Great Britain 2008

Considering that the Drivers' title was decided in Japan and that Citroen had a reasonable lead in the Constructors' Championship, you may have thought that this last round of the 2008 season would perhaps be a little boring! But this was Wales in December and the British round has always had a reputation for being difficult and unpredictable, making it one of the rallies that all drivers would see it as a 'feather in their cap' if they could come out on top.

Sebastien Loeb definitely wanted to win it for that reason but also to score victory in 11 rounds in the same season, which would be a record. Mikko Hirvonen also wanted to win to help Ford beat Citroen to the title and the same went for his team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala. And Valentino Rossi just wanted to finish the rally this time after his first stage exit last time he entered!

The conditions were so difficult on Friday that the organisers had to shorten the stages to avoid the worst of the ice. Nevertheless the front runners had a hard time of it as could be seen by rookie entrants leading at the end of Day 1 - their lower positions in the running order proving to be a big help after the leaders had broken up all the ice!

Mikko effectively ended the Constructors' battle when he dropped to 44th after a crash on Day 1 but he was able to continue and eventually finished 8th. This in itself enabled him to claim a unique record - the only driver in the history of W.R.C. to score points in every single round of a Championship.

After a thrilling battle with Jari-Matti for the lead during Days 2 and 3, Sebastien, who was penalised 10 seconds for a jump-start on the penultimate stage, finally got to the front on the final stage to take victory by 2.7 seconds. The penalty was eventually rescinded as an error and so his actual winning margin was 12.7 seconds. So he achieved his ambitions - are there any other records left for him to break?

Citroen took the Constructors' title and Valentino was awarded the prize for significant achievements (awarded at every round) for managing to finish 12th. His target had been a top-10, which he almost achieved.

Rally Results posted by
David Little
8th December 2008

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