Wales Rally GB has reached its conclusion, and with it, the 2007 season of the World Rally Championship also. Four drivers attracted most of the attention this week-end, and only one can say he did not receive what he had hoped for.
Mikko Hirvonen is the overall victor of the event, while Sébastien Loeb has clinched an amazing fourth World Rally Championship crown after a very competitive 2007 season.
Including this final run, Jari-Matti Latvala has won every stage since Saturday morning with the exception of the Millennium Stadium super special. The Stobart Ford driver signed a fastest time of 16'51"0 and also branded his name onto the event.
Marcus Grönholm's final WRC race ended with a second-place finish only 0'01"2 behind, and by the same occasion he secured a one-two overall finish for his soon-to-be former Ford team as a parting gift.
However, the championship crown was not for him this year. "I'm disappointed of course. I lost the title in Ireland," he said, referring to his campaign-ending crash. The lanky Finn was grateful however for the competitiveness of his last WRC season: "It was a great fight."
A few seconds later, the Citroën Sport duo of Dani Sordo and Sébastien Loeb appeared in third and fourth positions.
"Incredible! Really, really a good moment," declared Loeb, as the Sun coincidentally emerged brightly through a break in the clouds just as he was stepping out of his works Citroën C4. The four-time World Champion has now equaled the record held by Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen.
"Really a great championship this year," the Frenchman added only a few moments before heading towards Grönholm to shake his hand.
The Solberg brothers followed next in line a dozen seconds away from the stage winner, with Petter's works Subaru arriving in fifth position ahead of Henning's Stobart Ford car.
Overall rally winner Mikko Hirvonen managed to reach seventh position after going through a scare and an off-road trip, crossing the finish line with the front bumper hanging. "We went off... and I didn't plan it!" he joked.
Victory was the best possible result on this event, and Hirvonen is already looking forward to being the works Ford team spearhead: "Next year it's my job and I'm ready for it," he defiantly declared.
Completing the top ten on this very last special stage of the year, Mads Ostberg brought his Adapta Subaru into position number eight, followed by Manfred Stohl's OMV Kronos Citroën and Matthew Wilson's Stobart Ford.
With a total rally running time of 3'22"50, Mikko Hirvonen is the deserving winner of the 75th edition of Wales Rally GB, accomplishing the feat with a 15.2-second advantage on now-retiree Marcus Grönholm. Four-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb steps onto the third step of the podium.
Petter Solberg maintained the pace as best as his car allowed and merited the fourth overall place, 17 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo, who did well for his second attempt on the Welsh trails.
Overall sixth-placed Matthew Wilson can say he accomplished his mission: he ended the season by bringing home three more points and beat Chris Atkinson by one notch at the conclusion of this event.
The last available point of the year went to eighth-placed Manfred Stohl as Xevi Pons and Jari-Matti Latvala completed the overall top ten drivers list.
It must be noted however that Latvala's final standing in no way reflects the excellent performance he demonstrated during this rally. Were it not for a mechanical problem on Friday's last run, the fastest times he recorded on 10 of the 17 stages should have seen him much higher in the concluding rankings.
Nonetheless, Latvala did well in showing off his capabilities as he dreams of switching from the Stobart Ford team to the works Ford organisation. When asked in which car he saw himself next year, he enthusiastically replied: "I hope it's a Ford, and a blue colour!"
