Ford's celebration took a hit in the very last super special stage on Sunday, as their second consecutive 1-2 in the constructors' classification became out of reach due to Latvala's crashing out of the event. Only kilometers separated Latvala from another podium this year, but he again failed to bring his Focus WRC to the finish line.
“It's unbelievable, I can't believe what I'm seeing. It's fantastic for us. But that's amazing,” said a happy yet amazed Hirvonen at the end, after watching his teammate throw away a perfect 18 points for his team in the standings.
Latvala's crash allowed Loeb to step one more position in the overall classification, as the Frenchman managed to partially save the event with a 7th place. The Citroen ace crashed out of the event on Friday, but used the super rally rule to come back to action on Saturday morning and drive like crazy for a point finish.
His 7th place would have been out of reach, however, if Citroen hadn't use team orders to slow down Junior's Conrad Rautenbach and Evgeny Novikov for Loeb to move up the field. The reigning world champion then moved one more position in the eleventh hour, while teammate Dani Sordo also benefited from Latvala's crash to finish in 2nd place.
“It's better than nothing. One point can be very important at the end of the season, so I'm happen to take them. But it was again a rally to forget for me. I hope it will be much better next time,” said Loeb after the last super special.
The Solberg brothers, Henning and Petter, finished in 3rd and 4th respectively, while followed by Stobart Ford's Matthew Wilson. Ford's satellite team managed to get one more driver into points on Sunday, as local hero and team's guest show Krzysztof Holowczyc managed a sensational 6th place overall.
In the overall classification, the incredible has happened, as Hirvonen leads Loeb by a single point with 4 rounds to go. In the constructors standings, things remain unchanged, as each team – Ford and Citroen – scored 10 points apiece in Poland.
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