Sebastien Loeb has won ADAC Rallye Deutschland for a ninth time following a dominant performance on the FIA World Rally Championship event in Trier.
Driving a Citroen DS3 WRC alongside co-driver Daniel Elena, Loeb finished ahead of the Jari-Matti Latvala in a factory Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Mikko Hirvonen completed the podium for Citroen.
SS15: Loeb adds Power Stage triumph
Sebastien Loeb clinched his ninth ADAC Rallye Deutschland victory in style by setting the fastest time on the Circus Maximus Trier Power Stage, giving him a maximum 28-point score for the weekend.
Citroen took a one-two on the Power Stage, with Loeb 2.2 seconds quicker than factory team-mate Mikko Hirvonen.
"We had a perfect car so I was confident, and made no mistakes, which was also important. That’s a perfect weekend," said Loeb.
Hirvonen had struggled to get to grips with his Citroen for much of the weekend, but settled more as the event progressed. He looked set for a commanding Power Stage win before being upstaged by his team-mate.
"It’s more points and a very important result for the team," said Hirvonen. "I really had a tough time on this rally but I learned a lot and came through without any mistakes. Now we are here on the podium, so it’s not so bad."
The final bonus stage point amazingly went to Andreas Mikkelsen’s Volkswagen-entered Super 2000 Skoda Fabia, as the home team celebrated getting its S2000 cars home sixth and seventh overall, with Sebastien Ogier leading the way.
Mikkelsen said: "That’s a good way to end the rally. I enjoyed that stage. In 2008 this one was my first stage victory in a World Rally Car, so it’s good fun to come back and take points."
The Norwegian’s underdog heroics denied Citroen a Power Stage top three sweep, as he pipped Nasser Al-Attiyah’s Qatar DS3. The Olympic star was still pleased with his time.
"I’m quite happy because we tried to do our best. I knew we had the speed, but we didn’t want to take any risks here in Germany," said Al-Attiyah. "We don’t have a lot of experience here and had three months not driving."
Jari-Matti Latvala took it easy through the Power Stage to wrap up his second place in the overall results. Mads Ostberg sealed fourth, with Chris Atkinson delighted to mark his first appearance in the WRC Team MINI Portugal driving seat with fifth position.
"It’s awesome. The Mini’s been fantastic all weekend. I’ve hopped in it for the first time and got fifth," said Atkinson. "We stuck to the strategy and it paid off. We’ve got a good base to work from. We’ll start moving forward."
| Pos. | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | S. LOEB | 3h41m52.0s |
| 2. | J. LATVALA | +2:00.0 |
| 3. | M. HIRVONEN | +2:31.3 |
| 4. | M. ØSTBERG | +3:24.3 |
| 5. | C. ATKINSON | +9:10.4 |
| 6. | S. OGIER | +9:50.5 |
| 7. | A. MIKKELSEN | +12:22.5 |
| 8. | N. AL-ATTIYAH | +12:50.1 |
| 9. | O. TÄNAK | +13:01.2 |
| 10. | D. SORDO | +14:16.9 |
| 11. | M. ARZENO | +15:20.1 |
| 12. | P. SOLBERG | +21:06.6 |
| 13. | T. NEUVILLE | +23:41.8 |
| 14. | M. KOSCIUSZKO | +26:43.4 |
| 15. | M. BURRI | +27:17.0 |
| 16. | S. CHARDONNET | +27:38.8 |
| 17. | B. GUERRA | +28:43.9 |
| 18. | J. MELICHÁREK | +34:31.2 |
| 19. | R. AL KETBI | +35:25.0 |
| 20. | M. LIGATO | +36:45.2 |