Sunday wrap: Loeb pips Hirvonen to the post

Sebastien Loeb has extended the lead over his Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen in the FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ standings following his win on this weekend’s Brother Rally New Zealand.

Finland’s Hirvonen drove a faultless rally at the wheel of a Citroen DS3 WRC to help the Citroen Total World Rally Team claim their third one-two result in a row. Loeb tops the leaderboard with a total of 145 points, 38 points ahead of second-placed Hirvonen.

“It’s been a long weekend and my driving has not been perfect,” admitted eight-time world rally champion Loeb. “We made a few mistakes in the closing Power Stage when we were pushing too hard but the most important thing is that we have won. It was an exciting battle with Mikko [Hirvonen] yesterday but it’s good to leave here with a victory.”

Ford World Rally Team’s Petter Solberg has claimed the final step of the podium with his third place finish in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. The Norwegian driver lost time due to a wrong tyre choice on the opening day but battled back to finish the event 1m36.4s behind rally winner Loeb.

“I am very happy to have made it through the rally, especially after what happened on the first day,” said Norway’s Solberg at the finish. “We came here to win but a third place is still good so we must be happy with that. The team and the car is fantastic, but we just need to keep going and hopefully one day soon a win will follow.”

Factory Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala had a bitter-sweet finish after claiming maximum points on the event’s closing Power Stage. The Finnish driver was knocked out of winning contention following an off-road excursion on day one but battled back to finish seventh overall.

Russian privateer Evgeny Novikov drove a mature rally in his M-Sport Ford-run Fiesta RS WRC to finish fourth, 37.2s behind Solberg. “It’s been a good weekend for us and our tyre choice has worked well,” said an elated Novikov.

Meanwhile, disaster struck for Rally New Zealand debutant Ott Tanak who had been running fifth for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. The Estonian hit trouble on stage 20 when he rolled his Fiesta RS WRC and was forced to retire from the event.

Following a string of stage wins throughout today, Citroen Junior driver Thierry Neuville has shined on his debut in New Zealand. The 24-year-old Belgian finishes the rally in fifth place, and leaves the southern hemisphere with 10 well-deserved drivers’ points.

Despite Dani Sordo’s best efforts, the MINI WRC Team driver was unable to catch Neuville on the final day and reached the finish in sixth place. Fellow MINI John Cooper Works WRC driver Armindo Araujo has claimed eighth, despite suffering from damper-related problems throughout day two.

Returning to the WRC for the first time since Rally Mexico, Ken Block drove his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to ninth place. Block was closely followed by Austrian rally legend Manfred Stohl who rounded off the top ten with his impressive debut in the Fiesta RS WRC.