Ogier, Loeb pulled something magical out of his bag of tricks to close within 5,2s of the Day Two overnight leader Ogier. Ogier,who started the day in third place, moved ahead of Latvala and Petter Solberg on the first stage of the day, as he attempted to race to a clear victory. Latvala finished Day Two 33,2s behind Ogier in third place, while Petter Solberg was unable to do much about his downward slide off the top of the rally leaderboard: as road-sweeper on Day Two, Solberg suffered through the day’s loose gravel stages to end Day Two some 53,6s off of Ogier’s pace.
Loeb’s masterful display on Day Two’s fast stages saw him set the fastest stage time though SS12 by a blistering 22,0s quicker than the second fastest driver in that stage, Mikko Hirvonen. This performance on Day Two, to close more than a minute through pure driving speed, will long be remembered by many rally enthusiasts.
Wilson and Henning Solberg continued their Day One fight, but Wilson was edging ever further away from the Norwegian. Hirvonen spun, and this put paid to his chances of reeling in the leading crews.
Delighted BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson said: “This sport has a habit of producing the unexpected. The last three days have been full-on excitement and the drama we witnessed takes some believing. Jari-Matti displayed great maturity. We worked hard with him after last season to develop greater consistency and maturity, and he showed how far he has progressed.”
Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn hailed Ford’s 75th WRC win. “Ford is a stalwart supporter of world rallying and our 75th victory is a landmark achievement. Ford has won with the Escort and we have won with the Sierra but it’s fitting that the Focus, our most successful rally car, should claim our 75th victory in its final season as our WRC challenger.”
The WRC moves to Europe for the WRC Rally de Portugal from 28 – 30 May.