Despite being disadvantaged by his road position, Seb still set some very good times though and he was the only driver to win five tests - albeit two coming on the short Antalya super specials.
"I cannot say I’m happy about finishing third and I'm no more pleased to have conceded the lead in the Drivers' Championship. For three days we have tried everything. We often exceeded our limits, using every bit of the car's potential and that of the Pirelli tyres," said Seb.
"Except maybe for New Zealand, we should no longer have to worry about the problem of 'road-sweeping' for any of the seven rallies that remain, and that can only be a good thing."
Further down the order Dani Sordo was fourth, overhauling the
Stobart Ford Focus of
Henning Solberg on the final day. Dani slipped back from fifth to eighth on Friday with a left rear puncture, but despite picking up another one on day two, he hauled himself back up to take 5 points.
"I am very happy that we did it," said the
Citroen #2. "At the end of this difficult weekend, this result is good for me. Our C4 was competitive and we put in some good stage performances. I forced myself to take care of my tyres and I think we made further progress in driving on the loose."
Henning was also pleased, even if he did lose out to Sordo. The Norwegian ended day 1 in second - after Hirvonen, Latvala and Galli slowed - but he wasn't as comfortable on days two and three after his mechanics had to fit a new gearbox.
"I’m very, very happy; fifth place here is great. It’s been a tough rally and we have had to manage the tyres well for the whole time. The first day felt great and it was a good feeling to set a fastest time. Then we had to make some changes to the car and the feeling just wasn’t as good as the first day," he explained. "But we kept the pace up and got into an exciting battle with Dani Sordo on the last day."
