WRC 2008 Uddeholm Swedish Rally

[GolddustMini]

loeb is retired for good now,

1. 4 Jari-Matti LATVALA 2:03:53.7
2. 3 Mikko HIRVONEN 2:04:43.5 +49.8
3. 7 Gigi GALLI 2:05:29.6 +46.1
4. 5 Petter SOLBERG 2:06:34.6 +1:05.0
5. 16 Matthew WILSON 2:08:31.3 +1:56.7
6. 17 Andreas MIKKELSEN 2:08:41.8 +10.5
7. 2 Dani SORDO 2:10:45.6 +2:03.8
8. 11 Toni GARDEMEISTER 2:12:43.0 +1:57.4
9. 52 Juho HÄNNINEN 2:12:46.4 +3.4
10. 46 Jari KETOMAA 2:13:54.5 +1:08.1


so sordo has kept pace to score points, loeb is on the plane home, henning has binned it, matt wilson is proving slow and steady can bring home the bacon (although hes not actually THAT slow on this one) although hes at risk of loosing out to mikkelsen tomorrow

shame sandell binned it as he was on for a S2000s first PWRC win

[Knowlesy]

Latvala has done a stunning job, I'm delighted to see him controlling this so effortlessly.

He has blown Mikko's doors off in no uncetain terms and this could be very good news for the championship - if he wins tomorrow, who knows what the extra confidence will allow him to achieve?

[mel tyres]

What about Mathew Wilson doing a good job at the mo, Everybody knocks him BUT when he's doing well nowt ???????

[bigdick1977]

Maybe if he had finished a few may have praised him!!

[Knowlesy]

He did a good job, shame his car broke so late.

Ford 1-2-3.

[429CJ]

Latvala youngest WRC winner now, 22 years 313 days, surpassing the 1980 RAC winner Henri Toivonen (24 years 86 days).
Sordo would had been 3rd without 5 min. penalty, now sixth. Impressive drive.

[btcckid]

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

loeb is retired for good now

was this becasue of the speeding ticket he got from the police or was his car still playing up?

[BertMk2]

Excellent drive from Latvala - he's certainly repaying the faith Ford have put in him with that drive. A Ford lockout on the podium into the bargain as well

[flying finn]

Results

1. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) > Ford Focus > 2:46:41.2 (111.3 kmh)
2. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) > Ford Focus > 2:47:39.5 (+0.58.3)
3. Gigi Galli (I) > Ford Focus > 2:49:04.4 (+2:23.2)
4. Petter Solberg (N) > Subaru Impreza > 2:49:40.6 (+2:59.4)
5. Andreas Mikkelsen (N) > Ford Focus > 2:52:27.2 (+5:46.0)
6. Dani Sordo (E) > Citroen C4 > 2:53:54.3 (+7:13.1)
7. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) > Suzuki SX > 2:57:16.5 (+10:35.3)
8. Juho Hanninen (FIN) > Mitsubishi Lancer > 2:59:08.7 (+12:27.5)
9. Mads Ostberg (N) > Subaru Impreza > 3:00:09.7 (+13:28.5)
10. Jari Ketomaa (FIN) > Subaru Impreza > 3:00:31.9 (+13:50.7)

13. Henning Solberg (N) > Ford Focus > 3:02:17.9 (+15:36.7)
21. Chris Atkinson (AUS) > Subaru Impreza > 3:07:33.1 (+20:51.9)

DNF. Sébastien Loeb (F) > Citroen C4 > SS11 - Mechanical
DNF. Per-Gunnar Andersson (S) > Suzuki SX > SS4 - Mechanical

Post-event FIA Press Conference > http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/Press...swe_conf2.html

Championship Standings

1. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) > 8 8 = 16
2. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) > 0 10 = 10
3. Sébastien Loeb (F) > 10 0 = 10
4. Gigi Galli (I) > 3 6 = 9
5. Petter Solberg (N) > 4 5 = 9
6. Chris Atkinson (AUS) > 6 0 = 6
7. François Duval (B) > 5 x = 5
8. Andreas Mikkelsen (N) > x 4 = 4
9. Daniel Sordo (E) > 0 3 = 3
10. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) > x 2 = 2
11. Jean-Marie Cuoq (F) > 2 x = 2
12. Per-Gunnar Andersson (S) > 1 x = 1
13. Juho Hänninen (FIN) > x 1 = 1

[GolddustMini]

Originally Posted by btcckid

was this becasue of the speeding ticket he got from the police or was his car still playing up?

aparently it was due to terminal engine damage but whether that is correct or not i dont know, i think he just wanted to go home! and once he had checked his notes for the newish (aparently) stages on leg2 by completing the morning loop he probably saw no reason to continue and retired the car

[Knowlesy]

He did retire immediately after his ticket, he probably just got fed up. He had no chance of gaining anything.

[zac510]

Got back last night, haven't put any pics up but had a great time. It's a shame some stages were cancelled for lack of snow but fortunately we weren't affected by that at all.

Sandell was great in the Pug S2000, what a great looking (and sounding) car, quite competitive with the Grp N cars too. and we thought Broccoli drove well too, he always looked like he was giving it 10/10ths!

Many cheers to the Grp A privateers like Ostberg who were still going for it on Sunday afternoon after the Fords had slowed down.

What happened to Atkinson on Sunday?

[zac510]

A couple of pictures for you Bert:

[BertMk2]

Top man

Some good pictures there - you managed to keep the camera warm then

[zac510]

It wasn't really that cold so I don't think it was affected too much.

[cg7aa]

Nice photos zac510. Thanks.

[cg7aa]

I was just discussing the Sweden results with a mate and he made the comment that he thinks Seb doesn't look very happy this season and that he doesn't seem to be smiling a lot. I think he may be right. He seems somewhat different but I couldn't explain how.

I saw a small clip on either the season preview show or maybe it was the intro to the day one coverage of the Monte and I remember him saying something along the lines of 'and then Daniel decided to make a mistake' when he was referring to the accident in Japan last year.

It was just the way it was delivered. I thought, bloody hell, he still hasn't forgotten it? How odd to bring it up despite winning the championship. Its like he is never going to forgive him. I could swear there was a time when he used to say 'we' when describing his efforts with Elena but when the accident is brought up its always 'Daniel'.

Anyway, I'm waffling. I just thought I'd mention what my friend said.

[The Eye]

Some fine pictures there zac510! Looks like you find the only snowy stages! Anyway, I hope you had a great time in Sweden. Maybe you have some more pictures?

[zac510]

I have more but I've shown you the best ones!

[Hf_Integrale]

I had the oportunity to do an interview with Jari-Matti Latvala last year, in november. He told me he still has to practice for the tarmac races, as he didn't race on this surface in Finland, but he feels that he can really manage to keep up with the best and if he gets that extra bit of focus (lol), he can really make the difference. He won some stages last year too, as he raced for Stobart, so that I think he'll be the bomb!

Hirvonen is the team-player. He doesn't go "maximum attack". Ever, ever! So I think that Latvala could have a shot at the title. He really could... because I feel the same way as cg7aa about Loeb.