The 2008 World Rally Championship season was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on January 24, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally. Frenchman Sébastien Loeb successfully retained the Drivers' World Championship, his and co-driver Daniel Elena's record-breaking fifth consecutive title, all of them attained driving Citroëns. In addition, Citroën secured their fourth Manufacturers' title, and their first since 2005, from 2006 and 2007 victors, Ford.
[edit] Rule changes
The banning of
tyre mousse made punctures much more common (pictured
JWRC car with a rear wheel puncture in
Italy).
The running order for the first day is governed by championship position, with the championship leader running first on the road. For every other day of a rally, the order is decided by the previous end of day classification (with the leader on classification running first). The term 'leg' has been replaced by 'day' in order to sound more understandable. Extra 10 minute service prior to the finish podium has been added, intended to allow the service park to remain an attraction until the end of the event.[1]
With the switch to Pirelli tyres, tyre mousse (along with all anti-deflation devices) has been banned, and fewer compounds are available. Also the teams aren't allowed to modify tyres by themselves (eg. by making additional cuts) anymore.[2][3] At the first event of the season, the available tires were the soft slick DS tire (Pirelli PZero[4]), the WX snow tire without studs, and the WX snow tire with studs (both variants of Pirelli Sottozero[4]).[5] The same snow tyres were used in Sweden as well. Later on loose surface tyres were introduced: Pirelli Scorpion, available in two variants - hard compound for abrasive surfaces, such as roads in Mexico or Greece, and soft one, for more muddy stages as seen on Welsh event.[4] Tire walls have been strengthened in order to endure long, rough gravel stages often full of sharp rocks. The tread on Scorpions is asymmetric and directional, as it has proven more efficient during the tests.[4]
[edit] Calendar
The 2008 season includes 15 rallies, which is one less than the 2007 season. Rally Norway, Rally Portugal and Rally Ireland were dropped from the calendar for 2008. Rally of Turkey returned to the schedule, and Jordan Rally is part of the calendar for the first time. Rally Australia was planned to make a return after being absent in 2007, but the organizers submitted a request to the FIA to delay the event's return to the schedule until 2009.[6]
The events also part of the Production World Rally Championship are Sweden, Argentina, Greece, Turkey, Finland, New Zealand, Japan and Britain.[7] The seven rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule are Mexico, Jordan, Italy, Finland, Germany, Spain and France.[8]
[edit] Teams and drivers
The teams and drivers for the 2008 season are as follows:
| Team | Constructor | Car | Tyre | No | Drivers | Rounds |
 Citroën Total | Citroën | C4 WRC | P | 1 | Sébastien Loeb | 1-15 |
| 2 |  Dani Sordo | 1-15 |
 BP-Ford Abu Dhabi | Ford | Focus RS WRC 07 & 08 | P | 3 |  Mikko Hirvonen | 1-15 |
| 4 | Jari-Matti Latvala | 1-11, 14-15 |
 François Duval [c] | 12-13 |
| 17 |  Khalid AlQassimi [a] | 1-2, 5-7, 9-10, 12-13, 15 |
 Subaru World Rally Team | Subaru | Impreza WRC2007 & WRC2008 | P | 5 |  Petter Solberg | 1-15 |
| 6 |  Chris Atkinson | 1-15 |
 Stobart VK M-Sport | Ford | Focus RS WRC 07 | P | 7 |  Gigi Galli | 1-10 |
| 7/8 | François Duval [b][c] | 1, 10-11, 14-15 |
| Matthew Wilson [b] | 1-15 |
| 8 | Henning Solberg [b][d] | 1-2, 4-5, 7-10, 13, 15 |
| Jari-Matti Latvala | 12-13 |
| 46 | Valentino Rossi | 15 |
 Munchi's Ford [e] | Ford | Focus RS WRC 07 | P | 9 | Federico Villagra | 3-9, 11-12, 14 |
| 10 | Luís Pérez Companc | 5-6 |
| Henning Solberg[d] | 3, 6, 11-12, 14 |
| Barry Clark[9][f] | 8 |
 Aris Vovos [g] | 7 |
| Suzuki | Suzuki | SX4 WRC | P | 11 | Toni Gardemeister | 1-15 |
| 12 |  Per-Gunnar Andersson | 1-15 |
Footnotes:
^ a: Khalid Al Qassimi will compete in 10 rounds for BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.
^ b: Stobart Ford plan to run Duval, H. Solberg and Wilson at every round possible (see c and d), nominating one each time for manufacturer points, depending on the rally surface.
^ c Duval's starts depend mostly on his budget - he is scheduled to start in Monte Carlo, Spain and Germany and aiming to start in six rounds, mostly tarmac, including Jordan Rally.[10]
^ d: Henning Solberg is supposed to take part in 7 rounds scoring for Munchi's Ford team,[11] including Mexico.[12]
^ e: Munchi's Ford plan to compete in just 10 of the 15 rallies.
^ f: Barry Clark will be nominated to score points for Munchi's team in Turkey.[13]
^ g: Aris Vovos has been chosen to score points for Munchi's Ford in 2008 Acropolis Rally.[14]
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[edit] Events
The Rally Finland is notable this year for having dropped its famous Ouninpohja stage. This has been done for safety reasons, however this is likely to be a huge disappointment for race fans.[15]
[edit] Standings
[edit] Drivers' championship
| | | Colour | Result | | Gold | Winner | | Silver | 2nd place | | Bronze | 3rd place | | Green | Points finish (top 8) | | Blue | Non-points finish | | Purple | Did not finish (Ret) | | Black | Disqualified (DSQ) | | White | Did not start (DNS) | | Blank | Did not practice (DNP) | | Injured or ill (Inj) | | Excluded (EX) | | Suspended (SUS) | | Did not arrive (DNA) | | Withdrew entry before the event (WD) | |
[edit] Manufacturers' championship
[edit] Junior championship
[edit] Production championship
Points table:[16]
[edit] References
- ^ "FIA reveals regulation changes.". Crash.net. 2007-10-24. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/156400-0/fia_reveals_regulation_changes.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "New tyre rules good for WRC, says Mikko.". Crash.net. 2008-01-15. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158685-0/new_tyre_rules_good_for_wrc,_says_mikko.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Loeb: Tyre changes create a lot of unknowns.". Crash.net. 2008-01-04. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158421-0/loeb_tyre_changes_create_a_lot_of_unknowns.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ a b c d "Third new Pirelli WRC tyre makes debut on Rally Mexico". WRC.com. 2008-02-15. http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=360&desc=Third%20new%20Pirelli%20WRC%20tyre%20makes%20debut%20on%20Rally%20Mexico. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ "Preview: Rallye Monte Carlo - Pt. 1.". Crash.net. 2008-01-23. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158896-1/preview_rallye_monte_carlo_-_pt_1.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Australia return delayed, Mexico gets call.". 2007-10-24. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/156398-1/australia_return_delayed_mexico_gets_call.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "PWRC: 28 to battle it out in '08". 2008-02-13. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158744-0/pwrc_28_to_battle_it_out_in_08.html. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "JWRC: 16 competitors to contest Junior series". 2008-02-13. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158739-0/jwrc_16_competitors_to_contest_junior_series.html. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ^ "Official: Clark to do three events with Focus.". Crash.net. 2008-02-28. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160158-0/official_clark_to_do_three_events_with_focus.html. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ^ Lach, Łukasz (2008-02-05). "Focus WRC in exchange for Duval's outings" (in Polish). Rajdy.v10.pl. http://www.rajdy.v10.pl/Focus,WRC,w,zamian,za,starty,Duvala,6364.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Henning to Munchis (Henning do Munchis)" (in Polish). RallyOnline.pl. 2008-01-25. http://rallyonline.pl/index.php?modex=pnews&s=14824. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
- ^ "First event of year for Munchi's, Villagra.". Crash.net. 2008-02-25. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160049-0/first_event_of_year_for_munchis_villagra.html. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ Wilkins, Rob (2008-03-14). "Q&A: Barry Clark - EXCLUSIVE.". Crash.net. http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/160783-1/qa_barry_clark_-_exclusive.html. Retrieved 2008-03-15.
- ^ Lach, Łukasz (2008-03-19). "Munchi's Ford will have a fifth driver." (in Polish). Rajdy.v10.pl. http://www.rajdy.v10.pl/Munchis,Ford,bedzie,miec,piatego,kierowce,8823.html. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ "What's on Dave - 2008 WRC Calendar". What's on Dave. http://uktv.co.uk/dave/stepbystep/aid/598029. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
- ^ "2008 Production WRC Classification". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/championships/wrc/2008/Pages/pwrc_classification.aspx. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
[edit] External links
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