Miniatures of Juan Manuel Fangio and a flying Tommi Makinen

Great Britain 2007


WELL, NOW WE KNOW! SEBASTIEN LOEB WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER'S TITLE FOR THE FOURTH SUCCESSIVE YEAR BY FINISHING THIRD IN WALES BEHIND THE WINNER, MIKKO HIRVONEN, AND MARCUS GRONHOLM, SECOND. SEBASTIEN THUS EQUALLED TOMMI MAKINEN'S RECORD OF FOUR SUCCESSIVE TITLES AND JUHA KANKKUNEN ALSO WON FOUR TITLES BUT THEY WERE NOT SUCCESSIVE. THEY ARE THE ONLY DRIVERS TO WIN FOUR WORLD RALLY TITLES - A VERY SELECT TRIO.

MARCUS ATTRIBUTED HIS FAILURE TO WIN THE TITLE TO THE ERROR IN IRELAND WHEN HE FAILED TO SCORE ANY POINTS. I SUSPECT MOST FANS WOULD HAVE BEEN TORN BETWEEN WANTING MARCUS TO WIN THE TITLE IN THIS HIS FINAL YEAR OF COMPETITION AND HOPING SEBASTIEN COULD EQUAL TOMMI'S FEAT. ONE THING IS SURE, IT WAS A FASCINATING DUEL BETWEEN THESE TWO FANTASTIC DRIVERS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SEASON, INCLUDING THAT INCREDIBLE NEW ZEALAND RESULT IN WHICH MARCUS WON BY THE CLOSEST MARGIN EVER - JUST 0.3 SECOND. SO IT IS GOODBYE, MARCUS - WE SHALL MISS YOU.

THERE IS ANOTHER FINN READY TO TAKE OVER - MIKKO HIRVONEN. HE BLITZED THE OPPOSITION IN ATROCIOUS FOGGY, WET CONDITIONS ON DAY 1 AND THEN HELD STATION AT THE HEAD OF THE FIELD AHEAD OF MARCUS IN SECOND PLACE. CLEARLY, FORD'S STRATEGY WAS BASED ON BEING IN A POSITION TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ANY SLIP-UP BY SEBASTIEN, WHO HAD TO FINISH 5TH IF MARCUS WON. AS HE DIDN'T MAKE ANY MISTAKES, JUST DRIVING CONSERVATIVELY TO ENSURE HE CLAIMED SUFFICIENT POINTS, THERE WAS NO REASON TO DENY MIKKO HIS THIRD WIN OF THE SEASON.

ONE OTHER QUIRKY FACT - IT PAYS TO BE FRENCH AND TO BE CALLED SEBASTIEN. SEBASTIEN LOEB NOT ONLY EQUALLED TOMMI MAKINEN'S RECORD BUT ALSO EQUALLED SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS WHO THIS YEAR WON THE CHAMPCAR SERIES FOR THE FOURTH SUCCESSIVE YEAR BEFORE GOING TO F1 NEXT YEAR. BOURDAIS' RECORD IS UNIQUE IN CHAMPCARS, LOEB ONLY SHARES HIS RECORD BUT LOEB STILL HAS THE CHANCE TO MAKE IT FIVE IN A ROW NEXT YEAR.

ONLY 7 WEEKS TO GO BEFORE IT STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN!




RESULT
1. Mikko Hirvonen / BP-Ford
2. Marcus Gronholm / BP-Ford
3. Sebastien Loeb / Citroen Total
4. Petter Solberg / Subaru
5. Daniel Sordo / Citroen Total
6. Matthew Wilson / Stobart VK Ford
7. Chris Atkinson / Subaru
8. Manfred Stohl / OMV Citroen

 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers :
Sebastien Loeb 116
Marcus Grönholm 112
Mikko Hirvonen 99
Daniel Sordo 65
Petter Solberg 47
Henning Solberg 34
Chris Atkinson 31
Jari-Matti Latvala 30

Constructors :
BP-Ford 212
Citroën Total 183
Subaru 87
Stobart VK Ford 81
OMV Kronos Citroen 45
Munchi's Ford 14

Rally Results posted by
David Little
3rd December 2007

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