ADAC Rallye Deutschland (August 14th – 17th, 2008)
Seventh win in a row for Sébastien Loeb with Citroën C4 WRC
Photos on automobilsport.com here: wrc-rallyes--87.html
Sébastien Loeb has won the ADAC Rallye Deutschland (August 14th – 17th) for the seventh time in a row and thus established a new record with his Citroën C4 WRC. In the field of 81 teams, nobody was able to stop Loeb from leading all the way. Finnish Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala or Belgian Francois Duval with the Stobart-Ford had their trouble keeping the pace of the Frenchman, who was well protected by his team-mate Dani Sordo (Spain).
Loeb set the fastest time on 14 of the 19 timed stages and thus dominantly secured himself his seventh win of the season. For Loeb, it was his 43rd WRC win and took the lead in the points’ standings with 76 points from Hirvonen (72). "I don’t want to speculate about defending the title yet", said Loeb, referring to the world championship season that goes on until December.
Loeb’s pupil Sébastien Ogier (France) claimed victory in the Junior-WRC from German Aaron Burkart (both Citroën C2), the latter being slowed down by suspension problems.
After 210,000 spectators came to watch the German WRC round last year already, the spectator guidance centre reported a new record crowd for 2008: from Thursday to Sunday, almost 270,000 fans flocked to the rally region around Trier.
ADAC’s sport president Hermann Tomczyk commented with enthusiasm: "We were being congratulated by everyone, for a perfect event with a unique atmosphere and the highly impressive record crowd. The effort of the many volunteers is also impressive. They have made a decisive contribution to make this ADAC Rallye Deutschland a success, even the weather has played along in a perfect way."
Final result ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2008:
1. Sébastien Loeb, F, Citroen C4 WRC 3:26.22.6 h.
2. Dani Sordo, E, Citroen C4 WRC + 0.47.7 min.
3. Francois Duval, B, Ford Focus RS WRC07 + 1.20.0 min.
4. Mikko Hirvonen, FIN, Ford Focus RS WRC08 + 1.30.1 min.
5. Petter Solberg, N, Subaru Impreza WRC2008 + 2:35.3 min.
6. Chris Atkinson, AUS, Subaru Impreza WRC2008 + 4:45.9 min.
18. Sébastien Ogier, F, Citroen C2 (1st Junior WRC) + 21:16.3 min.
21. Aaron Burkart, Berlin, Citroen C2 (2nd Junior WRC) + 24:50.5 min.
Drivers’ world championship standings (after 10 of 15 rounds):
1. Loeb 76; 2. Hirvonen 72; 3. Sordo 43; 4. Atkinson 40; 5. Latvala 34; 6. P. Solberg 27 points
Manufacturers’ world championship standings (after 10 of 15 rounds):
1. Citroën 123; 2. Ford 115; 3. Subaru 69; 4. Stobart-Ford 51; 5. Munchi’s Ford 19; 6. Suzuki 13 points
- Peter Linke -
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