Repsol YPF

The WRC has its first race of the 2008 season in the heat this weekend: the Rally Sardinia, a rally that takes place on sandy tracks intersprsed with gravel and which has a memorable finish. The Spanish driver Daniel Sordo (Citröen) will go to Italy with the intention of repeating the success he had in the Rally Jordan where he finished in second position.

Mikko Hirvonen has won his first rally of the season in the brand new Rally Jordan after putting in a great performance on the final day of the competition. The Finn who is now at the top of the driver leaderboard, crossed the line just one minute fifteen seconds ahead of the Spaniard Dani Sordo but was almost five minutes in front of the Australian Subaru driver, Atkinson, who was third.

The WRC goes to the Middle-East this weekend for the first ever race in Jordan. This will be the first Arab country to host a date in the WRC calendar and it promises to be spectacular. One of the big attractions in this rally is the contrast between the altitudes the drivers will come across, some of the special sections will be below sea-level and others at over 1 000 metres.

On the final day of the Rally Argentina Loeb made good use of the advantage that he had over the chasing group and carried off the victory. The Australian driver Atkinson finished in second position, and Dani Sordo was third alongside the Frenchman on the podium. In the end the Finn Hirvonen was fifth behind Rautenbach.