WRC: Sombre mood and wild weather at Rally GB

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Seb Ogier took the win at Rally GB, final round of the WRC but minds were on the events of Paris and rallying through hurricane conditions

 Sebastien Ogier races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015 Photographer Credit Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Sebastien Ogier races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015
Photographer Credit
Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

France’s Sébastien Ogier claimed an emotional victory at a storm-lashed Wales Rally GB on Sunday and dedicated his success to the victims of Friday night’s tragic events in Paris.

The three-time world champion considered pulling out of the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship on Saturday morning but decided to continue, and secured his eighth victory of the season by 26.0sec from Ulsterman Kris Meeke.

“We’re happy to finish the season like that from a sporting view, but my mind wasn’t really there this weekend. It was hard to carry on after the tragedy in France and our thoughts were with the people. We wanted this victory as our small sign for those who have been touched, and to show we must be even stronger against these things,” said Ogier.

He led the three-day event from start to finish in some of the worst conditions of the year. Torrential rain and gale force winds pounded the forests of north and mid-Wales but Ogier never put a wheel out of place in his Volkswagen Polo R on treacherous gravel tracks.

Meeke also delivered a perfect performance. The DS 3 driver refused to risk all in chasing Ogier, preferring a more measured approach which, allied to Mads Østberg’s seventh place, enabled Citroën to beat Hyundai for second in the manufacturers’ standings.

Andreas Mikkelsen completed the podium in another Polo R but it wasn’t enough to secure second in the drivers’ series. That went to team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, who twice retired in the opening two legs before claiming maximum bonus points in today’s live TV Power Stage.

Ott Tänak crashed out of fourth in today’s opening stage, allowing Dani Sordo to regain the place he yielded yesterday by spinning into a bank. The Hyundai i20 driver finished 9.2sec ahead of team-mate Hayden Paddon.

Elfyn Evans delighted his home fans with sixth in a Ford Fiesta, 8.6sec behind the Kiwi and 1min 20sec ahead of Østberg. The Norwegian ran as high as fourth before sliding into a ditch, and spent much of the rally mopping up muddy water which entered his DS 3’s cockpit through a hole in the floor.

K ris Meeke races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015 Photographer Credit @World / Red Bull Content Pool
K ris Meeke races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015
Photographer Credit
@World / Red Bull Content Pool

Stéphane Lefebvre overcame flu to take eighth in another DS 3, with Robert Kubica and Lorenzo Bertelli completing the leaderboard.

Thierry Neuville failed to restart today after yesterday’s crash. The roll cage in his i20 was too damaged to continue.

 Teemu Suninen races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015 Photographer Credit Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Teemu Suninen races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015
Photographer Credit
Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Teemu Suninen pounced to snatch a final stage victory in WRC 2 at Wales Rally GB after long-time leader Eric Camilli limped through the final two tests with an engine problem.

Camilli had led since Friday afternoon in his Ford Fiesta R5 and began today’s final leg in the north of the country with a 35sec advantage over the Finn, driving a Skoda Fabia S2000.

However, the Frenchman encountered turbo problems in the penultimate test and dropped 40sec in the final stage to hand Suninen his maiden WRC 2 win by 19.2sec.

“That’s the best way to end the season,” said a delighted Suninen. “It was a new rally for me and there were so many new things to learn, but it all came good at the end.”

Craig Breen led until a Friday afternoon puncture sent him tumbling down the order. However, a string of consistent times enabled the Irishman to take the final podium place in a Peugeot 208 T16 R5, a further 42.8sec back.
Eric Camilli lost the lead on the rally’s final stage

Abdulaziz Al Kuwari finished fourth in a Ford Fiesta RRC,and that was enough to deprive Ukraine’s Yurii Protasov of second in the championship behind Nasser Al-Attiyah. Protasov restarted after crashing his similar car yesterday and finished out of the points in 13th.

Jaroslaw Koltun finished fifth in a Fiesta R5 with the similar car of Peruvian Nicolas Fuchs completing the top six.

Joan Carchat won the Production Cup within WRC 2 by more than 3min 30sec in a Mitsubishi Lancer, but third was enough for Italy’s Gianluca Linari to secure the title in a Subaru Impreza.

 

 Quentin Giordano races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 13 November 2015 Photographer Credit Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Quentin Giordano races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 13 November 2015
Photographer Credit
Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Quentin Gilbert secured the FIA WRC 3 title at Wales Rally GB despite missing out on his target of a class win at the season finale.

Having wrapped up the Junior WRC title in Corsica, the Frenchman hoped to round off the season in style with another win this weekend. But after taking the early lead he was forced out on Friday with a broken water pump belt.

He restarted on Saturday sixth in WRC 3 and set a string of fastest times to climb to third, behind Ole Christian Veiby and Fabio Andolfi and guarantee the crown.

“After we lost our water pump we had to rely on Rally 2. These sort of mechanical things happen and we understand that, it’s no problem,” he said.

“After that it was another rally. It was not possible to win so we just tried to enjoy it. I know the stages well and although the conditions were difficult they were what you expect on Wales Rally GB. Good experience for the future I think. Overall it has been an incredible season – and much better than last year,” he added.

Gilbert and co-driver Renaud Jamoul will return to the championship in 2016 for a season in WRC 2 with Citroën, their prize for winning the Junior WRC title.

 Terry Folb races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015 Photographer Credit Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Terry Folb races during FIA World Rally Championship in Deeside, Great Britain on 14 November 2015
Photographer Credit
Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Ole Christian Veiby scored his first victory in the FIA Junior WRC at Wales Rally GB on Sunday afternoon with a massive winning margin of more than 17 minutes.

The 19-year-old Norwegian led from start to finish in the three-day event which was battered throughout by torrential rain and gale force winds, and the win secured second in the championship behind Quentin Gilbert.

Veiby began the final leg with a lead of more than three minutes over Junior debutant Chris Ingram. But the Briton retired after running into terminal trouble at a watersplash on the liaison section to SS18, leaving Veiby to cruise home in Citroën’s DS 3 R3-MAX.

“To finish the season with a win is an amazing feeling,” said Veiby. “It has been really, really challenging with the heavy rain and so much wind. With a small car you feel the rear moving on the straights so you have to go off the road.”

Terry Folb finished second after a battling drive though the final three tests in heavy rain with no windscreen in his car. “Our windscreen wipers stopped working on the first stage and we couldn’t see much, so we took out the windscreen so at least we could see something!” said the Frenchman.

Pierre-Louis Loubet recovered from an opening day crash to finish third, with William Wagner the only other finisher in fourth.

Mohammed Al Mutawaa restarted today after crashing yesterday, but the Abu Dhabi driver went out again when he hit problems in the same watersplash as Ingram.