In recent years Sebastien Loeb has dominated on tarmac and Rallye Deutschland in Germany was no different. Loeb dominated from early on to claim his 8th win in Germany, a new record for most wins on one event. Loeb has not lost in Germany throughout his entire WRC career that began in 2002. The victory in Germany means that Loeb could wrap up his 7th world championship in Japan if Sebastien Ogier finishes 6th or worse. Fittingly, it is more likely that Loeb will wrap up the title in his home country in France at the following event.
Sebastien Loeb claimed a record 8th win at Rally Deutschland
Petter Solberg had an amazing run to finish in 5th. Solberg suffered several mishaps on the opening day, one of which damaged his steering, which caused him to lose substantial time. Had he not suffered those setbacks, realistically he would’ve been challenging Loeb and Sordo for the top spot. Solberg has really shown he deserves a spot on a manufacturer team, but will be left wondering what if for this year.
Former F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen had an impressive showing on a surface he is very familiar with finishing in 7th. Kimi was also able to take his first fastest stage time on the final superspecial stage.
Ken Block made his return to WRC after taking the last few events off and had a very impressive showing in his first WRC tarmac event. Block put on a show for the fans on Sat., drifting around every corner on the final stage of Sat. But on Sunday as Block was sitting comfortably in 9th, he suffered a mechanical issue with his alternator on the final day causing him to once again retire from the event.
Block made an impressive showing in Germany before retiring due to mechanical failure late on the final day.
“It’s just devastating,” said Block. “We weren’t even out of town, no more than eight kilometres from service. It wouldn’t have been so bad had it happened going into parc ferme because I could have slept in that way. It just sucks and is the continuation of the bad luck we’ve had this season. The drive had gone really good and we put in some good, consistent times. We were here to get a lot of experience but unfortunately our rally ended on the side of the road in Trier so for that we’re really disappointed. But before then it had gone really good. We had a pretty good pace – okay it was a long way off the top guys – but we were very happy. We made a few little mistakes on Friday but none on Saturday and had driven a really good, clean race even though we didn’t have a gravel crew to help us, which made it a big challenge. We worked hard on the notes – it’s just really misfortunate we missed out.”
WRC’s next event is Rally Japan on Sept. 10-12.
