Sebastien Loeb’s incredible World Rally Champion career has come to a spectacular end with the nine-time WRC title holder rolling on the final day of his home event Rally de France – Alsace.
There was no fairy tale ending to Loeb’s WRC career. Having led the opening leg, the Frenchman started the final 5.0sec from the top and hopeful of celebrating a 79th victory at the final stage in his home town of Haguenau. However, just one kilometre into the opening stage of the day his Citroen DS3 crashed out of the event.
“I lost the rear in a fast right corner, and then we had a spin and I finished in the ditch – and that was the race over,” said Loeb.
“I would have preferred to have finished my last rally here, but it didn’t go according to plan,” said Loeb.
It was Sebastien Ogier who delivered a masterclass in treacherous conditions to win his seventh rally of the season and bookend a perfect weekend after clinching his maiden drivers’ world title on Thursday.
After a lacklustre Friday when the euphoria of Thursday night’s title win left him jaded and down in fifth, the Frenchman roared back into contention with a string of stage wins yesterday in his Volkswagen Polo R.
Ogier started today’s final leg as one of four drivers chasing victory, covered by just five seconds. But he stamped his authority with a dominant win in the rain-soaked opening stage to build an advantage he managed through to the Strasbourg finish.
“There has been so much emotion this weekend,” said Ogier.
“After the excitement of winning the title on Thursday, it was difficult to get back into the race. But we couldn’t stay like that all weekend and decided to react yesterday.
“We pushed to the maximum then and this morning we soon made a gap at the front. Then we had to bring the car home, which wasn’t easy in the rain and mud. We started the story from zero with Volkswagen last year, and now we’re close to the manufacturers’ title as well,” he added.
Citroen’s Dani Sordo finished second and Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) was third, while early rally leader Thierry Neuville had to settle for fourth to remain second in the points standings.
VIDEO: Loeb’s exit
VIDEO: Morning stages
VIDEO: Afternoon stages
FINAL RESULTS – Rallye de France – Alsace
| Position | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
| 1 | Sebastien Ogier | Volkswagen Motorsport | Volkswagen Polo R WRC |
2:53:07.6 |
| 2 | Dani Sordo | Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team | Citroën DS3 WRC |
+0:12.2 |
| 3 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Volkswagen Motorsport | Volkswagen Polo R WRC |
+0:19.5 |
| 4 | Thierry Neuville | Qatar World Rally Team | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+1:14.1 |
| 5 | Evgeni Novikov | Qatar M-SportWorld Rally Team | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+3:10.9 |
| 6 | Mikko Hirvonen | Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | Citroën DS3 WRC |
+3:37.7 |
| 7 | Andreas Mikkelsen | Volkswagen Motorsport II | Volkswagen Polo R WRC |
+4:04.2 |
| 8 | Mads Ostberg | Qatar M-SportWorld Rally Team | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+4:35.2 |
| 9 | Robert Kubica | Robert Kubica | Citroën DS3 RRC |
+9:31.4 |
| 10 | Romain Dumas | Romain Dumas | Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
+11:55.8 |
Drivers’ Standings
| 1 | Sébastien Ogier | 238 |
| 2 | Thierry Neuville | 143 |
| 3 | Jari-Matti Latvala | 125 |
| 5 | Daniel Sordo | 117 |
| 5 | Mikko Hirvonen | 111 |
| 6 | Mads Østberg | 81 |
| 7 | Sébastien Loeb | 68 |
| 8 | Evgeny Novikov | 57 |
| 9 | Martin Prokop | 49 |
| 10 | Andreas Mikkelsen | 40 |
| 11 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 30 |
| 12 | Robert Kubica | 16 |
| 13 | Elfyn Evans | 16 |
| 14 | Bryan Bouffier | 10 |
| 15 | Juho Hänninen | 8 |
| 16 | Chris Atkinson | 8 |
| 17 | Michal Kosciuszko | 7 |
| 18 | Ken Block | 6 |
| 18 | Jari Ketomaa | 6 |
| 20 | Khalid Al-Qassimi | 5 |
| 21 | Hayden Paddon | 4 |
| 22 | Sepp Wiegand | 4 |
| 23 | Per-Günnar Andersson | 4 |
| 24 | Benito Guerra | 4 |
| 24 | Henning Solberg | 4 |
| 24 | Nathan Quinn | 4 |
| 27 | Olivier Burri | 2 |
| 28 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari | 1 |
| 29 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | 1 |
| 30 | Esapekka Lappi | 1 |
| 31 | Romain Dumas | 1 |
Manufacturers’ Standings
| Position | Team | Points |
| 1 | Volkswagen Motorsport | 339 |
| 2 | Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT | 259 |
| 3 | Qatar WRT | 157 |
| 4 | Qatar M-Sport WRT | 156 |
| 5 | Abu Dhabi Citroen Total WRT | 59 |
| 6 | Jipocar Czech National Team | 51 |
| 7 | Volkswagen Motorsport II | 40 |
| 8 | Lotos WRC Team | 20 |
