Zoom Saved a trip, took the crown

The final round of the 2007 Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which took place this weekend in China, did little to change the positions at the sharp end of either the Drivers' or Manufacturers' points tables which consequently conclude as they were after the recent Rallye du Valais in Switzerland.

Rally China took place in the Longyou regions without most of the series' top names, including the two Peugeot Spain drivers and the Scuderia Abarth squad. In the absence of the leading IRC runners, the Drivers' classification stayed unaltered compared with that established after the penultimate round in Valais.

Without having to make the long trip out to China, Enrique Garcia-Ojeda and Peugeot are consequently the 2007 IRC champions with BFGoodrich.

That said, the Peugeot Spain driver was remarkably consistent throughout the year, with six podium finishes to his name from seven starts, including two second places. Aged 35, Garcia Ojeda is e genuine all-rounder, equally as quick on the loose as he is on sealed surfaces, and extremely reliable, too, since he wasn't eliminated by a single driving error in the course of the year.

His team-mate Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot/BFGoodrich) won three rallies (Turkey, Barum, Valais) but was less consistent. The Frenchman went off in Ypres and failed to finish in Madeira, returning two blank scorecards which doubtlessly cost him the title.

Thanks to the 10 points he picked up on Kenya's Safari Rally, Italy's Andrea Navarra (Abarth/BFGoodrich) topped the points table for much of the year but a difficult final part of the season saw him collect just three points between July and October.

On the Manufacturers' front, the fight between Abarth and Peugeot proved extremely fierce. The IRC regulations permit anyone driving for the marque to score points, so long as the manufacturer is officially registered for the championship and the different teams played a tactical game.

Abarth called in Giandomenico Basso to score 10 points in Madeira, while Luca Rossetti bagged 20 points for Peugeot thanks to his wins in Ypres and Sanremo. The Abarth Grande Punto S2000/BFGoodrich dominated the early part of the season, but the Peugeot 207 S2000/BFGoodrich gradually eased ahead during the summer.

After scoring two world titles in 2006, BFGoodrich now adds the two 2007 IRC titles to its record. With the exception of China, tyres from its competition catalogue won every round of this season's extremely competitive IRC which saw three tyre manufacturers register for the 2007 series.

Rally China also counted towards the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the fight between Subaru and Mitsubishi drivers proved extremely close. Australian Cody Crocker (Subaru) went on to take victory to hold on to his Drivers' crown, while Subaru took the championship for makes despite second and third place finishes for Mitsubishi runners David Higgins and Lang Xu.

D.B. © CAPSIS International
Source BFGoodrich