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From WRC.com
Dani Sordo secured his first WRC victory after almost 10 years of trying when he won an enthralling ADAC Rallye Deutschland today.
The Spaniard was the ‘nearly' man of the WRC after 34 podiums from 106 starts. However, the 30-year-old came good to beat Thierry Neuville by 53.0sec following a final stage showdown that was only settled when the Belgian went off the road 3km from the finish.
After the demise of early leader Sebastien Ogier, who broke his Volkswagen Polo R's suspension after crashing early in the second leg, team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala led with Sordo and Neuville dueling behind.
Neuville had the better of Friday's second leg to build a 19.0sec advantage. But the roles were reversed yesterday and when Latvala crashed, Sordo ended the penultimate day with a lead of just 0.8sec to set up today's thrilling finale.
Sordo's victory, after four-days and 371.86km of asphalt action in the vineyards and military roads of south-west Germany, means Citroen maintained its unblemished record here, having won every year since the rally entered the championship in 2002.
Second for Neuville, in his first full WRC season, extended a superb run of results which netted two seconds and a third before this event. Mikko Hirvonen finished third in another DS3, 1min 43.1sec behind Neuville, to seal a strong weekend for Citroen.
Martin Prokop matched his career-best result in fourth in a Fiesta RS. The Czech driver was 8min 00.8sec behind Sordo, but kept out of trouble as many more-fancied runners went off the road.
WRC 2 winner Robert Kubica and second-placed Elfyn Evans completed the top six, in a Citroen DS3 RRC and Ford Fiesta R5 respectively.
Sebastien Ogier salvaged three points by winning the final Power Stage and the Frenchman holds a 75 point lead in the drivers' standings over Neuville. Latvala is third, 11 points behind, with four rounds remaining.
Results - Rallye Deutschland (WRC)
1. Sordo-Del Barrio (Citroen DS3 Wrc) in 3.15'19”4
2. Neuville-Gilsoul (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 53”0
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 Wrc) a 2'36”1
4. Prokop-Ernst (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 8'00”8
5. Kubica-Baran (Citroen DS3 Rrc) a 9'01”3
6. Evans-Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS R5) a 9'14”2
7. Latvala-Anttila (VW Polo Wrc) a 9'55”0
8. Paddon-Kennard (Skoda Fabia S2000) a 13'01"2
9. Ostberg-Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 13'28”1
10. Novikov-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 15'17”9
Dani Sordo secured his first WRC victory after almost 10 years of trying when he won an enthralling ADAC Rallye Deutschland today.
The Spaniard was the ‘nearly' man of the WRC after 34 podiums from 106 starts. However, the 30-year-old came good to beat Thierry Neuville by 53.0sec following a final stage showdown that was only settled when the Belgian went off the road 3km from the finish.
After the demise of early leader Sebastien Ogier, who broke his Volkswagen Polo R's suspension after crashing early in the second leg, team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala led with Sordo and Neuville dueling behind.
 |
| Dani Sordo, Citroën DS3 WRC (Photo: WRi2) |
Neuville had the better of Friday's second leg to build a 19.0sec advantage. But the roles were reversed yesterday and when Latvala crashed, Sordo ended the penultimate day with a lead of just 0.8sec to set up today's thrilling finale.
Sordo's victory, after four-days and 371.86km of asphalt action in the vineyards and military roads of south-west Germany, means Citroen maintained its unblemished record here, having won every year since the rally entered the championship in 2002.
 |
| Thierry Neuville, Ford Fiesta RS WRC (Photo: WRi2) |
Second for Neuville, in his first full WRC season, extended a superb run of results which netted two seconds and a third before this event. Mikko Hirvonen finished third in another DS3, 1min 43.1sec behind Neuville, to seal a strong weekend for Citroen.
Martin Prokop matched his career-best result in fourth in a Fiesta RS. The Czech driver was 8min 00.8sec behind Sordo, but kept out of trouble as many more-fancied runners went off the road.
WRC 2 winner Robert Kubica and second-placed Elfyn Evans completed the top six, in a Citroen DS3 RRC and Ford Fiesta R5 respectively.
Sebastien Ogier salvaged three points by winning the final Power Stage and the Frenchman holds a 75 point lead in the drivers' standings over Neuville. Latvala is third, 11 points behind, with four rounds remaining.
 |
| Sébastien Ogier, VW Polo R WRC (Photo: WRi2) |
Results - Rallye Deutschland (WRC)
1. Sordo-Del Barrio (Citroen DS3 Wrc) in 3.15'19”4
2. Neuville-Gilsoul (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 53”0
3. Hirvonen-Lehtinen (Citroen DS3 Wrc) a 2'36”1
4. Prokop-Ernst (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 8'00”8
5. Kubica-Baran (Citroen DS3 Rrc) a 9'01”3
6. Evans-Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS R5) a 9'14”2
7. Latvala-Anttila (VW Polo Wrc) a 9'55”0
8. Paddon-Kennard (Skoda Fabia S2000) a 13'01"2
9. Ostberg-Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 13'28”1
10. Novikov-Minor (Ford Fiesta RS Wrc) a 15'17”9