Rallye du Valais 2008 Final Results: Freddy Loix wins as Kronos team-mate Nicolas Vouilloz takes second to secure IRC title

Freddy Loix has won the 49th Rally du Valais in his Kronos Peugeot 207 S2000 as his team-mate Nicolas Vouilloz (pictured above) grabbed second which was enough to claim the 2008 IRC drivers' crown.

Loix and Vouilloz diced for the lead for much of the rally only being separated by a few seconds, but it was Loix who came through to win by only 4.5s. Vouilloz only won once this season, in Madeira, but he was on the podium seven times and his title rival Basso said his success was "fully deserved".

Vouilloz commented on winning the series:

Really excellent result!

A magnificent season."

Giandomenico Basso, could only finish fifth in his Abarth Punto (after being plagued by punctures) which wasn't enough to deny Vouilloz the title. New ERC champion Luca Rossetti took his Racing Lions 207 to third ahead of Polish champion Bryan Bouffier.

Casualties included Abarth driver Umberto Scandola who lead initially but crashed out after ripping a wheel off early on Day 2. Stuart Jones, who was competing primarily as a toe in the water exercise before possibly considering a full IRC campaign in 2009, retired his Hankook MG S2000 with a blown engine on SS4 after, ironically, starting the event with a brand new, re-mapped, engine.

49. RALLYE INTERNATIONAL DU VALAIS 2008 TOP TEN RESULTS:
1. Freddy Loix/Robin Buysmans (B) Peugeot 207 S2000 2:37.33,5
2. Nicolas Vouilloz/Nicolas Klinger (F) Peugeot 207 S2000 +4,5
3. Luca Rossetti/Matteo Chiarcossi (I) Peugeot 207 S2000 +53,9
4. Bryan Bouffier/Xavier Panseri (F) Peugeot 207 S2000 +1.30,3
5. Giandomenico Basso/Mitia Dotta (I) Fiat Punto Abarth S2000 +2.48,2
6. Anton Alen/Timo Alanne (FIN) Fiat Punto Abarth S2000 +2.52,8
7. Gregoire Hotz/Pietro Ravasi (CH) Peugeot 207 S2000 +3.24,3
8. Janos Toth/Robert Tagai (H) Peugeot 207 S2000 +6.15,9
9. Patrick Heintz/Roland Scherrer (CH) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N12 +10.10,6
10. Jean-Philippe Radoux/Jean-Noël Gregoire (CH) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +10.07,7 

IRC STANDINGS:
1. Vouilloz 58, 2. Loix 48, 3. Basso 46, 4. Rossetti 44, 5. Alen 21, 6. Travaglia 19, 7. Kopecky 15, 8. Hänninen 14, 9. Bouffier 11, 10. Camacho 6.

Videos Rallye International du Valais, second and third vid is Eurosport live coverage:

 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

• Barum Rally Zlin 2008 Final Results: Freddy Loix wins as Vouilloz takes second to cement his IRC series lead
• ERC Rallye d’Antibes – Cote d’Azur 2008 Final Results: Nicolas Vouilloz wins a dominant rally for Peugeot Sport
• Rallye Antibes 2008 Leg 2 Results: Nicolas Vouilloz continues to lead as new European champion Luca Rossetti retires