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SALOU, Spain - BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team finished fourth and fifth in Rally de España.  Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were fourth in a Focus RS World Rally Car after three days of gravel and asphalt action in the hills west of Barcelona.  Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were fifth in a similar car on this 12th and penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Latvala closed on Sébastien Ogier in the battle for second place in the drivers' championship.  The 25-year-old Finn will start the final round in Great Britain next month 11 points behind the Frenchman.

The Spanish round of the championship was a pure asphalt encounter in recent years.  However, to celebrate its 20th season in the WRC, organisers reverted to its original format of mixed surface competition, with gravel roads also included in the format.  Friday's opening leg covered both, with a bias towards dirt.  After teams converted their cars from gravel to asphalt specification, the final two days were based entirely on sealed surface roads.

Drivers tackled 16 speed tests covering 344.88km near the rally base of Salou.  Early autumn sunshine saw temperatures climb to 21ºC and while Pirelli's Scorpion gravel tyres were used on the first day, hard compound PZero rubber was the choice of both Latvala and Hirvonen on asphalt.

"It's been another good weekend for me on asphalt," said Latvala.  "I had a good feeling with the car, I enjoyed it and I felt relaxed in my driving.  I had good confidence and my speed on this surface continues to improve, but unfortunately I couldn't match the guys ahead to reach the podium.  I've been thinking a little about the championship and the points situation going into the final round in Wales next month.  It will be interesting there now, we will be in an exciting fight."

Hirvonen struggled to find a rhythm on the opening leg, which the 30-year-old Finn ended in fifth. 

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr ended the opening day in 12th in the team's other car after braking difficulties, but swiftly climbed the leaderboard to take seventh.  It was the Emirati driver's second-best career result.  "This rally has gone a long way to building our confidence.  After crashes in Finland and Japan, we deserved a good result here.  We started off cautiously on the alternating surfaces, but our persistence paid off," said Al Qassimi.

Ford of Europe's motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "Attention now turns to Britain, and the final rally for the Focus RS WRC and the World Rally Car era.  Our aim is to see the Focus RS WRC go out on a high and during the next couple of weeks our preparations will be geared towards achieving that."  

Next round

The 2010 season closes with Rally GB which is based in Cardiff on 11 - 14 November. 

Final positions