The 2010 Wales Rally GB, was the thirteenth and final round of the 2010 World Rally Championship (WRC) season. The twenty stage gravel rally took place over 11–14 November 2010 and was based in the Welsh capital of Cardiff. The rally was the final event for two-litre World Rally Cars as the 2011 season will see the introduction of 1.6-litre World Rally Cars.
Sébastien Loeb won his eighth event of the season and the 62nd WRC rally of his career after holding off Petter Solberg by under 20 seconds. Jari-Matti Latvala finished third to secure second place in the drivers' championship.
Armindo Araújo finished second – behind Ott Tänak – in the PWRC class to claim his second successive championship, while Xavier Pons claimed the inaugural SWRC championship taking third on the rally behind Andreas Mikkelsen and Craig Breen.
Introduction The rally started with a super special stage being held at the Cardiff Bay Barrage on the Thursday evening. Friday and Saturday saw the rally complete fourteen stages in Mid Wales, with servicing at Builth Wells, before another super special stage at Cardiff Bay. Sunday had a further four stages in the South Wales area.
Results
Event standings Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points Overall 1. Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 3:14:54.0 0.0 25 2. Petter Solberg Chris Patterson Citroën C4 WRC 3:15:13.1 19.1 18 3. Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 09 3:16:29.3 1:35.3 15 4. Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 09 3:16:47.3 1:53.3 12 5. Dani Sordo Diego Vallejo Citroën C4 WRC 3:17:06.2 2:12.2 10 6. Henning Solberg Ilka Minor Ford Focus RS WRC 08 3:21:20.5 6:26.5 8 7. Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 08 3:23:31.8 8:37.8 6 8. Kimi Räikkönen Kaj Lindström Citroën C4 WRC 3:25:21.9 10:27.9 4 9. Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson Subaru Impreza WRC 2007 3:27:07.7 12:13.7 2 10. Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Škoda Fabia S2000 3:28:55.2 14:01.2 1 SWRC 1. (10.) Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Škoda Fabia S2000 3:28:55.2 0.0 25 2. (12.) Craig Breen Gareth Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000 3:34:57.9 6:02.7 18 3. (13.) Xavier Pons Alex Haro Ford Fiesta S2000 3:35:10.7 6:15.5 15 4. (14.) Patrik Sandell Emil Axelsson Škoda Fabia S2000 3:35:15.9 6:20.7 12 5. (15.) Michał Kościuszko Maciek Szczepaniak Skoda Fabia S2000 3:37:14.1 8:18.9 10 PWRC 1. (17.) Ott Tänak Kuldar Sikk Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3:38:31.0 0.0 25 2. (18.) Armindo Araújo Miguel Ramalho Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3:41:46.8 3:15.8 18 3. (19.) Hayden Paddon John Kennard Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3:42:58.9 4:27.9 15 4. (20.) Jason Pritchard Robbie Durant Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:45:35.4 7:04.4 12 5. (22.) Patrik Flodin Göran Bergsten Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:46:51.9 8:20.9 10 6. (25.) Dave Weston Jr. Ieuan Thomas Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:53:18.4 14:47.4 8 7. (26.) Michel Jourdain Jr. Óscar Sánchez Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3:54:29.1 15:58.1 6 8. (28.) Alex Raschi Rudy Pollet Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 3:55:51.4 17:20.4 4 9. (30.) Toshi Arai Daniel Barritt Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:58:55.1 20:24.1 2 10. (32.) Reijo Muhonen Juha Kanerva Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 4:05:08.5 26:37.5 1
Special stages All dates and times are GMT (UTC±0). DayStageTimeNameLengthWinnerTimeAvg. spd.Rally leader Leg 1(11–12 Nov) SS1 19:30 Cardiff Bay 1 1.70 km Sébastien Loeb 1:16.1 80.42 km/h Sébastien Loeb SS2 9:38 Hafren 1 32.14 km Jari-Matti Latvala 18:43.2 103.01 km/h Jari-Matti Latvala SS3 10:19 Sweet Lamb 1 4.26 km Sébastien Loeb 2:54.4 87.94 km/h Sébastien Loeb SS4 10:37 Myherin 1 27.88 km Jari-Matti Latvala 15:33.3 107.54 km/h Jari-Matti Latvala SS5 13:51 Hafren 2 32.14 km Sébastien Ogier 18:39.0 103.40 km/h SS6 14:32 Sweet Lamb 2 4.26 km Sébastien Loeb 2:57.1 86.60 km/h SS7 14:50 Myherin 2 27.88 km Sébastien Loeb 15:16.5 109.51 km/h Sébastien LoebLeg 2(13 Nov) SS8 9:03 Radnor 1 14.78 km Petter Solberg Jari-Matti Latvala 7:31.5 117.85 km/h Petter Solberg SS9 10:19 Monument Hill 1 10.14 km Petter Solberg 5:46.5 105.35 km/h SS10 10:43 Four Ways Crychan 1 25.14 km Sébastien Loeb 13:48.7 109.21 km/h Sébastien Loeb SS11 11:22 Halfway 1 18.37 km Petter Solberg 10:28.2 105.27 km/h SS12 14:07 Radnor 2 14.78 km Sébastien Loeb 7:22.3 120.30 km/h SS13 15:23 Monument Hill 2 10.14 km Sébastien Loeb 5:46.0 105.50 km/h SS14 15:47 Four Ways Crychan 2 25.14 km Sébastien Loeb 14:04.9 107.12 km/h SS15 16:26 Halfway 2 18.37 km Petter Solberg 10:35.9 104.00 km/h SS16 18:34 Cardiff Bay 2 1.70 km Sébastien Loeb 1:15.5 81.06 km/hLeg 3(14 Nov) SS17 8:33 Resolfen 1 29.99 km Sébastien Loeb 15:57.8 112.72 km/h SS18 9:46 Margam Park 1 8.08 km Sébastien Loeb 5:06.2 95.00 km/h SS19 11:25 Resolfen 2 29.99 km Jari-Matti Latvala 16:03.8 112.02 km/h SS20 12:38 Margam Park 2 8.08 km Dani Sordo 5:08.2 94.38 km/h
Standings after the rally
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Sébastien Loeb 276 2 Jari-Matti Latvala 171 3 Petter Solberg 169 4 Sebastien Ogier 167 5 Dani Sordo 150 6 Mikko Hirvonen 126 7 Matthew Wilson 74 8 Henning Solberg 45 9 Federico Villagra 36 10 Kimi Räikkönen 25
Manufacturers' Championship standings Manufacturer Points 1 Citroen WRT 456 2 BP Ford WRT 337 3 Citroen Junior Team 217 4 Stobart Ford 176 5 Munchi's Ford 58
References
External links The official website for the rally The official website of the World Rally Championship