Xosé Estrada
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View the Post on the BlogSébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have won the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship after claiming victory in Loeb’s home round of the series, Rallye de France Alsace. This is the duo’s ninth consecutive FIA World Rally Championship title; a record-breaking achievement. The Citroën Total World Rally Team has also clinched the Manufacturers’ Championship for the eighth time.
In the overall classification of Rallye de France Alsace, the 11th round of the Championship, Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished second overall for Ford, with Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen taking the final podium position.
The final day of competition took in two loops of three stages, with no opportunity for service, and was the shortest leg with just 61.54 kilometres of competition. In the Power Stage - stage 20 in France - Ott Tanak, Thierry Neuville and Mads Ostberg claimed additional points for setting the fastest times through this 17.08 kilometre stage. Rain this morning made conditions tricky for the crews but Loeb maintained his advantage to cruise to a record-breaking ninth title and 75th World Rally win. Both Latvala and Hirvonen also finished the rally without problems to complete the podium positions. Behind them, Thierry Neuville has flown through the stages today, winning all three tests this morning to move from sixth to fourth. This afternoon the Belgian only conceded the Power Stage win to Tanak to round off a fine weekend. Mads Ostberg finished fifth ahead of Tanak, who lost time with a spin this morning, and Evgeny Novikov who dropped time with a roll. Dani Sordo was forced into retirement this afternoon after losing the power steering.
The penultimate round of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the island of Sardinia for Rally Italia (18-21 October).
Rallye de France Alsace – Final Results
1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena
2. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila
3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
4. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul
5. Mads Ostberg/Jonas Andersson
6. Ott Tänak/Kuldar Sikk
7. Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor
8. Chris Atkinson/Glenn MacNeall
9. Martin Prokop/Zdenek Hruza
10. Sébastien Chardonnet/T de la Haye
Citroën DS3 WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
MINI Cooper Works WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
3 hr 32 min 53.0sec
3 hr 33 min 08.5sec
3 hr 33 min 37.1sec
3 hr 34 min 00.3sec
3 hr 34 min 09.4sec
3 hr 35 min 20.9sec
3 hr 38 min 44.6sec
3 hr 39 min 35.4sec
3 hr 41 min 39.8sec
3 hr 41 min 52.7sec
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 11 of 13 rounds)
Sébastien Loeb (FRA)
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)
Mads Østberg (NOR)
Petter Solberg (NOR)
Evgeny Novikov (RUS)
Thierry Neuville (BEL)
Martin Prokop (CZE)
Ott Tänak (EST)
Dani Sordo (ESP)
Sébastien Ogier (FRA)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)
Chris Atkinson (AUS)
Armindo Araújo (PRT)
Dennis Kuipers (NLD)
François Delecour (FRA)
Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)
Henning Solberg (NOR)
Pierre Campana (FRA)
Matti Rantanen (FIN)
Jari Ketomaa (FIN)
Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU)
Patrik Sandell (SWE)
Ken Block (USA)
Ricardo Triviño (MEX)
Mathieu Arzeno (FRA)
Peter Van Merksteijn (NLD)
Manfred Stohl (AUT)
Eyvind Brynildsen (NOR)
Abdulaziz Alkuwari (QAT)
Mathew Wilson (GBR)
Sébastien Chardonnet (FRA)
244 points
173 points
131 points
125 points
119 points
69 points
52 points
42 points
37 points
31 points
31 points
28 points
14 points
11 points
8 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
6 points
6 points
6 points
4 points
4 points
4 points
1 point
1 point
1 point
1 point
1 point
1 point
1 point
1 point
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 11 of 13 rounds)
Citroën Total World Rally Team
Ford World Rally Team
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Citroën Junior World Rally Team
Adapta World Rally Team
Qatar World Rally Team
MINI WRC Team
Brazil World Rally Team
388 points
259 points
137 points
72 points
71 points
63 points
26 points
20 points
