Maiden win for Sebastien Loeb!
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In what must have been one of the best displays of controlled driving, the young Frenchman Sebastien Loëb kept some of the world’s best drivers at bay claiming an overall win for Citroën and a maiden one for him.
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Voila - RallyStar told you so!
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There were a few “moments” for this brilliant driver, but he seems to put any problem behind him immediately to carry on with his task. Burns in the, before the event “unbeatable” Peugeot, threw everything he had at the Frenchman, but the pressure did not seem to make any impression.
RallyStar â will feature a complete stage analysis (as we normally do) of the Rally Deutschland on Monday, but it seems that Sebastien lead the rally from the Second Stage. This spectacular provisional win, will be his first on this level, and we predict it to be the first of many. There is a discrepancy about his conduct in the Super Stage, but it is not expected to influence the outcome.
In our Afrikaans article prior to the event we predicted that he would be second, with Burns in the lead. Loëb managed to even surprise us! Just as a matter of interest, 7 out of our predicted Top Ten drivers did finish in the Top Ten, with Solberg our biggest disappointment, Bruno Thiry a privateer driving a Peugeot who is getting better and better, caught us by surprise. If we opened our eyes and did not think that Finland may have been a lucky run, we would have given him more credit.
Peugeot once again claims maximum points in the Manufacturers' Championship, Richard Burns and Marcus Gronholm finishing second and third of the registered makes. In the series, Peugeot therefore extends its lead to 34 points over second placed Ford. In the Drivers' Championship, Gronholm and Colin McRae remain first and second, with Richard Burns moving ahead of Carlos Sainz into third position.
Fifty of the original 86 competitors started the final leg this morning, the crews heading southeast of Trier for seven special stages and 102.93 competitive kilometers. The action was centered around the picturesque city of St. Wendel, near the tranquil Bostalsee, but dramas began early and battles raged throughout the day.
Meanwhile…
Few could have imagined the drama that would unfold in the opening stages of the final leg, three of the leading crews hitting problems almost immediately. Armin Kremer, 10th overnight in the Focus, went off the road and into retirement in the opening stage of the day and Harri Rovanpera - who lost the rear wing on the 206WRC in stage 18 - ultimately retired in stage 19, the lack of stability and downforce causing him to go off the road. Carlos Sainz (Ford) also lost two minutes, the Spaniard's Ford refusing to fire-up on the start line of stage 17.
Sebastien Loeb claimed a maiden victory, despite some controversy over the route he took on the super special stage at the end of leg two. Richard Burns pushed the Frenchman hard, but the Peugeot driver was ultimately unable to match the pace of the Citroen. Marcus Gronholm claimed third, recording Peugeot's seventh one-two finish of the season in the Manufacturers' Championship. Colin McRae brought the lead Focus home in fourth, with Makinen and Eriksson, in the sole remaining Subaru and Skoda, seventh and 10th respectively.
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Mitsubishi - did what they set out to do!
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The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup claimed a point in the Manufacturers' Championship for Mitsubishi today when they brought their Lancer Evolution WRC2 home in ninth position on Rallye Deutschland, round 10 of the FIA World Rally Championship.
François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup fared less well today, the French pair down on power for most of the leg. They managed to maintain eighth position until being overhauled by Ford's Carlos Sainz in stage 21.
"At the beginning of the day the engine started to lose boost and therefore power," commented François. "The team couldn't really find the problem and it gradually got worse and felt more like the WRC1 engine because it was less responsive. Overall the feeling from the event has been better. We did some very good times yesterday and have managed to improve the car further, step by step, throughout the event. We've now got some ideas to develop before Sanremo, which hopefully will allow us to show more of the car's potential on an event that should suit us reasonably well."
Adding to his comments, co-driver Daniel Grataloup said: "We're happy to have got through the event without making any mistakes, as that would have been costly. We're glad to have scored a point for Mitsubishi, but of course we would like to have got one for ourselves as well."
Commenting on the performance of the Lancer Evolution WRC2 in its debut competitive outing on asphalt, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart chief engineer Bernard Lindauer said: "The car has definitely progressed on Tarmac and we're getting closer to the top of the leaderboard. We must also remember that this is still an early stage of development for the WRC2 on this surface and we believe there's more to come for Sanremo. We have a one week test planned beforehand, where we hope we can use the experience gained here to push the car's performance even further forward."
Coming next …
The FIA World Rally Championship remains in Europe but takes a three-week break before heading to north-western Italy for the final asphalt round in the series, Rallye Sanremo (20-22 September). The green wooded mountains above the Riviera resort are criss-crossed by a maze of twisty roads that wind over narrow passes and through tranquil villages, providing spectacular action for the thousands of fans who passionately follow the event.
Rallye Deutschland – Provisional Final Results
1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroen 3hr 47min 17.3sec
2. Richard Burns/Robert Reid Peugeot 3hr 47min 31.6sec
3. Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen Peugeot 3hr 48min 36.4sec
4. Colin McRae/Nicky Grist Ford 3hr 51min 02.6sec
5. Bruno Thiry/Stephane Prevot Peugeot 3hr 52min 36.1sec
6. Markko Martin/Michael Park Ford 3hr 52min 50.3sec
7. Tommi Makinen/Kaj Lindstrom Subaru 3hr 52min 56.5sec
8. Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya Ford 3hr 53min 34.3sec
9. François Delecour/Daniel Grataloup Mitsubishi 3hr 53min 53.2sec
10. Kenneth Eriksson/Tina Thorner Skoda 4hr 00min 51.5sec
2002 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers
Marcus Gronholm 51 points
Colin McRae 33 points
Richard Burns 31 points
Carlos Sainz 26 points
Gilles Panizzi 21 points
Petter Solberg 19 points
Sebastien Loeb 18 points
Harri Rovanpera 18 points
Tommi Makinen 15 points
Markko Martin 10 points
Philippe Bugalski 7 points
Thomas Radstrom 4 points
Alister McRae 2 points
Toni Gardemeister 2 points
Bruno Thiry 2 points
Kenneth Eriksson 1 point
2002 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
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Peugeot 115 points
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Ford 81 points
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Subaru 42 points
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Skoda 8 points
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Mitsubishi 8 points
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Hyundai 6 points
Watch highlights of the Rallye Deutschland, sponsored by Pirelli, on Supersport at the following times:
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Mon 26/08 20h10 SuperSport 1
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Tue 27/08 07h30 M-Net & SuperSport 1
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Wed 20/08 10h00 SuperSport 2
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Sun 01/09 09h00 SuperSport 2
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Mon 02/09 13h00 CSN & SuperSport 2
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