Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has won Rallye de France Alsace and in the process has secured his ninth WRC drivers' title.

Loeb took the lead in the first proper test on Friday and then proceeded to pull out a gap on Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala, concluding the second leg on Saturday with a 29.7 second cushion.

In the end he came through to triumph by 15.5 seconds, securing the drivers' crown in real style in front of his home fans. Citroen also secured the manufacturers' championship.

Latvala meanwhile had to settle for the runners-up, a mistake on Saturday morning when he went off and into a ditch in SS10, losing 18 seconds, effectively ending any hope he had of challenging for gold.

Mikko Hirvonen completed the podium, with Thierry Neuville fighting back to claim fourth, ahead of Mads Ostberg and Ott Tanak, the latter taking the honours in the Power Stage.

Evgeny Novikov, Chris Atkinson, Martin Prokop and Sebastien Chardonnet rounded out the top ten.

To read the full report - CLICK HERE



Rallye de France-Alsace: Overall standings after Stage 22 (Top 10):

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC 3hours 32mins 53.0secs M
2. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +00mins 15.5secs M
3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 44.1secs M
4. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC +01mins 07.3secs M
5. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 16.4secs M
6. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +02mins 27.9secs M
7. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +05mins 51.6secs M
8. Chris Atkinson WRC MINI Team Portugal John Cooper Works WRC +06mins 42.4secs
9. Martin Prokop Czech Ford National Team Fiesta RS WRC +08mins 46.8secs
10. Sebastien Chardonnet FFSA Citroen WRT DS3 WRC +08mins 59.7secs

Others

11. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +09mins 03.6secs
12. Andreas Mikkelsen VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +11mins 19.4secs
13. Julien Maurin Ford Fiesta WRC +13mins 59.4secs
14. Yvan Muller MINI John Cooper Works WRC +16mins 14.1secs
15. Hermann Gassner Skoda Fabia S2000 +16mins 05.5secs
16. Romain Dumas MINI John Cooper Works WRC +16mins 16.7secs
17. Craig Breen Ford Fiesta S2000 +17mins 18.3secs S
26. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +35mins 29.3secs M


Rallye de France Alsace: Power Stage / SS20 (Top 3):

1. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC 10mins 24.0secs M
2. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 00.9secs M
3. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +00mins 01.8secs M

NOTE: Top three finishers in Power Stage are awarded bonus points. 1st = 3 points; 2nd = 2 points; 3rd = 1 point


SWRC standings after Stage 22:

1. Craig Breen Ford Fiesta S2000 3hours 50mins 11.3secs S
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi Ford Fiesta S2000 +00mins 37.6secs S
3. P-G Andersson Proton Satria Neo S2000 +17mins 32.8secs S
4. Andreas Aigner Proton Satria Neo S2000 +20mins 15.3secs S#


WRC Academy standings after Stage 16 (Top 3)#:

1. Elfyn Evans Ford Fiesta R2 3hours 20mins 42.6secs A
2. Jose Suarez Ford Fiesta R2 +00mins 42.5secs A
3. John MacCrone Ford Fiesta R2 +01mins 35.4secs A

# WRC Academy event ended after SS16


Notable retirements:

SS7. Maciej Oleksowicz Ford Fiesta S2000 Mechanical S

SS9. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC Went off the road M*
SS10. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC Accident M

SS18. Daniel Oliveira Brazil WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC Mechanical M
SS20. Dani Sordo Prodrive MINI John Cooper Works WRC Mechanical
SS20. Haydon Paddon Skoda Fabia S2000 Mechanical S
SS21. Paolo Nobre WRC MINI Team Portugal John Cooper Works WRC Stopped in stage


* denotes re-started under Rally 2
# denotes picked up a 9 minute penalty at end for checking in early at TC22


all times unofficial

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