2008 Rally New Zealand

The 2008 Rally New Zealand was the eleventh round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event was based on the northern island of the country near the city of Hamilton. The stages were run on gravel roads characterised by their pronounced camber, which gives them a fast flowing nature. They are also known for their picturesque qualities.[2] The rally ran between 28 and 31 August. Sébastien Loeb won his forty-fourth WRC rally, and his eighth of the season, in a dramatic event, where Mikko Hirvonen came third after being passed in the latter stages of the rally. Daniel Sordo, like Loeb, also driving for Citroën, claimed 2nd place. After the event Loeb had an eight-point lead over Hirvonen in the drivers championship with four events remaining.

2008 Rally New Zealand
38th Repco Rally New Zealand
Round 11 of the 2008 World Rally Championship
 Previous eventNext event 
Host country New Zealand
Rally baseHamilton
Dates run28 August 31 2008
Stages18 (353.04 km; 219.37 miles)[1]
Stage surfaceGravel
Overall distance1,218.20 km (756.95 miles)[1]
Results
Overall winner Sébastien Loeb
Citroën Total World Rally Team
Crews64 at start, 35[1] at finish

Event

Heavy rain in the buildup before the event forced a change to the itinerary, with the 43 km Waitomo stage having to be split into two due to a landslip.[3] Despite the poor weather before the event Matthew Wilson still believed the first car would be at a disadvantage,[4] thus making team tactics - as seen at Turkey - more likely.[5] After Gigi Galli's accident in Germany, François Duval was called up by Stobart Ford to replace him as an approach to two time world champion Marcus Grönholm failed to lure him out of retirement.[6]

Day one

Despite sweeping the roads for the other competitors, and a big moment when he nearly rolled his car during the very first stage,[7] Loeb was just 0.7 seconds behind Hirvonen going into the penultimate stage of the day. With road positions for day two being decided at the end of this stage, rather than at the short Super special stage at Mystery Creek, Hirvonen was expected to intentionally drop behind Loeb to ensure a better starting position. Loeb then suffered a starter motor problem[8] which meant he couldn't start at his allotted time. With Hirvonen now effectively running first on the road, he was unable to play the tactical game and therefore ended day one in front, and as road sweeper for day two. When questioned after the stage, Loeb denied any suggestion of tactics - citing the thirty-second time penalty he picked up for starting the stage late - "Do you really think I'd give away that much time?"[9] Hirvonen agreed that Loeb seemed to have a genuine problem.[8] Jari-Matti Latvala also tried to improve his starting position but although falling behind Loeb, he managed to stay ahead of Dani Sordo by 0.1 second - despite backing off before the end of the stage. Behind the two factory Ford and Citroën drivers was Duval, who was just under ninety seconds off the lead. Urmo Aava was in sixth, Petter Solberg in seventh with Suzuki driver PG Andersson enjoying a trouble free run in eighth place. Drivers who weren't so lucky included Henning Solberg - who lost seven and a half minutes with power steering problems, Matthew Wilson - who suffered gearbox problems and had to retire for the day after SS4, the same stage as Subaru driver Chris Atkinson - who rolled his car halfway through the stage[10]

Day two

Loeb used his starting position to close on Hirvonen throughout the day. After taking seven seconds out of his lead on the first stage of the day,[11] Loeb took over the lead on stage twelve. With only one stage left to run on the day Loeb was 4.2 seconds clear - below his target time of a twenty-second lead.[12] With this in mind he slowed down at the end of Te Akau North to let Hirvonen back into the lead. Latvala was able to help Hirvonen by finishing ahead of him on time and to start the final day in front.[13] With Sordo keeping close to the pace of the other leaders, there was only a sixteen-second gap between the first four drivers. Behind the leading pack, the points positions remained the same as on day one. The most noteworthy performance came from Henning Solberg, who used his advantageous road position to claim four stage wins on his climb back up the leaderboard.

Results

Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
WRC
1. Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 3:59:18.9 0.0 10
2. Dani Sordo Marc Marti Citroën C4 WRC 3:59;36.4 17.5 8
3. Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 08 4:00:00.4 41.5 6
4. Petter Solberg Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 4:02:07.8 2:48.9 5
5. Urmo Aava Kuldar Sikk Citroën C4 WRC 4:02:49.6 3:30.7 4
6. PG Andersson Jonas Andersson Suzuki SX4 WRC 4:06:56.3 7:37.4 3
7. Toni Gardemeister Tomi Tuominen Suzuki SX4 WRC 4:07:13.8 7:54.9 2
8. Federico Villagra Jorge Perez Companc Ford Focus RS WRC 07 4:07:53.9 8:35.0 1
PCWRC
1. (10.) Martin Prokop Jan Tomanek Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4:13:07.9 0.0 10
2. (11.) Patrik Sandell Emil Axelsson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4:13:44.1 36.2 8
3. (12.) Martin Rauam Silver Kütt Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4:14:05.7 57.8 6

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
 Pts 
1 Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret. 1 1 10 1 1 3 1 1 1 86
2 Mikko Hirvonen 2 2 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 4 3 78
3 Dani Sordo 11 6 17 3 2 5 5 4 4 2 2 51
4 Chris Atkinson 3 21 2 2 3 6 Ret. 13 3 6 Ret. 40
5 Jari-Matti Latvala 12 1 3 15 7 3 7 2 39 9 Ret. 34
6 Petter Solberg 5 4 12 Ret. Ret. 10 2 6 6 5 4 32
7 Henning Solberg 9 13 5 Ret. 4 7 8 5 5 5 9 22
8 Gigi Galli 6 3 Ret. 7 8 4 Ret. Ret. Ret. Ret. 17
9 Matthew Wilson 10 Ret. 6 Ret. 5 12 6 7 9 12 17 12
10 François Duval 4 3 Ret. 11
Urmo Aava 18 Ret. 8 4 Ret. 16 8 5
12 Federico Villagra 7 6 6 14 13 9 Ret. 8 9
13 Conrad Rautenbach Ret. 16 16 4 26 13 10 8 10 10 Ret. 6
14 Toni Gardemeister Ret. 7 Ret. Ret. Ret. Ret. 9 Ret. 8 10 7 5
15 Andreas Mikkelsen 5 Ret. 26 12 11 4
16 Per-Gunnar Andersson 8 Ret. Ret. 24 Ret. 9 11 Ret. Ret. 15 6
17 Jean-Marie Cuoq 7 2
Matti Rantanen 7
18 Juho Hänninen 8 21 13 14 1
Sébastien Ogier 8 11 22 36 19
Andreas Aigner 31 8 14 11 Ret. Ret.
Pos Driver MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
Pts
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

Rank Team Event Total
points
MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
1 Citroën Total World Rally Team 11410169141511151818---- 141
2 BP Ford World Rally Team 81811713141018976---- 121
3 Subaru World Rally Team 106986383975---- 74
4 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 88337534460---- 51
5 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 00644203003---- 22
6 Suzuki World Rally Team 23010130217---- 20

References

  1. "juwra.com  |  Rallies - New Zealand 2008". juwra.com. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  2. "World Rally Championship - Rallies - Rally New Zealand". wrc.com. 31 August 2008. Archived from the original on 31 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  3. "Weather causes route changes". wrc.com. 25 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  4. "Wilson: Leader faces disadvantage". Autosport. 27 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  5. "Dry roads in New Zealand make tactical driving likely". wrc.com. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  6. "Duval replaces Galli for New Zealand". Autosport. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 August 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  7. "SS1 - Early scare for Loeb and others..." wrc.com. 29 August 2008. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  8. "SS6 - High drama and tactics on decisive stage". wrc.com. 29 August 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  9. Evans, David (4 September 2008). "Ford Spins, Citroen Wins". Autosport. 193: 42–47.
  10. "SS4 - Atkinson rolls out of fifth place". wrc.com. 29 August 2008. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  11. "SS8: Loeb takes a big chunk from Hirvonen's lead". wrc.com. 30 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  12. "SS10: Loeb aiming for a 20-second lead". wrc.com. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
  13. "Latvala handed New Zealand lead". Autosport. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.
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