Photos and video 2008 Tour de Corse - Rally de France Day 3: Seb gets victory number 46 as Ford have to employ team-orders

Image: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Sebastien Loeb recorded win #46 with a consumate drive in Corsica to edge him within touching distance of a record fifth drivers' title.

He was never challenged throughout the three days and his rivals at Ford needed to employ team-orders on the final day to move Mikko Hirvonen back up to second after suffering a puncture. Both Duval and Latvala had to take penalties to manipulate the result as they dropped back to third and fourth respectively. Mikko wasn't happy at having to move up to second in such an artificial way but accepted the team's decision.

Loeb comments on his victory to wrc.com:

It’s getting better and better. To win here in Corsica is a great moment. We were much faster all rally and that’s great for me and the team. We’ll add another two more points to our championship lead. A 14 point lead with two rallies to go looks good. So okay, we’ll see how we get on in Japan.”

Petter Solberg, meanwhile, missed out on a podium position after suffering two punctures on successive stages to end up 5th o/a. His team-mate Atko got sixth as his podium challenge succumbed on the second day due to a puncture as well.

Aava took seventh after a trying rally as Matt Wilson rounded off the points positions in 8th. Ostberg got ninth in his Adapta Subaru and Barry Clark put in another consistent drive for tenth in the Focus WRC.

Brice Tirabassi retired from 8th overall on SS14 with mechanical trouble in the SWRT Impreza S14 WRC.

Highlights Tour de Corse 2008:

Mikkelsen's off on Day 2:

The other Sebastien, Ogier, secured the JWRC title with a calculated drive to second overall in the category on Corsica and must now be a favourite to take over from Seb Mk1 when he calls it a day. Martin Prokop won the JWRC in Corsica to round off a better finish to the season than his start.

Hirvonen reluctantly accepted the decision:

I can’t celebrate it but I understand what the team is doing and I appreciate what Francois and Jari-Matti have done, but I really wish I didn’t have that puncture. That made things so much more difficult. We were second and we had a good speed. Okay though, here we are.”

On-board Seb:

Images: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

Overall times after SS16 / Day 3 - Top 20:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 3hours 42mins 58.0secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +03mins 24.7secs M
3. Francois Duval BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +03mins 31.6secs M
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +03mins 37.5secs MT
5. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +05mins 35.4secs M
6. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2008 +06mins 10.4secs M
7. Urmo Aava PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +07mins 25.2secs A8
8. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +09mins 02.2secs MT

9. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Subaru WRC +09mins 13.3secs A8
10. Barry Clark Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +13mins 38.3secs A8
11. Andreas Mikkelsen Ramsport Ford Focus WRC 07 +13mins 46.0secs A8
12. Khalid Al Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 08 +14mins 06.3secs A8
13. Toni Gardemeister Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +14mins 31.2secs M
14. Conrad Rautenbach PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC +14mins 42.2secs A8
15. Henning Solberg Stobart VK Ford Focus WRC 07 +15mins 53.4secs A8
16. Gareth Jones Subaru Impreza WRC S12B +18mins 45.0secs A8
17. P-G Andersson Suzuki WRT SX4 WRC +18mins 57.0secs M
18. Alain Vauthier Peugeot 206 WRC +21mins 28.6secs A8
19. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +21mins 45.9secs J
20. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C2 S1600 +22mins 03.6secs J

Overall JWRC after SS16 / Day 3:

1. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 4hours 04mins 43.9secs J
2. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C2 S1600 +00mins 17.7secs J
3. Pierre Campana Renault Clio R3 MAXI +00mins 53.3secs J
4. Pierre Marche Suzuki Swift +02mins 07.9secs J
5. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +02mins 37.8secs J
6. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 +03mins 24.3secs J

World Rally Drivers' Championship (after 13 of 15 rounds):

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 106 points
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 92 points
3. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 59 points
4. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 45 points
5. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC 42 points
6. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 40 points
7. Henning Solberg Stobart/Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 22 points
= Francois Duval Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 22 points
9. Gigi Galli Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 17 points
10. Matthew Wilson Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus WRC 13 points

World Rally Manufacturers' Championship (after 13 of 15 rounds):

1. Citroen Total WRT 169 points
2. BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT 146 points
3. Subaru WRT 87 points
4. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT 62 points
5. Munchi's Ford WRT 22 points
6. Suzuki WRT 21 points

Junior Rally Championship (for drivers) (after 7 of 7 rounds):

1. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C2 S1600 42 points
2. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 34 points
3. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 32 points
4. Shaun Gallagher Citroen C2 S1600 30 points
5. Michal Kosciuszko Suzuki Swift S1600 22 points
= Alessandro Bettega Renault Clio R3 22 points
7. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio S1600 21 points
8. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift S1600 11 points
9. Stefano Albertini Renault Clio 9 points
10. Gilles Schammel Renault Clio R3 8 points
= Simone Bertolotti Renault Clio Sport 8 points
= Florian Niegel Suzuki Swift S1600 8 points

Images: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

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