# 2007 Wales Rally GB

The 2007 Wales Rally GB (formally known as 63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain) was the 16th round of the 2007 World Rally Championship. The race was held over three days between 30 November and 2 December 2007.

## Report

Sébastien Loeb became world champion for the fourth time in a row. He had thus equaled Tommi Mäkinen's record. Third place at the season finale in Wales was enough for the Citroën driver. Loeb started the last world championship race of the season six points ahead of his rival Marcus Grönholm. Grönholm was able to make up two points with second place, and in the end Loeb had a four-point lead in the drivers' standings.
Rally won Grönholm teammate Mikko Hirvonen. He took the lead with four special stage best times on Friday. Hirvonen was 15.2 seconds clear of second-placed Gronholm to secure his fourth WRC win of his career.
Subaru driver Petter Solberg came fourth behind the leading trio. He was able to conclude such a season with moderate success in a reasonably forgiving manner. Fourth place and his teammate Chris Atkinson's seventh place secured Subaru third place in the Manufacturers' Championship ahead of the Stobart team. Days two and three were dominated by young M-Sport driver Jari-Matti Latvala, who had already been confirmed as a driver for Ford for next year. However, since he had lost almost ten minutes on the first day due to a broken windshield wiper, he was only able to finish tenth.

## Results

| Pos. | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Time | Difference | Points |
| WRC |||||||
| 1. | Mikko Hirvonen | Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC 07 | 3:22:50.9 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2. | Marcus Grönholm | Timo Rautiainen | Ford Focus RS WRC 07 | 3:23:06.1 | 15.2 | 8 |
| 3. | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC | 3:24:23.9 | 1:33.0 | 6 |
| 4. | Petter Solberg | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC2007 | 3:25:48.2 | 2:57.3 | 5 |
| 5. | Dani Sordo | Marc Marti | Citroën C4 WRC | 3:26:05.2 | 3:14.3 | 4 |
| 6. | Matthew Wilson | Michael Orr | Ford Focus WRC 06 | 3:30:23.8 | 7:32.9 | 3 |
| 7. | Chris Atkinson | Stéphane Prévot | Subaru Impreza WRC2007 | 3:31:20.4 | 8:29.5 | 2 |
| 8. | Manfred Stohl | Ilka Minor | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3:31:45.5 | 8:54.6 | 1 |
| PCWRC |||||||
| 1. (13.) | Guy Wilks | Phil Pugh | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | 3:44:23.7 | 0.0 | 10 |
| 2. (14.) | Juho Hänninen | Mikko Markkula | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | 3:44:57.9 | 34.2 | 8 |
| 3. (16.) | Mark Higgins | Scott Martin | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | 3:46:10.2 | 1:46.5 | 6 |
| 4. (17.) | Alessandro Bettega | Simone Scattolin | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | 3:49:47.3 | 5:23.6 | 5 |
| 5. (19.) | David Higgins | Ieuan Thomas | Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 3:51:32.8 | 7:09.1 | 4 |
| 6. (21.) | Mirco Baldacci | Giovanni Agnese | Subaru Impreza WRX STi | 3:53:12.8 | 8:49.1 | 3 |
| 7. (23.) | Armindo Araújo | Miguel Ramalho | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | 4:00:58.9 | 16:35.2 | 2 |
| 8. (23.) | Štěpán Vojtěch | Michal Ernst | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | 4:02:31.4 | 18:07.7 | 1 |

## Retirements

* Gabriel Pozzo - retired (SS6);
* Michał Sołowow - retired (SS6);
* Claudiu David - mechanical (SS7);
* Conrad Rautenbach - went off the road (SS8);
* Andreas Mikkelsen - went off the road (SS9);
* Stuart Jones - crashed (SS12);
* Leszek Kuzaj - did not start leg 3 (SS13/14);
* Hayden Paddon - did not start leg 3 (SS13/14);
* Spyros Pavlides - mechanical (SS14);
* Yevgeni Vertunov - mechanical (SS14);
* Luís Pérez Companc - went off the road (SS14/15);
* Patrik Flodin - mechanical (SS6);

## Special Stages

All dates and times are GMT (UTC).
| Leg | Stage | Time | Name | Length | Winner | Time | Avg. spd. | Rally leader |
| 1 (30 Nov) | SS1 | 09:53 | Port Talbot 1 | 17.41 km | M. Hirvonen | 9:15.2 | 112.9 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 1 (30 Nov) | SS2 | 10:41 | Resolfen 1 | 25.08 km | M. Hirvonen | 12:50.6 | 117.2 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 1 (30 Nov) | SS3 | 11:39 | Rheola 1 | 27.91 km | M. Hirvonen | 15:55.7 | 105.1 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 1 (30 Nov) | SS4 | 14:10 | Port Talbot 2 | 17.41 km | M. Hirvonen | 9:17.2 | 112 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 1 (30 Nov) | SS5 | 14:58 | Resolfen 2 | 25.08 km | S. Loeb M. Grönholm | 13:20.9 | 112.7 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 1 (30 Nov) | SS6 | 16:23 | Rheola 2 | 27.91 km | J. Latvala | 16:39.3 | 100.5 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS7 | 09:38 | Crychan 1 | 19.56 km | J. Latvala | 10:31.2 | 111.6 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS8 | 10:21 | Epynt 1 | 13.76 km | J. Latvala | 7:33.2 | 109.3 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS9 | 10:54 | Halfway 1 | 18.37 km | J. Latvala | 10:28.3 | 105.3 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS10 | 14:47 | Crychan 2 | 19.56 km | J. Latvala | 10:39.8 | 110.1 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS11 | 15:30 | Epynt 2 | 13.76 km | J. Latvala | 7:40.1 | 107.7 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS12 | 16:29 | Halfway 2 | 18.37 km | J. Latvala | 10:39.6 | 103.4 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 2 (1 Dec) | SS13 | 19:00 | Cardiff | 1.10 km | M. Grönholm | 1:03.8 | 62.1 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 3 (2 Dec) | SS14 | 07:46 | Brechfa 1 | 28.89 km | J. Latvala M. Hirvonen | 16:14.2 | 106.8 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 3 (2 Dec) | SS15 | 08:33 | Trawscoed 1 | 28.24 km | J. Latvala | 16:39.7 | 101.7 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 3 (2 Dec) | SS16 | 12:09 | Brechfa 2 | 28.89 km | J. Latvala | 16:11.6 | 107.0 km/h | M. Hirvonen |
| 3 (2 Dec) | SS17 | 12:56 | Trawscoed 2 | 28.24 km | J. Latvala | 16:51.0 | 100.6 km/h | M. Hirvonen |

## Final championship standings
### Drivers' championship

| Pos | Driver | MON | SWE | NOR | MEX | POR | ARG | ITA | GRC | FIN | GER | NZL | ESP | FRA | JPN | IRL | GBR | Pts |
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb | 1 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 116 |
| 2 | Marcus Grönholm | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 112 |
| 3 | Mikko Hirvonen | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 99 |
| 4 | Dani Sordo | 2 | 12 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 24 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 65 |
| 5 | Petter Solberg | 6 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 2 | Ret | 5 | 3 | Ret | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 47 |
| 6 | Henning Solberg | 14 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 16 | 15 | 34 |
| 7 | Chris Atkinson | 4 | 8 | 19 | 5 | Ret | 7 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 42 | 7 | 31 |
| 8 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Ret | Ret | 5 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 12 | Ret | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 26 | 3 | 10 | 30 |
| 9 | Manfred Stohl | 10 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 14 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 13 |
| 10 | François Duval | | | | | | | | Ret | | 2 | | 5 | Ret | | | | 12 |
| 11 | Matthew Wilson | 12 | Ret | 26 | 8 | 12 | 30 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Ret | 4 | 7 | 6 | 11 |
| 12 | Jan Kopecký | 8 | 10 | 8 | | 22 | | Ret | 7 | Ret | 5 | | Ret | 7 | | | 12 | 10 |
| 12 | Toni Gardemeister | 7 | 6 | Ret | | DSQ | | 6 | | | 7 | | | | | | | 10 |
| 14 | Daniel Carlsson | | 5 | 7 | | 6 | | Ret | | | | | | | | | | 9 |
| 15 | Gigi Galli | | 13 | 6 | | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 |
| 16 | Luís Pérez Companc | | 15 | | 19 | DNS | 28 | Ret | 11 | 11 | | 23 | Ret | | 5 | | Ret | 4 |
| 16 | Xavier Pons | 25 | Ret | 16 | | | | | | 6 | 18 | Ret | 9 | 8 | 36 | Ret | 9 | 4 |
| 18 | Guy Wilks | | | Ret | | Ret | | | 9 | 9 | 10 | | | | | 6 | 13 | 3 |
| 18 | Urmo Aava | | | 28 | | 15 | | 13 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 18 | Ret | 18 | | | 3 |
| 20 | Federico Villagra | | | | | DNS | 9 | 11 | 32 | 14 | | 11 | 13 | | 7 | | 18 | 2 |
| 21 | Juho Hänninen | | DSQ | 17 | | | 11 | 8 | Ret | Ret | | 19 | 23 | | 24 | | | 1 |
| 21 | Mads Østberg | | 9 | 37 | | Ret | | Ret | | 8 | | | | | | | 11 | 1 |
| 21 | Katsuhiko Taguchi | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 | | | 1 |
| 21 | Gareth MacHale | 11 | | | Ret | 13 | | Ret | | | | | | | | 8 | | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | MON | SWE | NOR | MEX | POR | ARG | ITA | GRC | FIN | GER | NZL | ESP | FRA | JPN | IRL | GBR | Pts |
Key :
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black | Excluded (EX) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Withdrew entry from the event (WD) |

### Manufacturers' championship

| Rank | Manufacturer | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Event | Total points |
| Rank | Manufacturer | MON | SWE | NOR | MEX | POR | ARG | ITA | GRC | FIN | GER | NZL | ESP | FRA | JPN | IRL | GBR | Total points |
| 1 | BP Ford World Rally Team | 10 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 212 |
| 2 | Citroën Total World Rally Team | 18 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 10 | 183 |
| 3 | Subaru World Rally Team | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 87 |
| 4 | Stobart VK M-Sport Ford | 1 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 81 |
| 5 | OMV Kronos | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 45 |
| 6 | Munchi's Ford World Rally Team | | 0 | | 0 | | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | | 0 | 0 | | 8 | | 0 | 14 |