2013 World Rally Championship
[89] With the introduction of Group R, the rules for the feeder categories re-written in a bid to boost entries:[7] After the collapse of promoter North One Sport and parent company Convers Sports Initiatives in early 2012,[92][93] and being forced to arrange event coverage on an event-by-event basis for most of the 2012 season, the World Rally Championship sought out a new promoter for 2013 in Red Bull House Media.
In his final appearance at the Monte Carlo Rally, Sébastien Loeb secured a record seventh victory on the event, winning by over a minute and a half.
Ogier went on to finish second in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC's debut, having set the fastest time on the opening stage of the rally.
Østberg was able to re-enter the rally the next day under "Rally 2" regulations, but the accompanying five-minute penalty put him out of contention and Mikko Hirvonen emerged as Ogier's closest challenger; Østberg ultimately finished eleventh, but scored two bonus world championship points on the Power Stage.
Dani Sordo—driving for the Citroën works team in Loeb's absence—was fourth, while Nasser al-Attiyah, Chris Atkinson and Ken Block all marked their return to the WRC with fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively.
Mads Østberg took an early lead, but rolled his Ford Fiesta RS WRC when he mis-heard a pace note on the first day, and he was forced to retire.
Dani Sordo emerged as Ogier's next challenger, but his bid to win the rally came to an abrupt end when he was similarly forced to retire after crashing.
Ogier and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala built up a lead over third-placed Mikko Hirvonen until disaster struck the two Volkswagen Polo R WRCs on the final day.
The Volkswagens recovered quickly, and Ogier went on to win the power stage and the rally, but the damage had been done and Latvala finished three minutes behind Hirvonen.
Evgeny Novikov recovered from a slow start to his season to finish fourth, the highest-placed Ford driver, with Nasser Al-Attiyah in fifth and Andreas Mikkelsen sixth in the third Volkswagen.
Østberg re-entered the rally after his roll and went on to finish eighth, picking up two extra World Championship points on the power stage.
The opening forty-seven kilometre stage proved to be difficult, claiming three high-profile victims in Sébastien Ogier, Mads Østberg and Mikko Hirvonen in short order, and Evgeny Novikov emerged as the surprise early leader, building up a thirty-second advantage at the end of the first leg.
The Russian's lead was short-lived, as he developed a puncture early in the second leg and was forced to limp back to the service park.
Latvala took control of the rally while Andreas Mikkelsen in the third factory-supported Polo R began to work his way up through the points-paying positions.
[107] The final day saw the podium finishers remain as the previous evening, after second placed Neuville won the battle with Østberg, when the latter went off to avoid a rock.
The top ten finishers were completed by Per-Gunnar Andersson, Robert Kubica – scoring again with the Citroën DS3 RRC – and Andreas Mikkelsen.
[108] Dani Sordo won his first ever WRC event at the all-tarmac Rallye Deutschland after fighting back from fourth place.
[111] In the final day of competition, Sordo retained the lead after Neuville went off in the very last stage and settled with second position and Mikko Hirvonen completed the podium.
After his puncture, Hirvonen finished third, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, Mads Østberg, Mikkelsen, Evgeny Novikov, local Nathan Quinn, Khalid Al Qassimi and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari.
Nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb failed to finish his last appearance in the championship after his car slid wide on stage 15 and rolled into a ditch.
M-Sport's trio of Neuville, Evgeny Novikov and Mads Østberg finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, followed by Martin Prokop and Hayden Paddon in seventh and eighth.
Ogier led the event from start to finish, with teammate Jari-Matti Latvala and Thierry Neuville completing the podium after taking their final positions on stage 6.
Robert Kubica, who was making his début in a Citroën DS3 WRC, rolled his car on the first stage of the second day of competition.
[121] Day four saw the end of a three-way battle for third in favour of Neuville between him, Mads Østberg and Andreas Mikkelsen, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Martin Prokop finished sixth, with Dani Sordo in seventh after taking a five-minute penalty for a breach of the chassis regulations.
The top ten finishers were completed by WRC2 drivers Elfyn Evans, Jari Ketomaa and Mark Higgins, all driving Ford Fiesta R5 cars.
