2008 World Rally Championship Explained

The 2008 World Rally Championship was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on 24 January, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.Frenchman Sébastien Loeb successfully retained the Drivers' World Championship, his and co-driver Daniel Elena's record-breaking fifth consecutive title, all of them attained driving Citroëns. In addition, Citroën secured their fourth Manufacturers' title, and their first since 2005, from 2006 and 2007 victors, Ford.

Rule changes

The running order for the first day is governed by championship position, with the championship leader running first on the road. For every other day of a rally, the order is decided by the previous end of day classification (with the leader on classification running first). The term 'leg' has been replaced by 'day' in order to sound more understandable. Extra 10-minute service prior to the finish podium has been added, intended to allow the service park to remain an attraction until the end of the event.^[1]

With the switch to Pirelli tyres, tyre mousse (along with all anti-deflation devices) has been banned, and fewer compounds are available. Also the teams aren't allowed to modify tyres by themselves (e.g. by making additional cuts) anymore.^[2] ^[3] At the first event of the season, the available tires were the soft slick DS tire (Pirelli PZero), the WX snow tire without studs, and the WX snow tire with studs (both variants of Pirelli Sottozero).^[4] The same snow tyres were used in Sweden as well. Later on loose surface tyres were introduced: Pirelli Scorpion, available in two variants – hard compound for abrasive surfaces, such as roads in Mexico or Greece, and soft one, for more muddy stages as seen on Welsh event.^[5] Tire walls have been strengthened in order to endure long, rough gravel stages often full of sharp rocks. The tread on Scorpions is asymmetric and directional, as it has proven more efficient during the tests.^[5]

Calendar

The 2008 championship was contested over fifteen rounds in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.

The 2008 season included 15 rallies, which was one less than the 2007 season. Rally Norway, Rally Portugal and Rally Ireland were dropped from the calendar for 2008. Rally of Turkey returned to the schedule, and Jordan Rally was part of the calendar for the first time. Rally Australia was planned to make a return after being absent in 2007, but the organizers submitted a request to the FIA to delay the event's return to the schedule until 2009.^[6]

The events also part of the Production World Rally Championship were Sweden, Argentina, Greece, Turkey, Finland, New Zealand, Japan and GB.^[7] The seven rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship schedule were Mexico, Jordan, Italy, Finland, Germany, Spain and France.^[8]

Round	Dates	Rally	Support class
1	24–27 January	nowrap		none
2	8–10 February		P-WRC
3	nowrap	28 February-2 March		J-WRC
4	27–30 March		P-WRC
5	24–27 April		J-WRC
6	16–18 May		J-WRC
7	29 May-1 June		P-WRC
8	13–15 June		P-WRC
9	31 July-3 August		nowrap	P-WRC, J-WRC
10	15–17 August		J-WRC
11	28–31 August		P-WRC
12	2–5 October		J-WRC
13	10–12 October		J-WRC
14	31 October-2 November		P-WRC
15	5–7 December		P-WRC

Teams and drivers

In 2008 two categories are valid to compete for the Manufacturer's championship:

Manufacturer (M)

must take part in all the rallies of the Championship with two cars of the same make
must enter only cars corresponding to the latest homologated version of a World Rally Car in conformity with the 2008 Appendix J
must inform the FIA of the name of the first driver entered for the season at the time of registration for the Championship. No change of the first driver is authorised, except in a case of force majeure. The driver of the second car may be changed for each of the rallies in the Championship

Manufacturer Team (MT)

must take part in a minimum of 10 Championship rallies with two cars of the same make; those rallies must be nominated on registering for the Championship
cannot enter World Rally Cars homologated during the year 2008 and cannot use parts homologated after 2 January 2008
can only score points in the events it nominated on registering.

The teams and drivers for the 2008 season are as follows:

Manufacturers
Team	Manufacturer	Car	No	Drivers	Co-driver	Rounds
Citroën Total World Rally Team	Citroën	C4 WRC	1	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	All
Citroën Total World Rally Team	Citroën	C4 WRC	2	Daniel Sordo	Marc Marti	All
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07 Focus RS WRC 08	3	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	All
			4	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	1–11, 14–15
			4	François Duval	Patrick Pivato	12–13
Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2007 Impreza WRC 2008	5	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	All
Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2007 Impreza WRC 2008	6	Chris Atkinson	Stéphane Prévot	All
Suzuki World Rally Team	Suzuki	SX4 WRC	11	Toni Gardemeister	Tomi Tuominen	All
Suzuki World Rally Team	Suzuki	SX4 WRC	12	nowrap	Per-Gunnar Andersson	nowrap	Jonas Andersson	All
Manufacturer Teams
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07	7	Gianluigi Galli	Giovanni Bernacchini	1–10
				François Duval	Patrick Pivato	11, 14
				François Duval	Denis Giraudet	15
				Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	12–13
			8	François Duval	Eddy Chevaillier	1
				François Duval	Patrick Pivato	10
				Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	2, 4–5, 7–9
				Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	3, 6, 11, 14–15
				Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	12–13
Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07	9	Federico Villagra	nowrap	Jorge Pérez Companc	nowrap	3–9, 11–12, 14
			10	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	nowrap	3, 6, 11–12, 14
				Luís Pérez Companc	Jose Maria Volta	4, 9
				Barry Clark	José Díaz	5
				Barry Clark	Paul Nagle	8
				Armodios Vovos	Loris Meletopoulos	7

Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2008	14	Brice Tirabassi	Fabrice Gordon	12–13
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07	19	nowrap	Khalid Al Qassimi	Michael Orr	1–2, 5–7, 9–10, 12–13, 15
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 07	14	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	1, 10, 13, 15
			16	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	1, 4–5, 7–10
			20	Barry Clark	Paul Nagle	13, 15
			46	Valentino Rossi	Carlo Cassina	15
		Focus RS WRC 04	23	Steve Perez	Paul Spooner	15
		Focus RS WRC 05	24	Dave Weston, Jr	Aled Davies	15
PH Sport	Citroën	C4 WRC	15	Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk	2, 5–13, 15
			17	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	15
			18	Conrad Rautenbach	David Senior	3–15
		Xsara WRC	21	Conrad Rautenbach	David Senior	1–2
Triviño Racing	Peugeot	206 WRC	15	Ricardo Triviño	Sergio Salom	3
Team Rallye Cuoq	Peugeot	307 WRC	18	Jean-Marie Cuoq	Philippe Janvier	1
Adapta World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 2007	18	Mads Østberg	Ole Kristian Unnerud	2, 6–7, 9–10, 12–13, 15
Ramsport	Ford	Focus RS WRC 06	20	Matti Rantanen	Jan Lönegren	9
			23	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	2, 8–10, 12–13
			23	Andreas Mikkelsen	Maria Andersson	6
Van Merksteijn Motorsport		Focus RS WRC 06/07	22	Peter van Merksteijn Jr.	Eddy Chevaillier	10, 12
			24	Peter van Merksteijn Sr.	Hilco van Beek	2, 6, 10
			24	Peter van Merksteijn Sr.	Erwin Berkhof	12
Ipatec Racing		Focus RS WRC 06	61	René Kuipers	Erwin Mombaerts	10
Ipatec Racing		Focus RS WRC 06	64	Dennis Kuipers	Kees Hagman	10

– indicates a car running with varying numbers during the season

J-WRC entries

No	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Citroën C2 S1600	3, 6, 9–10, 12–13
32	Jaan Mölder	Frédéric Miclotte	Suzuki Swift S1600	3, 5–6, 9, 12–13
33	Aaron Burkart	Michael Kölbach	Citroën C2 S1600	3, 6, 9–10, 12–13
34	Andrea Cortinovis	Giancarla Guzzi	Renault Clio S1600	5–6, 9–10, 12–13
35	Michał Kościuszko	Maciek Szczepaniak	Suzuki Swift S1600	3, 5–6, 9, 12–13
36	Vilius Rožukas	Andrius Šošas	Citroën C2 S1600	5–6
37	Simone Bertolotti	Daniele Vernuccio	Renault Clio R3	5–6, 9–10, 12–13
38	Francesco Fanari	Massimiliano Bosi	Citroën C2 R2	3, 5–6, 10
		Dario Andrian		9
		Daniele Benedetti		12
39	Stefano Albertini	Piercarlo Capolongo	Renault Clio R3	5–6, 9–10, 12–13
40	Miloš Komljenović	Aleksandar Jeremić	Renault Clio R3	3, 5–6, 9
	Kris Meeke	Chris Patterson		12
	Arnaud Augoyard	Nicolas Baudin		13
41	Patrik Sandell	Emil Axelsson	Renault Clio S1600	3, 5–6, 9, 12–13
42	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Citroën C2 S1600	3, 5–6, 10, 12–13
43	Florian Niegel	Andre Kachel	Suzuki Swift S1600	5–6, 10, 12–13
43	Florian Niegel	Andre Kachel	Suzuki Swift Sport	9
44	Hans Weijs, Jr.	Hans van Goor	Citroën C2 R2	5–6, 9–10, 12–13
45	Kevin Abbring	Erwin Mombaerts	Renault Clio R3	5, 9, 13
45	Kevin Abbring	Bjorn Degandt	Renault Clio R3	6, 10, 12
46	Shaun Gallagher	Michael Morrissey	Citroën C2 S1600	3, 5–6, 10
46	Shaun Gallagher	Paul Kiely	Citroën C2 S1600	9, 12
47	Gilles Schammel	Renaud Jamoul	Renault Clio R3	5–6, 9–10, 12–13
48	Alessandro Bettega	Simone Scattolin	Renault Clio R3	5–6, 9–10, 12–13
Additional guest entries
59	Kalle Pinomäki	Matti Kaskinen	Suzuki Swift S1600	9
59	Sergio Perez	Oriol Julià	Citroën C2 S1600	12
59	Pierre Campana	Samuel Teissier	Renault Clio R3	13
60	Pierre Marché	Julien Giroux	Suzuki Swift S1600	13

P-WRC entries

No	Drivers	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Toshihiro Arai	Glenn MacNeall	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 7–8, 11, 14
32	Mirco Baldacci	Giovanni Agnese	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4, 7–8, 11, 14–15
33	Martin Prokop	Jan Tománek	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4, 7–8, 11, 15
34	Gianluca Linari	Roberto Mometti	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
		Gianni Melani		4
		Paolo Gregoriani		7
		Barbara Perugini		8
		Franco Giusti		11
		Matteo Braga		14
35	Evgeny Novikov	Dmitry Chumak	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4
		Dmitry Chumak	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	7
		Evgeny Kalachev		8
		Dale Moscatt		11, 14–15
36	Eyvind Brynildsen	Denis Giraudet	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 9, 14
		Maria Andersson		7–8
		Glenn MacNeall		15
37	Spyros Pavlides	Denis Giraudet	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 7, 11
	Spyros Pavlides	Steve Lancaster		15
	Oscar Svedlund	Björn Nilsson		9
	Yasunori Hagiwara	Koichi Kato		14
38	Amjad Farrah	Nicola Arena	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4, 7–8
	Patrik Flodin	Göran Bergsten		9
	Stewart Taylor	Warwick Searle		11
	Darren Gass	Neil Shanks		15
39	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Chris Patterson	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 7–8, 11, 15
40	Stefano Marrini	Matteo Braga	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4
	Stefano Marrini	Tiziana Sandroni		14
	Loris Baldacci	Rudy Pollet		7, 15
	Riccardo Errani	Stefano Casadio		8
41	Andreas Aigner	Klaus Wicha	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4, 7–8, 11, 15
42	Bernardo Sousa	Carlos Magalhães	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4
42	Bernardo Sousa	Jorge Carvalho	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	7–8, 11, 15
43	Evgeny Vertunov	Georgiy Troshkin	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 7–9, 11, 14
44	Gábor Mayer	Robert Tagai	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 7–8
	Liu Chao Dong	Anthony McLoughlin		11
	Patrik Flodin	Göran Bergsten		15
	Tapio Suominen	Pasi Hedman	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	9
45	Jussi Tiippana	Marko Salminen	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
	Andrej Jereb	Miran Kacin		4, 7
	Francesco Trevisin	Alessandro Biordi		8
	Teemu Arminen	Tuomo Nikkola		9, 15
46	Jari Ketomaa	Miika Teiskonen	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 15
47	Fabio Frisiero	Simone Scattolin	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 9
	Giorgio Bacco	Silvio Stefanelli	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 8
	Giorgio Bacco	Fabio Pizzol	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	11
	Jaromír Tarabus	Daniel Trunkát	Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000	15
48	Evgeny Aksakov	Aleksander Kornilov	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4, 7–9, 15
49	Simone Campedelli	Danilo Fappani	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4, 7–9, 15
50	Armindo Araújo	Miguel Ramalho	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 7–8, 11, 14–15
51	Subhan Aksa	Hendrik Mboi	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	2, 4
51	Subhan Aksa	Hendrik Mboi	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	7, 9, 11, 14
52	Juho Hänninen	Mikko Markkula	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 7, 9, 11, 14–15
53	Uwe Nittel	Detlef Ruf	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	2, 4
	Uwe Nittel	Michael Wenzel		7–8
	Giovanni Manfrinato	Carlo Pisano		9, 15
54	Travis Pastrana	Derek Ringer	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 7
	Jussi Tiippana	Marko Salminen		9
	Ken Block	Alex Gelsomino		11
	Hiroshi Yanagisawa	Osamu Yoda		14
	Mark Higgins	Rory Kennedy		15
55	Patrik Sandell	Emil Axelsson	Peugeot 207 S2000	2, 4, 7–8, 15
55	Patrik Sandell	Emil Axelsson	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	11
56	Fumio Nutahara	Daniel Barritt	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4, 7, 9, 11, 15
56	Fumio Nutahara	Daniel Barritt	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	14
57	Martin Rauam	Silver Kütt	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4, 7–8, 11, 14
57	Egon Kaur	Simo Koskinen	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	15
58	Naren Kumar	Nicky Beech	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	7–9, 11, 14
58	Gaurav Gill	Nicky Beech	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	15
Additional guest entries
59	Patrik Flodin	Göran Bergsten	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
60	Oscar Svedlund	Björn Nilsson	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2
59	Marcos Ligato	Rubén García	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4
60	Sebastián Beltran	Ricardo Rojas	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	4
59	Panayiotis Hatzitsopanis	Andreas Andrikopoulos	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	7
60	Lambros Athanassoulas	Nikolaos Zakheos	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	7
159	Juha Salo	Mika Stenberg	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	9
160	Jussi Välimäki	Teppo Leino	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	9
59	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	11
60	Chris West	Garry Cowan	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	11
59	Katsuhiko Taguchi	Mark Stacey	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	14
60	Takuma Kamada	Naoki Kase	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	14
59	David Higgins	Ieuan Thomas	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	15
60	Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX	15

All entries utilized Pirelli tyres.

Events

The Rally Finland is notable this year for having dropped its famous Ouninpohja stage. This has been done for safety reasons, however this is likely to be a huge disappointment for race fans.^[9]

Colour	Rally Surface
Gold	Gravel
Silver	Tarmac
Blue	Snow/Ice
Bronze	Mixed Surface

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers				Statistics
Round	Rank	Driver	Car	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	/ Monte Carlo Rally (24–27 January) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:39:17.0	19	365.09 km	47	34
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:41:51.4
3	Chris Atkinson	nowrap	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	3:42:15.6

2	Swedish Rally (8–10 February) — *Results and report*	1	nowrap	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:46:41.2	20	340.24 km	61	49
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:47:39.5
3	Gianluigi Galli	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:49:04.4

3	Rally Mexico (28 February– 2 March) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:33:29.9	20	353.75 km	40	28
2	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	3:34:36.0
3	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:35:09.6

4	Rally Argentina (27–30 March) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	4:05:48.6	21	347.91 km	56	31
2	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	4:08:21.8
3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	4:09:53.3

5	Jordan Rally (24–27 April) — *Results and report*	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:02:47.9	22	359.26 km	54	33
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	4:04:03.6
3	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2007	4:07:47.4

6	Rally d'Italia Sardegna (16–18 May) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:57:17.2	17	344.73 km	57	38
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:57:27.8
3	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:57:32.5

7	Acropolis Rally (28 May– 1 June) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:54:54.7	20	331.52 km	60	42
2	Petter Solberg	Subaru Impreza WRC2008	3:56:04.2
3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:56:50.8

8	Rally of Turkey (13–15 June) — *Results and report*	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:42:07.1	19	360.12 km	60	37
2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	4:42:15.0
3	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	4:42:32.8

9	Rally Finland (31 July– 3 August) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:54:05.5	24	340.42 km	99	68
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	2:54:14.5
3	Chris Atkinson	Subaru Impreza WRC2008	2:57:22.5

10	Rallye Deutschland (15–17 August) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:26:19.7	19	352.89 km	81	57
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:27:07.4
3	François Duval	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	3:27:39.7

11	Rally New Zealand (28–31 August) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:59:18.9	18	353.04 km	57	35
2	Dani Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:59:36.4
3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	4:00:00.4

12	Rally Catalunya (2–5 October) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:21:17.4	18	353.62 km	69	48
2	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	3:21:42.3
3	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:22:19.9

13	Tour de Corse (10–12 October) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:42:58.0	16	359.02 km	71	54
2	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:46:22.7
3	François Duval	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:46:29.6

14	Rally Japan (31 October– 2 November) — *Results and report*	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:25:03.0	29	343.69 km	86	57
2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	3:25:34.1
3	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	3:27:33.6

15	Wales Rally GB (5–7 December) — *Results and report*	1	Sébastien Loeb	Citroën C4 WRC	2:43:09.6	19	282.35 km	78	47
2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Ford Focus RS WRC 08	2:43:22.3
3	Daniel Sordo	Citroën C4 WRC	2:45:30.2

Standings

Drivers' championship

	Driver	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRC	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR	Pts
1	Sébastien Loeb	1	Ret	1	1	10	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	122
2	Mikko Hirvonen	2	2	4	5	1	2	3	1	2	4	3	3	2	1	8	103
3	Daniel Sordo	11	6	17	3	2	5	5	4	4	2	2	2	Ret	DSQ	3	65
4	Jari-Matti Latvala	12	1	3	15	7	3	7	2	39	9	Ret	6	4	2	2	58
5	Chris Atkinson	3	21	2	2	3	6	Ret	13	3	6	Ret	7	6	4	Ret	50
6	Petter Solberg	5	4	12	Ret	Ret	10	2	6	6	5	4	5	5	8	4	46
7	François Duval	4									3	Ret	4	3	Ret	6	25
8	Henning Solberg	9	13	5	Ret	4	7	8	5	5	7	9	11	15	Ret	Ret	22
9	Gianluigi Galli	6	3	Ret	7	8	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret						17
10	Matthew Wilson	10	Ret	6	Ret	5	12	6	7	9	12	17	9	8	7	9	15
11	Urmo Aava		18			Ret	8	4	Ret	16	8	5	35	7		DNS	13
12	align=left nowrap	Per-Gunnar Andersson	8	Ret	Ret	24	Ret	9	11	Ret	Ret	15	6	32	17	5	5	12
13	Toni Gardemeister	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	8	10	7	13	13	6	7	10
14	Federico Villagra			7	6	6	14	13	9	Ret		8	12		9		9
15	Conrad Rautenbach	Ret	16	16	4	26	13	10	8	10	13	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	15	6
16	Andreas Mikkelsen		5				Ret		19	12	11		8	11			5
17	Jean-Marie Cuoq	7															2
18	Matti Rantanen									7							2
19	Juho Hänninen		8					21		13		14	29	24	10	Ret	1
20	Andreas Aigner		31		8			14	11	Ret		Ret				13	1
21	Sébastien Ogier			8		11	22			36	19		Ret	20		26	1
	Driver	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRC	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR	Pts

Sébastien Loeb secured the drivers' championship title in Japan.

Manufacturers' championship

	Manufacturer		MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRE	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR	Points
1	align=left rowspan=2	Citroën Total World Rally Team	1	1	Ret	1	1	8	1	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	191
1	2	8	5	9	3	2	5	4	4	4	2	2	2	Ret	Ret	3			191
2	align=left rowspan=2	BP Ford World Rally Team	3	2	2	4	4	1	2	3	1	2	4	3	3	2	1	8	173
2	4	12	1	3	7	6	3	5	2	8	7	Ret	4	3	2	2			173
3	align=left rowspan=2	Subaru World Rally Team	5	5	4	8	Ret	Ret	9	2	6	6	5	4	5	5	8	4	98
3	6	3	8	2	2	3	6	Ret	9	3	6	Ret	7	6	4	Ret			98
4	align=left rowspan=2 nowrap	Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team	7	6	3	Ret	6	7	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	7	Ret	6	67
4	8	4	7	6	Ret	4	10	6	5	5	3	9	6	4	7	9			67
5	align=left rowspan=2	Suzuki World Rally Team	11	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	7	8	6	11	8	6	7	34
5	12	7	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	9	5	12	9	5	5			34
6	align=left rowspan=2	Munchi's Ford World Rally Team	9			7	5	5	11	9	7	Ret		7	10		9		22
6	10			5	Ret	9	7	Ret	8	Ret		8	9		Ret				22
	Manufacturer		MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRE	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR	Points

Citroën secured the manufacturers' championship in Wales.

Junior championship

	Driver	MEX	JOR	ITA	FIN	GER	ESP	FRA	Pts
1	Sébastien Ogier	1	1	5		1	Ret	2	42
2	Aaron Burkart	4		3	4	2	3	5	34
3	Martin Prokop	7		10	1	Ret	1	1	32
4	Shaun Gallagher	6	2	4	5	4	4		30
5	Michał Kościuszko	3	Ret	1	3		9	Ret	22
6	align=left nowrap	Alessandro Bettega		Ret	2	Ret	3	2		Ret
7	Patrik Sandell	5	Ret	7	2		5	6
8	Jaan Mölder	2	Ret	9	Ret		6	11	11
9	Stefano Albertini		5	6	13	10	7	9	9
10	Gilles Schammel		3	12	7	Ret	Ret	10	8
11	Florian Niegel		4	Ret	9	8	10	7
12	Simone Bertolotti		6	Ret	10	5	8	Ret
13	Kevin Abbring		Ret	Ret	6	6	11	8	7
14	Pierre Campana							3	6
15	Pierre Marché							4	5
16	Andrea Cortinovis		7	11	DNS	7	DNS	DNS	4
17	Hans Weijs, Jr.		Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	12	2
18	Francesco Fanari	8	9	13	12	9	Ret		1
19	Miloš Komljenović	Ret	8	Ret	11				1
	Driver	MEX	JOR	ITA	FIN	GER	ESP	FRA	Pts

Production championship

Points table:^[10]

	Driver	SWE	ARG	GRC	TUR	FIN	NZL	JPN	GBR	Pts
1	Andreas Aigner	11	1	1	1		Ret		2	38
2	Juho Hänninen	1		7		1	5	1	Ret	36
3	Jari Ketomaa	2	3	Ret		3	6		4	28
4	Patrik Sandell	3	Ret	Ret	2		2			22
5	Martin Prokop	4	7	14	DSQ		1		Ret	17
6	Martin Rauam		5	DSQ	4		3	Ret		15
7	Fumio Nutahara		4	4		5	Ret	8	Ret
8	Armindo Araújo	7		3	5		12	9	7	14
9	Bernardo Sousa	8	8	2	11		7		9	12
10	Patrik Flodin	16				DSQ			1	10
11	Mirco Baldacci		Ret	Ret	3		Ret	6	Ret	9
12	Toshihiro Arai	6	Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	3
13	Evgeny Novikov		Ret	15	Ret		Ret	2	Ret	8
14	Sebastián Beltrán		2
15	Jussi Välimäki					2
16	Guy Wilks								3	6
17	Evgeny Aksakov	13	12	5	Ret	7			Ret
18	Evgeny Vertunov	Ret		6	6	Ret	Ret	Ret
19	Eyvind Brynildsen	15		Ret	Ret	10		4		5
20	Oscar Svedlund	Ret				4
21	Hayden Paddon						4
22	Uwe Nittel	5	Ret	Ret	Ret					4
23	Takuma Kamada							5
24	Jaromír Tarabus								5
25	Amjad Farrah		6	9	Ret					3
26	Spyros Pavlides		11	Ret			10		6
27	Jussi Tiippana	11				6
28	align=left nowrap	Simone Campedelli	9	9	Ret	7	8			10
29	Katsuhiko Taguchi							7		2
30	Giorgio Bacco		13		8		Ret			1
31	David Higgins								8
32	Loris Baldacci			8					Ret
33	Stewart Taylor						8
	Driver	SWE	ARG	GRC	TUR	FIN	NZL	JPN	GBR	Pts

External links

2008 calendar at WRC.com
FIA World Rally Championship 2008 at ewrc-results.com

Notes and References

Web site: FIA reveals regulation changes. . 2007-10-24 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20080126223056/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/156400-0/fia_reveals_regulation_changes.html. 26 January 2008 . live.
Web site: New tyre rules good for WRC, says Mikko. . 2008-01-15 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20080218202240/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158685-0/new_tyre_rules_good_for_wrc%2C_says_mikko.html . 18 February 2008 . live .
Web site: Loeb: Tyre changes create a lot of unknowns. . 2008-01-04 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net . https://web.archive.org/web/20080207024646/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158421-0/loeb_tyre_changes_create_a_lot_of_unknowns.html. 7 February 2008 . live.
Web site: Preview: Rallye Monte Carlo – Pt. 1. . 2008-01-23 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net .
Web site: Third new Pirelli WRC tyre makes debut on Rally Mexico . 2008-02-15 . 2008-02-16 . WRC.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080218145547/http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=360&desc=Third%20new%20Pirelli%20WRC%20tyre%20makes%20debut%20on%20Rally%20Mexico . 18 February 2008 . dead .
Web site: Australia return delayed, Mexico gets call. . 2007-10-24 . 2008-02-11 . Crash.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20080126225008/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/156398-1/australia_return_delayed_mexico_gets_call.html. 26 January 2008 . live.
Web site: PWRC: 28 to battle it out in '08 . 2008-02-13 . 2008-02-13 . Crash.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20080207062253/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158744-0/pwrc_28_to_battle_it_out_in_08.html. 7 February 2008 . live.
Web site: JWRC: 16 competitors to contest Junior series . 2008-02-13 . 2008-02-13 . Crash.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20080221081444/http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wrc/news/158739-0/jwrc_16_competitors_to_contest_junior_series.html. 21 February 2008 . live.
Web site: What's on Dave – 2008 WRC Calendar . What's on Dave . 2008-02-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080130105513/http://uktv.co.uk/dave/stepbystep/aid/598029. 30 January 2008 . live.
Web site: 2008 Production WRC Classification . Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . 2009-02-01 .