After Day 1, it seemed like Loeb's domination this year was about to end. The Frenchman went off in the very first stage of the rally, a mistake that relegated him all the way into 7th place. Jari-Matti Latvala – overall leader at the time – suffered an accident during SS4 and was out for the entire event, while Dani Sordo made a similar mistake to Loeb's the very next stage.
Under these conditions, Hirvonen started Day 2 on top of the pack. However, the Finn failed to keep the pace with Loeb, who won all stages on Saturday to get into the overall lead. Winning almost a minute to rival Hirvonen, the Citroen champion had no problem conserving that advantage throughout the Sunday stages. He therefore preferred a risk-free approach on Day 3, ending the rally 24.3 seconds ahead of his Ford counterpart.
“On Friday afternoon it was difficult because I expected to be better, but Saturday was a perfect day. There were no problems with the car. We were really on the limit on the time, and finally we have won now, so I'm very, very happy. It's incredible. Apart from missing that junction, it was a perfect rally,” said Loeb, who extended his lead in the overall classification to 10 points from Hirvonen.
Dani Sordo was again the 3rd fastest driver of the event, while followed by former Subaru ace Petter Solberg. The Norwegian managed to bring his rusty Citroen Xsara WRC in 4th place overall, ahead of brother Henning Solberg. Mads Ostberg recorded his personal best in the WRC this weekend when he took his Subaru to 6th place overall. Federico Villagra and Khalid Al-Qassimi completed the Top 8.
Former WRC champion Marcus Gronholm, returning to the series after a sabbatical last year, suffered an accident with his Subaru in the early stages of Saturday. At the time, he was battling the big guys for a podium spot.
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