New Zealand 2007
WHAT A RALLY! THE CLOSEST RALLY RESULT EVER WITH MARCUS GRÖNHOLM AND SEBASTIEN LOEB FIGHTING OUT DAY 3, ALTERNATELY TAKING THE LEAD BY (AS MARCUS SUBLIMELY PUT IT "POINT SOMETHING!"), BUT VICTORY WENT TO THE FINN BY 0.3 SECOND AFTER THREE HARD FOUGHT DAYS. CALCULATIONS AFTERWARDS SHOWED THAT THIS WINNING MARGIN EQUATED TO JUST 7.6 METRES. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DECLARED A DRAW!
NEVERTHELESS, A WIN IS A WIN AND MARCUS NOW HEADS SEBASTIEN BY 10 POINTS AND, ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL, IF SEBASTIEN WINS EACH OF THE REMAINING FIVE ROUNDS WITH MARCUS ALWAYS 2ND THEN THEY WILL BE LEVEL ON POINTS AT THE END OF THE SEASON WITH, PRESUMABLY, THE TITLE GOING TO THE FRENCHMAN BY VIRTUE OF HIS GREATER NUMBER OF WINS. IDLE SPECULATION, I KNOW, BECAUSE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN WORLD RALLY BUT IT DOES SERVE TO EMPHASISE THE TASK FACING LOEB. WE CAN ONLY WAIT WITH ANTICIPATION FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON TO UNFOLD.
THERE WERE ALSO SOME INTERESTING BATTLES DOWN THE ORDER BUT MIKKO HIRVONEN NEVER FEATURED IN ANY OF THEM - HE WAS IN A VERY SAFE 3RD POSITION THROUGHOUT THE RALLY AND HIS PERFORMANCE HELPED FORD TO AN ALMOST IMPREGNABLE LEAD IN THE MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP.
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Marcus Gronholm / BP-Ford
|
| 2.
|
Sebastien Loeb / Citroen Total
|
| 3.
|
Mikko Hirvonen / BP-Ford
|
| 4.
|
Chris Atkinson / Subaru
|
| 5.
|
Jari-Matti Latvala / Stobart VK Ford
|
| 6.
|
Daniel Sordo / Citroen Total
|
| 7.
|
Petter Solberg / Subaru
|
| 8.
|
Urmo Aava / Mitsubishi
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Marcus Grönholm
| 90
|
| Sebastien Loeb
| 80
|
| Mikko Hirvonen
| 69
|
| Daniel Sordo
| 31
|
| =Petter Solberg
| 31
|
| Henning Solberg
| 28
|
| Chris Atkinson
| 25
|
| Jari-Matti Latvala
| 17
|
Constructors :
|
| BP-Ford
|
159
|
| Citroën Total
|
113
|
| Subaru
|
60
|
| Stobart VK Ford
|
55
|
| OMV Kronos Citroen
|
35
|
| Munchi's Ford
|
6
|
Rally Results posted by
David Little
2nd September 2007
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