The spell was finally broken. Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Citroën Total World Rally Team) claimed the win at this weekend’s WRC ADAC Rallye Deutschland ahead of their deflated team-mates Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena.
Loeb, winner of the previous eight editions of this all-asphalt event, was on form to produce another record-breaking feat in his already-illustrious career when a left-front tyre puncture on the final stage of Day Two dropped the reigning champion over a minute in stage time behind his fiercest rival.
Ogier, who was trailing Loeb by a handful number of seconds throughout the weekend up to that point, inherited a cushy lead and a genuine opportunity to win on this surface as he had only four stages on Day Three to contend before claiming the winners’ champagne in Trier. Loeb did, however, strike back with all his anger on Day Three’s speed tests to close in over 30sec to Ogier. The Loeb Show knocked up a total of nine stage wins – including the Power Stage – but it was not enough to leapfrog the younger Frenchman.
Such is the pace of the two Citroën Total World Rally Team’s crews that third-placed Dani Sordo/Carlos De Barrio (MINI John Cooper Works WRC) ended the 19 stage event some 01min 55sec off the leading pairs. Although the speed, commitment and sheer driving skill from Ogier and Loeb was spectacular in itself, the excitement and drama in the event was created by the crews behind the Sebastiens. German rally fans were treated to a truly thrilling performanced, even with the weather adding its blend of mystic to the mix. Tyre choice played a part on the weekend, but it didn’t play a role that changed the outcome of the event as was hoped by many.
Sordo, in only his third outing for MINI in 2011, scored the team’s first podium result after a strong run throughout the three days of competition. This despite the best efforts from the Ford Fiesta RS WRC piloted by Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team), who were secure in third place until they befell tyre woes to slip behind the Spaniard and were unable to challenge confidently for the final podium position. Hirvonen’s luck on this weekend was summed up as his left-front tyre delaminated on the Power Stage to force him to limp through the Trier-based super special stage…
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila, Hirvonen’s team-mate at the Ford factory team, set the pace on SS1 but an ‘off’ put paid to his top ten aspirations after his SupeRally rules re-start on Day Two as a result. He fought up the leader board to finish just outside the top ten, but was unable to move higher than 11th overall.
Privateer Petter Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson (Petter Solberg World Rally Team) completed their second successive event with a lackluster performance, scooping fifth overall in which a single bonus point from the Power Stage eased his frustration somewhat.
This succinctly rounds up Kimi Raikkonen’s weekend of rallying: “There were too many mistakes and I didn’t drive many stages well. It’s behind me now.” The Finn finished in sixth place ahead of Henning Solberg (M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team) seventh and the brave Portuguese star Armindo Araujo (MINI John Cooper Works WRC) in eighth place.
Peter van Merksteijn Jr scored his first WRC points with ninth place in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC after a close battle with Dennis Kuipers (FERM Power Tools World Rally Team), who rounded out the top ten a little under 8sec behind Van Merksteijn Jr in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Sordo’s team-mate Kris Meeke was left in despair as his factory MINI John Cooper Works WRC machine ground to a halt on the penultimate stage with suspected alternator problems after looking set for a fifth-place finish. Mads Ostberg crashed out of contention on SS15, but his speed on asphalt was encouraging for the Norwegian ace. German Aaron Burkart restarted his rally on Day Two and as then punished further on SS19 with another puncture. His aims of top ten are within grasp of this talented driver, but more time behind the steering wheel of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC will arm him with more weapons for furture rounds of the WRC. Hotshot Corsican rally youngster Pierre Campana finished 18th overall on his debut in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC, and is surely a star of the future.
OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
01) S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia
Citroën DS3 WRC – 03h 32m 15.9s
02) S. Loeb/D. Elena
Citroën DS3 WRC + 39.8s
03) D. Sordo/C. Del Barrio
MINI John Cooper Works WRC + 01m 55.6s
04) M. Hirvonen/M. Anttila
Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 02m 43.7s
05) P. Solberg/C. Patterson
Citroën DS3 WRC + 03m 48.0s
06) K. Raikkonen/K. Lindstrom
Citroën DS3 WRC + 07m 24.6s
07) H. Solberg/I. Minor
Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 07m 45.9s
08) A. Araujo/M. Ramalho
MINI John Cooper Works WRC + 09m 29.8s
09) P. Van Merksteijn/E, Mombaerts
Citroën DS3 WRC + 10m 01.6s
10) D. Kuipers/F. Miclotte
Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 10m 09.0s