Rally Turkey (15-18 April 2010) – Day 3
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena drove a faultless final day in Rally Turkey to score a hat trick ofwins in the 2010 World Rally Championship. This victory has enabled the Citroën Total WorldRally Team crew to increase their lead in the Drivers’ World Rally Championship. Dani Sordo andMarc Marti retired in the final loop.
The rain, which everybody feared would fall, did so on Saturday night/ Sunday morning. The final dayof the event consisted of two passages through a three-stage loop run on earth. The Deniz and Mudarli(SS18 and 19) stages were cancelled as they were impassible.
So the day started with the Ballica (ES20) stage. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were first out on theroad and took advantage of the damp conditions to set the quickest time. When the crew of the no. 1 C4WRC arrived back in the Pendik service park, they were still reeling from having made an 85-metre jump!“It was an incredible sensation as we were up in the air for several seconds,” exclaimed Sébastien Loeb.“In the recce, not for a moment did we imagine that we’d jump so far. We gave ourselves a few morescares, but I had to keep on pushing.”
Dani Sordo took third place in this stage by cashing in on Mikko Hirvonen’s puncture: “This stage wasreally difficult and we didn’t take any more risks as soon as we learned that Miko was in trouble. It’s goodto be back in third but the last stages will also be very tricky.” Prophetic words as it turned out! As theDeniz and Mudarli stages had dried out a lot in the morning Race Control decided to keep them in thesecond loop. Unfortunately in Deniz 2 (SS21), the Spaniard tripped up in a muddy section: “I wasn’t thefirst to go off in that place; it was a real skating rink. The car hit a tree and a wishbone broke. Just behindme, Sébastien Ogier went off in the same spot too, and our cars touched. Unlike us, he was able torestart.”Loeb tightened his stranglehold on the rally. He set two fastest times before lifting off a little in the finalstage, winning Rally Turkey by a comfortable margin from Petter Solberg: “This victory gives me a lot ofpleasure, as I won it in a rally where, from a sporting point of view, the outcome of the battle was veryindecisive for a long time. The route was a real challenge with some very quick sections and others inwhich you had to nurse the car. Once again, the reliability of the C4 WRC was a huge help. This third winon the trot has helped us to make the break in the world championship as we now have forty points inhand over our nearest rival.”
THE RALLY IN FIGURES
SS18 : Deniz 1 (16,76 km) CANCELLEDSS19 : Mudarli 1 (21,32 km) CANCELLEDSS20 : Ballica 1 (19,22 km) 1er 1er 5e +7’’9 3e +30’’3SS21 : Deniz 2 (16,76 km) 1er 1er - -SS22 : Mudarli 2 (21,32 km) 1er 1er - -SS23 : Ballica 2 (19,22 km) 3e +9’’9 1er - -Fastest times in the stagesDay 1 – SS1: Petter Solberg (Citroën C4) – SS2: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS3: Sébastien Ogier(Citroën C4) – SS4: Solberg – SS5 and 6: Ogier – SS7: Sordo – SS8: Solberg – SS9: Loeb.Day 2 – SS10: Solberg – SS11: Hirvonen – SS12: Ogier – SS13: Solberg – SS14: Loeb – SS15:Hirvonen – SS16 and 17: Loeb.Jour 3 – SS18 and 19: cancelled – SS20 to 22: Loeb – SS23: Ogier.Best performers : Loeb, 7 fastest times – Solberg and Ogier, 5 ecah – Hirvonen, 3 – Sordo, 1.Leaders: SS1: Solberg – SS2: Hirvonen – SS3 to 14: Ogier – SS15 to 23: Loeb.
Final overall classification (subject to scrutineering)1. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 3h01’38’’72. P. Solberg / Mills Citroën C4 +54’’53. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus +1’43’’44. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +3’46’’05. Räikkönen / Lindström Citroën C4 +6’44’’36. Villagra / Diaz Ford Focus +7’56’’77. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +8’29’’88. Latvala / Antilla Ford Focus +19’44’’29. Kuipers / Miclotte Ford Fiesta +23’22’’210. Burkart / Kachel Suzuki Swift +27’04’’7
