Rallye de France-Alsace / Rally review
Sordo decided the championship by winning the opening Powerstage.
13/64
Ogier was very eager to win, not only because
he needed some points to bag the championship,
but also because his biggest rival was there. This
was his last chance to beat Sebastien Loeb. Doing that on his own turf was an extra challenge
for the young Seb. The ‘old’ Seb was quite relaxed but the true sportsman in him also wanted
to win. So in his final WRC event he wanted to
show who is the best. VW boss Jost Capito, looking at the result tables, allowed his driver to go for
it, so there was no holding back from that point.
Neuville too was poised for an attack. Dani Sordo
wanted to score at home and after his first ever
WRC victory in Germany it was clear he could be
capable of grabbing victory here. So everything
was in place for a vibrating finale. But it was all
over in the first stage…
After a mighty impressive season, Neuville finally had to throw the towel.
PowerStage
A mention of the PowerStage can usually be found
at the end of our reports, not in France though…
The French thought it would be a good idea to run
the PowerStage as the opening stage. This would
enable the spectators to see the competitors fight
form the word go. Well in a way the organizers
were right, there was a big fight on stage one.
Dani Sordo was quickest, taking away the vital
three points that Neuville needed to stand any
(mathematical) chance. The M-sport recruit was
second and Ogier only needed one point. (If Neuville would win everything.) On stage one he got
this point and Neuville lost one. So it was game
over for the young Belgian’s championship battle.
Ogier relaxed
From then on the maximum attack mode seemed
to be over for the new champion. Gradually he
drops down the leader board to around halfway
the top-ten. In the top Loeb showed he had hardly
suffered from the lack of rhythm after the relatively
long stop from active competition since his Rally
Argentina victory in May. In his own backyard in
Alsace he is doing quite well. After a strong Sordo
assault that resulted in a top position, Loeb takes
over the lead from the Spaniard and leads the
pack from stage 4. But Neuville strikes back and
on stage six he passed the multiple world champion. He holds this position overnight and halfway the next morning. Then on Hohlandsbourg Firstplan 2, the 28.48 km first stage of the second
loop, the Belgian ran wide, spinned and almost
lost one and a half minute. He is in fifth now, with
Sordo taking over number one spot.