He is also said to be in the frame for a drive with
Suzuki, when the manufacturer steps up to the top level with the SX4 and this will have certainly put his name a bit higher up that list of potential candidates.
Mikko Hirvonen inherited the final place on the podium after Marcus’ off in SS19. He had been just behind Duval at the end of Saturday, but a wrong tyre choice dropped him out of contention and in the end he finished 60 seconds back.
Skoda privateer, Jan Kopecky took fifth – his best result of the season in the Fabia WRC and one that equals his best from last year when he was P5 in Spain. The Czech may have had a few issues with his engine on Saturday, but he kept his cool and was well rewarded at the finish.
He also set some very competitive times, including a fourth fastest time on day two and achieved the result very much on merit.
Subaru’s
Petter Solberg rounded out the top six and while he had some problems on day 1 and damaged his steering in SS6, he was more in the groove by the finish. Indeed he set five top five times on the final day and despite nearly hitting a cow in the final test, the 18.08 kilometre-run through Moselwein, brought his Impreza WRC safely to the finish.
Toni Gardemeister and
Jari-Matti Latvala rounded out the points’ scorers’ in seventh and eighth respectively, the former having dropped back in the final two stages, when he had handbrake problems in the penultimate test. Still though it wasn’t a bad drive for the ex-Skoda and Ford works man and considering he also had hydraulic and damper problems on Saturday, two points was pretty good for him on his return to using an Astra-PH Sport Xsara WRC.
Latvala’s perseverance paid off and while his pace was a bit disappointing, especially in light of how he has gone recently on some of the other events, he was still happy with a point – his first WRC point on an asphalt event.
