Sbastien Ogier marked his maiden World Rally Championship title by clinching his seventh win of 2013 and his second on home soil. Ogier started the final day of Rally France in third overall, 1.5 seconds behind Volkswagen teammate and overnight leader Jari-Matti Latvala, and moved ahead on the rainy opening Vignoble de Cleebourg stage Sunday morning.
But while Ogier punched the steering wheel of his Polo R WRC with delight after going 8.4 seconds faster than his rivals to move in front by 7.3 seconds, nine-time WRC champion Sbastien Loeb was rolling off the course and into retirement on his final appearance in the WRC before he switches to the World Touring Car Championship for 2014.
“I would prefer to finish in a better way but that’s life,” said Loeb, who began Sunday’s action in fourth place, 5 seconds off the lead and chasing a record-extending 79th WRC victory. “In our situation we were fourth and fighting for the victory but it didn’t go as I planned. I lost the rear in a fast right corner, we had a spin and we finished in the ditch. That’s the race. We didn’t really try to put the car back onto the road because we would have needed 400 spectators and there were none.
“I’m not happy about the situation but I don’t play for the championship, I don’t need some points. I’m more sorry for the team and the spectators because I know they were waiting for me in the stages and I’m not going through. But we can still celebrate because we have had more than 10 years in this sport and achieved a lot.”
For Ogier, his victory over Citron’s Dani Sordo by 12.2 seconds was his seventh of 2013 and the first for Volkswagen on asphalt.
“I’m so happy,” Ogier said after going fastest on three of Sunday’s six stages. “There was so much emotion this weekend, first my title and then afterwards when it was difficult to come back. But we couldn’t stay like that and pushed to the maximum. It was difficult this morning in the conditions but I was able to make the gap.”
Behind Sordo, who conceded that Ogier was just too quick to contain, Latvala took third to strengthen Volkswagen’s grip on the manufacturers’ championship ahead of Citron.
Thierry Neuville fought back to fourth following the left-rear puncture on Saturday afternoon that robbed him of the lead and a shot at his first victory in the WRC. The young Belgian, one of the drivers under consideration to replace Loeb in the factory Citron team for 2014, completed the event by winning the Haguenau street stage to maintain second place in the championship standings behind Ogier.
Evgeny Novikov finished fifth with Mikko Hirvonen fighting back from a spin on Sunday’s first stage to take sixth in the second factory Citron.
Ex-Formula One racer Robert Kubica is the new leader of the WRC 2 category following his fourth win of the season. He finished ninth overall, one place ahead of Le Mans 24 Hours racer and Pikes Peak competitor Romain Dumas. Sbastien Chardonnet, the protg of Loeb’s co-driver Daniel Elena, secured the WRC 3 title with second place in class behind fellow Frenchman Quentin Gilbert.
Next on the schedule is Rally Spain, Oct. 24-27. The first two days of that event are on asphalt before the action switches to gravel for the final day of competition.
WRC Rally France Final Results
1 S. OGIER
2 D. SORDO
3 J. LATVALA
4 T. NEUVILLE
5 E. NOVIKOV
6 M. HIRVONEN
7 A. MIKKELSEN
8 M. OSTBERG
9 R. KUBICA
10 R. DUMAS
11 E. EVANS
12 L. BAUD
13 Q. GILBERT
14 S. CHARDONNET
15 K. CRONIN
16 C. RIEDMANN
17 Q. GIORDANO
18 X. LEMONNIER
19 R. AL KETBI
20 S. LEFEBVRE
21 J. SERIEYS
22 P. CRACCO
23 T. COLNEY
24 N. ROMIGUIERE
25 H. VOSSEN
26 R. BARRABLE
27 R. TRIVINO
28 O. COURTOIS
29 T. JORIS
30 D. BAILLIF
31 P. GOMEZ
32 Y. WENDLING
33 C. JEANNIARD
34 A. LOMBARDO
35 F. HAUSWALD
36 A. RASHEED
37 M. HUDEC
38 P. LE BEHOT
39 J. SCHMITT
40 J. GUIBERT
41 P. CASADO
42 R. CHEVALIER
43 N. BRAUNSTEIN
44 J. GUERIN
45 P. CORNUS
46 S. PANZER
47 J. MORIM
48 C. DALMASSO
49 D. BIRYUKOV
50 P. OSTERMANN
51 P. HEMMERLE
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