After a nail-biting finish to Rallye Deutschland, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team crew of Dani Sordo and Carlos Del Barrio claimed their first victory in the FIA World Rally Championship. Their arch rivals Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul finished second; they started the final stage just three seconds behind and the fight went to the wire through the final Power Stage. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed third.

 

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Sébastien Ogier continues to head the standings but the gap to second-placed Neuville has closed to 75 points. Third is held by Jari-Matti Latvala a further 11 points adrift. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, top points from both Sordo and Hirvonen have moved the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team to within 26 points of leaders Volkswagen Motorsport. This is the French manufacturer’s 12th consecutive WRC Rallye Deutschland victory.

 

The final day of competition in Rallye Deutschland took in just one stage, run a second time as the Power Stage, in which additional Championship points are awarded to the fastest three drivers in this single stage. Here, Ogier, Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala collected the additional three, two and one point respectively.

 

In the first run through the Dhrontal stage Sordo set the pace, winning the stage to go into the Power Stage with three seconds in hand to Neuville. In the final stage, the battling rivals were neck and neck until the young Belgium went off the road near the end, losing him 53.9 seconds. Sordo’s victory represents his first WRC win in 107 starts. Behind the leading duo, Hirvonen could cruise to a safe finish ahead of Martin Prokop, who equalled his best WRC result. Robert Kubica finished fifth, winning the FIA WRC 2 Championship category after a close-fought battle with series rival, Elfyn Evans, who claimed sixth overall and the best WRC finish for Ford’s new R5 car.

 

With Championship leader Sébastien Ogier finishing 17th overall, the fight for the FIA World Rally Championship title will continue on the 10th round of the series, which takes the contenders to the other side of the world for Rally Australia (12-15 September).

 

Rallye Deutschland – Final Unofficial Classification (subject to scrutineering)