PWRC: Glory for Gorban

Valeriy Gorban hit back from the frustration of dropping out of the lead on Friday afternoon - when a double suspension damper failure slowed his Mitsubishi Lancer - to claim his maiden victory in the Production Car World Rally Championship.

Gorban, from Ukraine, started the final day more than four and a half minutes behind overnight leader Nicolas Fuchs. But when Fuchs failed to get beyond the end of stage 20 after the rear suspension on his Symtech Racing Subaru Impreza broke, Gorban was able to triumph for Mentos Ascania Racing.

“This was our first win in PWRC and it is a great result which I didn’t expect after the problems on Friday,” said Gorban. “It was a really interesting rally and a difficult rally for the car but we are really sad for Nicolas when he retired because we had really close stage times.”

Subhan Aksa marked his first event with new co-driver Jeff Judd by finishing second after overcoming a handful of spins and overshoots. “I feel excellent with the result,” said the Indonesian driver. “We have a very good car with no problems at all.”

Ricardo Trivino overcame myriad technical and mechanical problems to claim the final podium spot with fellow Mexican Benito Guerra recovering from his day-one retirement to finish fourth. Although his run of two consecutive victories is over, Guerra holds a 22-point lead in the PWRC standings.

“After the problems on Friday I am happy I got the points because you never know when you are going to need them,” said Guerra.

Lorenzo Bertelli scored a career-best fifth on his first run in a Subaru Impreza following several early delays.

With an engine sensor fault fixed on her Ford Fiesta ST, Briton Louise Cook was able to restart on the final morning to claim sixth overall and top honours in the FIA Production Car Cup for Drivers of 2WD Cars.