The final round of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship – Rally de España – was won by the Citroën Total World Rally Team crew of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, providing a fitting exit for the reigning World Champions on their final event full-time in the WRC.

It was also their eighth consecutive victory in Spain. Second position was claimed by Ford’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila with Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen taking the final podium position.

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their ninth title* on Rallye de France-Alsace two events ago, and Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were assured second after claiming their first victory of the season on the penultimate round in Italy.

Third in the Championship was fought out in Spain and Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila narrowly claimed the plaudits ahead of Norway’s Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Citroën also claimed the title in France*.

Today’s route included two identical loops of three stages covering 93.94 competitive kilometres, the penultimate test counting as the Power Stage. Here, Latvala, Dani Sordo and Loeb claimed the additional points for setting the fastest times in this single stage. Loeb has maintained his advantage throughout the day, with Latvala closing the gap to just seven seconds this afternoon.

Hirvonen was in the midst of a battle with Østberg but the rivals held their third and fourth positions respectively. Jarkko Nikara completed a fine event – his first in a world rally car – in fifth position and Craig Breen rounded off the top six in his less powerful Ford Fiesta S2000 car. He also claimed the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship title*, just one year after winning the FIA WRC Academy Cup. Mexican Benito Guerra won the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship title**, having taken maximum points on the final round here in Spain.

The 2013 FIA World Rally Championship kicks off with the famous Rallye Monte-Carlo (January 15-20).

* Subject to confirmation of the results by the FIA
* Subject to confirmation of the results by the FIA and a complete engine inspection

WRC Rally de España – Final Provisional Results After Day 3

1. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën DS3 WRC) 4hr 14min 29.1sec
2. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +7.0
3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Citroën DS3 WRC) +1:46.8
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:56.4
5. Jarkko Nikara/Jarkko Kalliolepo (MINI Cooper Works WRC) +16:07.9
6. Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Ford Fiesta S2000) +18:10.4
7. Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall (MINI Cooper Works WRC) +19:14.7
8. Per-Gunnar Andersson/E Axelsson (Proton Satria Neo S2000) +20:16.1
9. Dani Sordo/Carlos Del Barrio (MINI Cooper Works WRC) +25:40.6
10. Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +25:46.6

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 13 of 13 rounds)

Sébastien Loeb (FRA) 270 points
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) 213 points
Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) 154 points
Mads Østberg (NOR) 149 points
Petter Solberg (NOR) 124 points
Evgeny Novikov (RUS) 88 points
Thierry Neuville (BEL) 53 points
Ott Tänak (EST) 52 points
Martin Prokop (CZE) 46 points
Sébastien Ogier (FRA) 41 points
Dani Sordo (ESP) 35 points
Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) 28 points
Chris Atkinson (AUS) 28 points
Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) 13 points
Armindo Araújo (PRT) 11 points
Jarkko Nikara (FIN) 10 points
Craig Breen (IRL) 8 points
François Delecour (FRA) 8 points
Dennis Kuipers (NLD) 8 points
Henning Solberg (NOR) 6 points
Pierre Campana (FRA) 6 points
Matti Rantanen (FIN) 6 points
Jari Ketomaa (FIN) 6 points
Per-Gunnar Andersson (SWE) 4 points
Mathew Wilson (GBR) 4 points
Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) 4 points
Patrik Sandell (SWE) 4 points
Ken Block (USA) 4 points
Abdulaziz Alkuwari (QAT) 1 point
Sébastien Chardonnet (FRA) 1 point
Ricardo Triviño (MEX) 1 point
Mathieu Arzeno (FRA) 1 point
Peter Van Merksteijn (NLD) 1 point
Eyvind Brynildsen (NOR) 1 point
Manfred Stohl (AUT) 1 point
Luca Pedersoli (ITA) 1 point

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 13 of 13 rounds)

Citroën Total World Rally Team - 453 points
Ford World Rally Team - 309 points
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team - 170 points
Adapta World Rally Team - 83 points
Citroën Junior World Rally Team - 72 points
Qatar World Rally Team - 71 points
Brazil World Rally Team - 28 points
MINI WRC Team - 26 points