ANDREAS AIGNER / KLAUS WICHA
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MIRCO BALDACCI / GIOVANNI AGNESE
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MARTIN RAUAM / SILVER KUTT
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Andreas Aigner (Austria) moved into a commanding 16-point lead in the Production Car World Rally Championship standings with his third successive victory in the category. Of the four rallies he has started this year, Aigner and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution remain unbeaten since the Swedish Rally in February.
Aigner’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution ran faultlessly throughout the event - despite the exceptional conditions under which the crews were competing. Like the two days which had gone before, today’s final leg was run beneath clear blue skies with temperatures rising over 30 degrees, testing the car, tires, drivers and co-drivers to the extreme.
Aigner and his co-driver Klaus Wicha (Germany) passed those tests without any trouble with Lancer Evolution. The led through a fierce fight with Patrik Sandell (Sweden) for much of Saturday, but finally moved into a comfortable position on the final loop of stages yesterday. Today’s final three stages were about managing that lead and not making any mistakes.
"What a relief," said Aigner at the finish. "I thought the Acropolis was a really tough rally two weeks ago, but this has been as difficult in places. Again today, we have seen some really big rocks being pulled out. The roads have been very, very rough in places, but the Lancer Evolution has coped with all of that. The car’s reliability has been very good for us again."
Sandell’s Peugeot was second, with Mirco Baldacci (San Marino) collecting six points for third position. Baldacci was, like Aigner, pleased to see the Kemer service park - and finish ramp - for the final time.
"It’s been a very hard rally," said Baldacci. "When I dropped back down the leaderbaord earlier in this rally, I didn’t think this would be possible - I thought the gap was too big. But we’ve made it. To get on the podium after a difficult rally like this is a good result for me and the team."
Once again, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was the most popular car in the top 10 of the Group N standings, with five Lancers in the top eight, point-scoring positions.
Martin Rauam (Estonia) finished fourth and said: "I’ve enjoyed this final day. We had a clean run. We’ve had a tough couple of days, so it’s been nice to be able to get on and push hard through the final loop of stages."
The star of the day, however, had to be Italian Simone Campedelli. Campedelli had slipped back down the order on day two, but was determined to make the most of his final day’s competition in Turkey. The Mitsubishi driver did that in style, taking fastest times in the Production Car World Rally Championship category on each of the day’s three stages. He ended the event seventh in the standings, with fellow Lancer man Armindo Araujo (Portugal) two paces ahead of him in fifth.
The Ford team enjoyed a one-two at the top of the standings, with Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) leading Jari-Matti Latala (Finland) home. Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb (France) was third.
The next round of the Production Car World Rally Championship is Rally Finland (July 31-August 3).
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| 1 |
Andreas Aigner
Klaus Wicha |
A
D |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
5:02:21.6 |
**:**:**.* |
| 2 |
Patrik Sandell
Emil Axelsson |
S
S |
PEUGEOT 207 S2000 |
N
2 |
5:03:10.3 |
0:48.7 |
| 3 |
Mirco Baldacci
Giovanni Agnese |
RSM
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
5:05:22.6 |
3:01.0 |
| 4 |
Martin Rauam
Silver Kutt |
EE
EE |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
4 |
5:07:52.6 |
5:31.0 |
| 5 |
Armindo Araujo
Miguel Ramalho |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
5 |
5:08:45.2 |
6:23.6 |
| 6 |
Eygeniy Vertunov
Georgy Troshkin |
RUS
RUS |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
6 |
5:09:14.6 |
6:53.0 |
| 7 |
Simone Campedelli
Danilo Fappani |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
7 |
5:14:40.7 |
12:19.1 |
| 8 |
Giorgio Bacco
Silvio Stefanelli |
I
I |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
8 |
5:25:14.3 |
22:52.7 |
| 9 |
Gianluca Linari
Roberto Mometti |
I
I |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
9 |
5:25:52.7 |
23:31.1 |
| 10 |
Nasser Al Attiyah
Chris Patterson |
QAT
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
10 |
5:36:28.4 |
34:06.8 |
| 11 |
Bernardo Sousa
Carlos Magalhaes |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
11 |
5:40:50.7 |
38:29.1 |
| 12 |
Riccardo Errani
Stefano Casadio |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
14 |
5:52:26.5 |
50:04.9 |
1
M |
Mikko Hirvonen
Jarmo Lehtinen |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
1 |
4:42:07.1 |
**:**:**.* |
2
M |
Jari-Matti Latvala
Miikka Anttila |
FIN
FIN |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
2 |
4:42:15.0 |
0:07.9 |
3
M |
Sebastien Loeb
Daniel Elena |
F
MC |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
3 |
4:42:32.8 |
0:25.7 |
4
M |
Daniel Sordo
Marc Marti |
E
E |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
4 |
4:44:32.7 |
2:25.6 |
5
M |
Henning Solberg
Cato Menkerud |
N
N |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
5 |
4:44:40.8 |
2:33.7 |
6
M |
Petter Solberg
Philip Mills |
N
GB |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2007 |
A
6 |
4:44:55.3 |
2:48.2 |
7
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Matthew Wilson
Scott Martin |
GB
GB |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
7 |
4:46:31.3 |
4:24.2 |
8
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Conrad Rautenbach
David Senior |
ZW
GB |
CITROEN C4 WRC |
A
8 |
4:49:53.8 |
7:46.7 |
9
M |
Federico Villagra
Jorge Perez Companc |
RA
RA |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
9 |
4:51:41.2 |
9:34.1 |
10
M |
Barry Clark
Paul Nagle |
GB
GB |
FORD FOCUS RS WRC 07 |
A
10 |
4:56:55.9 |
14:48.8 |
11
P |
Andreas Aigner
Klaus Wicha |
A
D |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
1 |
5:02:21.6 |
20:14.5 |
12
P |
Patrik Sandell
Emil Axelsson |
S
S |
PEUGEOT 207 S2000 |
N
2 |
5:03:10.3 |
21:03.2 |
13
M |
Chris Atkinson
Stephane Prevot |
AUS
B |
SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2007 |
A
11 |
5:04:43.6 |
22:36.5 |
14
P |
Mirco Baldacci
Giovanni Agnese |
RSM
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
3 |
5:05:22.6 |
23:15.5 |
15
P |
Martin Rauam
Silver Kutt |
EE
EE |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
4 |
5:07:52.6 |
25:45.5 |
16
P |
Armindo Araujo
Miguel Ramalho |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
5 |
5:08:45.2 |
26:38.1 |
17
P |
Eygeniy Vertunov
Georgy Troshkin |
RUS
RUS |
SUBARU IMPREZA |
N
6 |
5:09:14.6 |
27:07.5 |
| ../ |
24
P |
Bernardo Sousa
Carlos Magalhaes |
P
P |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
11 |
5:40:50.7 |
58:43.6 |
27
P |
Riccardo Errani
Stefano Casadio |
I
I |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
14 |
5:52:26.5 |
1:10:19.4 |
28
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Mustafa Soylemez
Bora Arabaci |
TUR
TUR |
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX |
N
15 |
5:52:32.6 |
1:10:25.5 |
