Jordan Rally - Final event report

Publication date: 16 April 2011

Sébastien Ogier and Daniel Ingrassia emerged victorious from the closest finish in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship at the Jordan Rally on Saturday.

The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew entered the final Power Stage, near the Dead Sea, trailing Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila by half a second and the fastest time gave them a winning margin of just 0.2 seconds after 14 punishing gravel special stages in the Jordan Valley.

"Just an incredible day. I had to push like hell. It is an amazing feeling," said a triumphant Ogier, who claimed a second successive championship win. "I had to ‘clean' the road on the first loop this morning and to win like this is amazing. To win the Power Stage as well and get the extra points is a perfect weekend for me."

Latvala duly claimed second position: "I pushed really hard and went wide and made a couple of little mistakes in the last stage," said the Finn.

Defending World Champion Sébastien Loeb finished third, Finland's Mikko Hirvonen was fourth and Britain's Matthew Wilson rounded off the top five.

A fascinating four-driver duel had developed between Ogier, Loeb, Latvala and Norway's Petter Solberg over Saturday morning's stages in the Jordan Valley. Solberg crashed out of contention with two stages remaining and Loeb began to slow over the last loop of stages as a fierce battle waged between Ogier and Latvala for the win.

Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah held a comfortable lead in both the SWRC and MERC categories until engine problems forced him to stop with a piston failure five kilometres into the Yakrut stage. His demise handed the SWRC victory to Portugal's Bernardo Sousa and gifted the UAE's Rashid Al-Ketbi with his first ever victory in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship in a Fazza Skoda Fabia S2000.

"In the end it was okay and we were not pushing a lot," said Sousa, who beat Estonian Karl Kruuda's Skoda Fabia S2000 by 21.7 seconds, despite suffering rear suspension problems on his Ford Fiesta. "We had to take it easy on the shocker. I am delighted. I really need a little more experience for the title (SWRC) but to start the year with 25 points is perfect."

Al-Attiyah's demise also ensured that the UAE's Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi moved into a one-point lead in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship after three of seven rounds, courtesy of his second overall in the MERC rally in a Ford Fiesta S2000.