WReCked

Well, it’s official, the 2008 rallying season’s upon us and no surprises for guessing who won the inaugural Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo. Yes, it was once again, the Gallic answer to Germany’s Michael Schumacher, the intrepid Sebastian Loeb. Those Citroen C4’s are proving still hard to beat with only mechanical failure stopping Dani Sordo’s charge for 2nd place and thereby leaving the field open for Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen to take it. Subaru’s Aussie driver Chris Atkinson, claimed a podium finish in 3rd place by a hair over Francois Duval in a Stobart-sponsored 2007 Ford focus WRC.

It was a dramatic win for Atkinson who saw his 23 second lead shorn down to only 1.1 seconds by the time they arrived for the final spectator stage in Monte Carlo. Atkinson who enjoyed home-town advantage on the twisty streets of the circuit, took the last spot on the podium by the skin of his teeth when he fobbed off the determined attentions of the Belgian who put up a spirited fight to make a dead even time on the track.

Subaru’s Petter Solberg came in 5th overall to place the team one point behind Citroen in the manufacturer’s championship. Conrad Rautenbach who was placed 21st overall crashed out in the final stage of the rally when he appeared to have tried to reverse over the finish line but lost control of the vehicle.

More details on the WRC site