2008 Wales Rally GB

Rally car race 2008 Rally GB 64th Wales Rally GB 15 2008 World Rally Championship 2008 Rally Japan Image-Wales Rally GB 2008 Petter Solberg.JPG Petter Solberg sliding on the Shakedown stage of Rally GB Cardiff December 5 7, 2008 19 348.99 1428.44 Gravel/Ice/Snow FRA Sébastien Loeb France Citroën Total World Rally Team Citroën C4 WRC 84 47 The 2008 Rally GB was the fifteenth and final round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season and was held between December 5–7, 2008. The event was again held in Wales, with Cardiff being the host of the ceremonial start and finish, and Swansea providing the service park. The special stages took place on gravel roads on private land, owned either by the Forestry Commission (for the special stages run on Friday and Sunday, and the Resolfen stage on Saturday) or the Army (for the remaining Saturday stages). The event saw a return to the mid Wales stages of Hafren, Sweet Lamb, and Myherin for the first time since 2000. Route changes proposed for 2008 Wales Rally GB http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=1122&desc=Route%20changes%20proposed%20for%202008%20Wales%20Rally%20GB&rally_id=GB&season=2008 https://archive.today/20120919052147/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=1122&desc=Route+changes+proposed+for+2008+Wales+Rally+GB&rally_id=GB&season=2008 dead 2012-09-19 wrc.com 2008-10-23 2008-05-13 The rally was won by Sébastien Loeb in a Citroën C4 WRC. This was his eleventh win of the season - breaking his own previous record set in 2005. Second place went to Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala who was just 12.7 seconds behind. The final podium position was filled by Loebs teammate Dani Sordo. With this result Citroën clinched the manufacturers championship. This was the final appearance of the Subaru and Suzuki rally teams in the World Rally Championship. Entry thumb|left|Valentino Rossi during practice for the 2008 Wales Rally GBThe event was supported by the usual works entries from Citroën, Ford, Subaru, Stobart Ford, and Suzuki, plus regular privateers Conrad Rautenbach in his Citroën C4 WRC and Mads Ostberg in a Subaru Impreza WRC. A notable omission was Urmo Aava who was scheduled to enter the event with his semi-works effort Citroën C4, but had to pull out only days before the event due to the ongoing economic problems. Aava and Rauam to miss Wales Rally GB http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3309&desc=Aava%20and%20Rauam%20to%20miss%20Wales%20Rally%20GB wrc.com 2008-12-02 2008-12-01 https://web.archive.org/web/20081204052404/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3309&desc=Aava%20and%20Rauam%20to%20miss%20Wales%20Rally%20GB 4 December 2008 dead In another Citroën C4 was Frenchman Sébastien Ogier who was handed the drive as a reward for winning the JWRC category of the 2008 championship. Christmas comes early for Ogier http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3000&desc=Christmas%20comes%20early%20for%20Ogier wrc.com 2008-12-02 2008-10-21 https://archive.today/20120918021923/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3000&desc=Christmas+comes+early+for+Ogier 2012-09-18 dead The most newsworthy entry of all was that of 2008 Moto GP champion Valentino Rossi Rossi set to drive Ford in Rally GB http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71660 Autosport.com 2008-12-02 2008-10-23 who was competing in a Ford Focus WRC complete with a Children in Need livery. Rossi confirms Wales Rally GB entry http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3206&desc=Rossi%20confirms%20Wales%20Rally%20GB%20entry wrc.com 2008-12-02 2008-11-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20081211190439/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3206&desc=Rossi%20confirms%20Wales%20Rally%20GB%20entry 11 December 2008 dead Rossi was aiming to beat his previous two efforts in a WRC event, an early retirement at 2002 Rally GB and an eleventh-place finish at the 2006 Rally New Zealand. Rossi tests his Rally GB Focus http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3242&desc=Rossi%20tests%20his%20Rally%20GB%20Focus https://web.archive.org/web/20250124065945/https://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3242&desc=Rossi%20tests%20his%20Rally%20GB%20Focus dead January 24, 2025 wrc.com 2008-12-02 2008-11-13 Summary Day one thumb|right|The surprise package of day one - Sébastien Ogier The rally began in tricky conditions with ice and heavy rain making the roads very slippery and fog hampering the competitors' visibility. For safety reasons, the first and fourth stages held in Hafren (which had already been shortened from 19 km to 3 km) were cancelled. Stages 2 and 4 (Sweet Lamb) were slightly shortened (moving the start around 1 km into the stage due to ice) and the third and sixth stages at Myherin were dramatically shortened, using the middle 18 km of the original 35 km. The FIA regulations came in for criticism from several of the teams and champion elect Sébastien Loeb for the lack of flexibility in the tyre rules Beer, Matt Teams hit out at tyre regulations http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72361 Autosport.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20081209083800/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72361 9 December 2008 live which state that only one type of tyre is allowed on the event with no modifications allowed to that tyre. Loeb also spoke out against the lack of gravel crews, which run through the stage before the start and report any bad conditions to the drivers. The year's junior world champion Sébastien Ogier surprised by winning his first stage in a World Rally Car, albeit he was among the competitors to benefit from a late starting position. On the same stage, Production World Rally Championship leader Juho Hänninen retired after his drive shaft broke, leaving Andreas Aigner to take the title if he finishes the event in the top three. On the fifth stage, last year's winner Mikko Hirvonen rolled his Ford Focus WRC and lost several minutes. The next top entrant to roll was Subaru's Chris Atkinson, who was placed sixth before retiring after a bad accident on the first corner of stage seven, the first super special stage. After day one, Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala led from Citroën's Sébastien Loeb, Suzuki's Per-Gunnar Andersson and Subaru privateer Mads Østberg.Beer, Matt Latvala leads after day one in Wales http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72353 Autosport 6 December 2008 5 December 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208065715/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72353 8 December 2008 live Day two thumb|left|Mikko Hirvonen battled back towards the points positions throughout day twoDay two began with a long stage in Resolfen. Two of the rally's surprises ran into problems; Østberg's Impreza WRC suffered an engine problem and Ogier rolled his C4 WRC very close to the stage finish. The crews reported more icy conditions in the stages, with Latvala feeling particularly ill at ease as he was the first car on the road and therefore the first to encounter the treacherous patches of ice.SS9: Sordo leaps up to second place http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3431&desc=SS9:%20Sordo%20leaps%20up%20to%20second%20place wrc.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208072825/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3431&desc=SS9%3A%20Sordo%20leaps%20up%20to%20second%20place 8 December 2008 dead Throughout the day the conditions improved enough for Latvala to manage to hold off the challenges of firstly Dani Sordo, and then Sébastien Loeb. Latvala held a 10.8 second lead going into the short Cardiff superspecial but clutch problems developed when he had to queue in heavy traffic on the approach to the stageSS15: No position changes on the Super Special http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3450&desc=SS15:%20No%20position%20changes%20on%20the%20Super%20Special wrc.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208175309/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3450&desc=SS15%3A%20No%20position%20changes%20on%20the%20Super%20Special 8 December 2008 dead and he lost 3.5 seconds of this advantage. In fourth position was Petter Solberg who was only twenty seconds behind third place. Per-Gunnar Andersson had slipped back to fifth place, but was still three places ahead of his more experienced teammate Toni Gardemeister. The two other points positions were held by Henning Solberg and François Duval. Mikko Hirvonen was homing in on a world championship point, ahead of top home driver Matthew Wilson who was in a slightly disappointing tenth position. Valentino Rossi was making progress after a very steady start and was now in fifteenth position - ahead of WRC regulars such as Khalid Al-Qassimi and Conrad Rautenbach. Day three thumb|right|Jari-Matti Latvala had to be content with second placeFreezing conditions overnight meant that there was ice again on the remaining stages at Rheola and Port Talbot. This was not ideal for rally leader Latvala, who had hoped for warmer conditions overnightUpdate after SS14: Latvala first on the road on Sunday http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3446&desc=Update%20after%20SS14:%20Latvala%20first%20on%20the%20road%20on%20Sunday wrc.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208072845/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3446&desc=Update%20after%20SS14%3A%20Latvala%20first%20on%20the%20road%20on%20Sunday 8 December 2008 dead for a better chance of holding Loeb at bay. Loeb had been told by Citroën boss Olivier Quesnel to push for the victory as a third place for Sordo would be enough to clinch the manufacturers title. Beer, Matt Loeb free to push for victory http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72373 Autosport.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208060408/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72373 8 December 2008 live After the first loop of Sunday's stages the gap was down to 1.4 seconds and a victory for Loeb was looking inevitable. Loeb was then initially handed a ten-second time penalty for a jump start at SS18 SS18: Loeb fastest but handed jump start penalty http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3476&desc=SS18:%20Loeb%20fastest%20but%20handed%20jump%20start%20penalty wrc.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20081209015554/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3476&desc=SS18%3A%20Loeb%20fastest%20but%20handed%20jump%20start%20penalty 9 December 2008 dead which meant that Latvala took a slender advantage of 2.2 seconds into the last stage. However, Loeb's pace was too strong and a further stage win meant that he won the rally by 12.7 seconds after his earlier time penalty was rescinded. Beer, Matt Organisers cancel Loeb's penalty http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72377 Autosport.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208060427/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72377 8 December 2008 live Latvala finished a disappointed second but believed that the battle with Loeb would make him mentally stronger for next season. Beer, Matt Latvala boosted by battle with Loeb http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72379 Autosport.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-07 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208060437/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72379 8 December 2008 live Sordo followed team instructions to drive carefully and finished third. Petter Solberg maintained his fourth place and the remaining points positions remained the same, except for a late retirement for Henning Solberg which meant that Hirvonen claimed eighth place. Wilson took the position of highest Brit position, ahead of Barry Clark. Rossi continued his progression and finished in twelfth position, earning praise from Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson. Rossi’s performance praised by WRC stars http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=3495&desc=Rossi’s%20performance%20praised%20by%20WRC%20stars wrc.com 2008-12-08 2008-12-08 Results Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points WRC 1. FRA Sébastien Loeb MON Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 2:43:09.6 – 10 2. FIN Jari-Matti Latvala FIN Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:43:22.3 12.7 8 3. ESP Dani Sordo ESP Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC 2:44:30.2 1:20.6 6 4. NOR Petter Solberg GBR Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2008 2:45:09.2 1:59.6 5 5. SWE Per-Gunnar Andersson SWE Jonas Andersson Suzuki SX4 WRC 2:47:13.7 4:04.1 4 6. BEL François Duval FRA Denis Giraudet Ford Focus RS WRC 07 2:48:17.4 5:07.8 3 7. FIN Toni Gardemeister FIN Tomi Tuominen Suzuki SX4 WRC 2:48:34.6 5:25.0 2 8. FIN Mikko Hirvonen FIN Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 08 2:48:48.4 5:38.8 1 PCWRC 1. SWE Patrik Flodin SWE Goran Bergsten Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2:56:01.3 – 10 2. AUT Andreas Aigner GER Klaus Wicha Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:57:43.4 1:42.1 8 3. UK Guy Wilks UK Phil Pugh Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:58:09.0 2:07.7 6 4. FIN Jari Ketomaa FIN Miika Teiskonen Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:00:48.2 4:46.9 5 5. CZE Jaromir Tarabus CZE Daniel Trunkát Fiat Grande Punto S2000 3:08:18.6 12:17.3 4 6. CYP Spyros Pavlides UK Steve Lancaster Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:21:19.3 25:18.0 3 7. POR Armindo Araújo POR Miguel Ramalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3:24:53.9 28:52.6 2 8. UK David Higgins UK Ieuan Thomas Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:28:17.8 32:16.5 1 Special stages All dates and times are GMT (UTC). DayStageTimeNameLengthWinnerTimeAvg. spd.Rally leader1(5 DEC) SS1 09:08 Hafren 1 3.67 km Cancelled SS2 09:32 Sweet Lamb 1 4.28 kmFRA S. Ogier 2:48.6 91.4 km/hFRA S. Ogier SS3 09:53 Myherin 1 18.28 kmFIN J. Latvala 10:59.2 99.8 km/h SS4 13:16 Hafren 2 3.67 km Cancelled SS5 13:40 Sweet Lamb 2 4.28 kmFRA S. Loeb 2:50.4 90.4 km/h SS6 14:01 Myherin 2 18.28 kmFIN J. Latvala 10:56.5 100.2 km/hFIN J. Latvala SS7 17:06 Walters Arena 1 2.29 kmFIN J. Latvala 1:44.5 78.9 km/h SS8 17:17 Walters Arena 2 2.29 kmFRA S. Loeb 1:45.0 78.5 km/h2(6 DEC) SS9 08:18 Resolfen 1 30.68 kmESP D. Sordo 17:12.5 107.0 km/h SS10 09:47 Halfway 1 18.57 kmFIN J. Latvala 11:24.3 97.7 km/h SS11 10:13 Crychan 1 14.86 kmESP D. Sordo 9:25.1 94.7 km/h SS12 13:21 Resolfen 2 30.68 kmFIN M. Hirvonen 16:19.9 112.7 km/h SS13 14:50 Halfway 2 18.57 kmFRA S. Loeb 11:11.9 99.5 km/h SS14 15:16 Crychan 2 14.86 kmFIN J. Latvala 9:00.6 99.0 km/h SS15 18:15 Cardiff 0.99 kmFRA S. Loeb 0:56.5 63.1 km/h3(7 DEC) SS16 07:55 Rheola 1 27.96 kmFRA S. Loeb 16:15.0 103.2 km/h SS17 09:03 Port Talbot 1 20.09 kmFRA S. Loeb 11:17.9 106.7 km/h SS18 11:10 Rheola 2 27.96 kmFRA S. Loeb 16:25.0 102.2 km/hFRA S. Loeb SS19 12:18 Port Talbot 2 20.09 kmFRA S. Loeb 11:12.0 107.6 km/h Final championship standings Drivers' championship Pos Driver MONMonaco SWESweden MEXMexico ARGArgentina JORJordan ITAItaly GRCGreece TURTurkey FINFinland GERGermany NZLNew Zealand ESPSpain FRAFrance JPNJapan GBRUnited Kingdom  Pts  1 France Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret 1 1 10 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 122 2 Finland Mikko Hirvonen 2 2 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 4 3 3 2 1 8 103 3 ESP Dani Sordo 11 6 17 3 2 5 5 4 4 2 2 2 Ret DSQ 3 65 4 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala 12 1 3 15 7 3 7 2 39 9 Ret 6 4 2 2 58 5 Australia Chris Atkinson 3 21 2 2 3 6 Ret 13 3 6 Ret 7 6 4 Ret 506 Norway Petter Solberg 5 4 12 Ret Ret 10 2 6 6 5 4 5 5 8 4 46 7 Belgium François Duval 4 3 Ret 4 3 Ret 6 25 8 NOR Henning Solberg 9 13 5 Ret 4 7 8 5 5 7 9 11 15 Ret Ret 22 9 Italy Gigi Galli 6 3 Ret 7 8 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret Inj Inj Inj Inj Inj 17 10 GBR Matthew Wilson 10 Ret 6 Ret 5 12 6 7 9 12 17 9 8 7 9 15 11 EST Urmo Aava 18 Ret 8 4 Ret 16 8 5 35 7 13 12 Sweden Per-Gunnar Andersson 8 Ret Ret 24 Ret 9 11 Ret Ret 15 6 32 17 5 5 12 13 FIN Toni Gardemeister Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret 8 10 7 13 13 6 7 10 14 ARG Federico Villagra 7 6 6 14 13 9 Ret 8 12 9 9 15 Zimbabwe Conrad Rautenbach Ret 16 16 4 26 13 10 8 10 10 Ret Ret 14 Ret 15 6 16 NOR Andreas Mikkelsen 5 Ret 19 12 11 8 11 5 17 France Jean-Marie Cuoq 7 2 Finland Matti Rantanen 7 19 FIN Juho Hänninen 8 21 13 14 29 24 10 Ret 1 FRA Sébastien Ogier 8 11 22 36 19 Ret 20 26 AUT Andreas Aigner 31 8 14 11 Ret Ret 13 Pos Driver MONMonaco SWESweden MEXMexico ARGArgentina JORJordan ITAItaly GRCGreece TURTurkey FINFinland GERGermany NZLNew Zealand ESPSpain FRAFrance JPNJapan GBRUnited Kingdom Pts Manufacturers' championship Rank Team Event Totalpoints MONMonaco SWESweden MEXMexico ARGArgentina JORJordan ITAItaly GRCGreece TURTurkey FINFinland GERGermany NZLNew Zealand ESPSpain FRAFrance JPNJapan GBRUnited Kingdom 1 France Citroën Total World Rally Team 11 4 10 16 9 14 15 11 15 18 18 18 10 6 16 191 2 United Kingdom BP Ford World Rally Team 8 18 11 7 13 14 10 18 9 7 6 11 14 18 9 173 3 Japan Subaru World Rally Team 10 6 9 8 6 3 8 3 9 7 5 6 7 6 5 98 4 United Kingdom Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 8 8 3 3 7 5 3 4 4 6 0 4 7 2 3 67 5 Japan Suzuki World Rally Team 2 3 0 1 0 1 3 0 2 1 7 0 1 7 6 34 6 Argentina Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 0 0 6 4 4 2 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 22 References External links Great Britain Category:Rally GB Wales Rally