Of the other World Rally Car drivers, Andreas Mikkelsen and Urmo Aava finished 12th and 16th, having re-started following offs on day 1. BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT #2 driver Jari-Matti Latvala also finished under the SupeRally. Latvala had been third overall when he made a key error in SS3. While he showed good pace on days 2 and 3 - winning four stages, the time lost was too much to make up and he finished way down the order in 39th position. His only small consolation was that he picked up the final manufacturers' point for Ford.
"I really hope I have shown how fast I can drive here. The main thing is we have got the experience so next year we can use what we learned to go faster," noted Latvala.
Stobart Ford's Gigi Galli, Suzuki's Per-Gunnar Andersson, Munchi's Ford WRT duo Federico Villagra and Luis-Perez Companc were the most notable retirees. Galli went out on Saturday in SS16, while running third. P-G also went out in that test - at exactly the same place, while Villagra stopped in the penultimate stage on day 2 and Companc following SS21.
In the Production Car World Rally Championship category Juha Hanninen took the win, more than two minutes up on Patrik Flodin. Hanninen had been battling with Juha Salo for the victory and was 18 seconds or so behind, until his fellow countryman had issues in SS16. Jussi Valimaki completed the P-WRC top three to give Mitsubishi a 1-2-3 result.
"I am very happy to have come to the end of this rally and we have won the P-WRC when sometimes we were not so sure," said Hanninen. "It is a fantastic feeling."
As for the J-WRC, Citroen's Martin Prokop beat Patrik Sandell by just over 15 seconds, while Michal Kosciuszko was third, having dropped out of contention for the win in SS20, when he lost over 1.5 minutes.
"It has been a hard year so far and winning here makes up for last year's disappointment," said Prokop. "We changed everything around on the car and got the set up perfect for today. I am very happy we are winners of the J-WRC."
The championship now returns to asphalt later this month for the first time since January's opening round. The Rallye Deutschland is based in Trier and runs from August 14-17.
