 Loeb wins Spain; aims for repeat in Corsica
Citroen’s Sébastien Loeb extended his lead in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for drivers following a start-to-finish victory on the tarmac roads of Rally de España.
Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena claimed their fourth successive victory in Spain, extending their lead over Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen to 12 points with three events left to run in the 2008 WRC season.
Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti finished 24.9 seconds behind their
team-mates, claiming Citroen's third successive one-two victory. Hirvonen and
co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen finished third after running fourth for much of the
event, following team orders to BP Ford team-mates François Duval and Patrick
Pivato to allow Hirvonen into third place for maximum possible points in the
drivers' championship. Subaru's Petter Solberg and Philip Mills rounded out the
top five.
The 45th WRC victory for the Citroën pair, Loeb said his ninth win of
the season was important as they head in to the final stages of the 2008
season.
"It won't surprise anyone to learn that I am delighted with this
win," said the 34-year old Frenchman. "Today I managed my advantage
without taking any risks. It is very important and enhances our options to win
the title."
In windy and sometimes difficult weather conditions, Loeb's Citroën C4
won every stage of the opening day. Favoured by their road position, their
early lead was maintained while team-mate Sordo's pace helped the French marque
extend their manufacturers' title lead over Ford which has dominated earlier in
the season.
With the option of running hard or soft compound of the Pirelli P-Zero
control tyres, Hirvonen benefited from extra grip on the final day to overtake
Duval for the remaining podium position.
"Winning the drivers' championship will be very difficult now but it
isn't out of the question so I will keep trying. I finally found a good
rhythm yesterday afternoon and I've learned a lot about driving on this surface
this weekend," said the Finnish driver.
Rally de España was also the penultimate round of the Junior World Rally
Championship (J-WRC) with Czech driver Martin Prokop and co-driver Jan Tománek
scoring their second win of the season in their Citroën C2. Sébastien Ogier
continues to lead the standings even though he retired from the event on the
last day.
Competitors in both WRC and J-WRC head straight to the island of Corsica
for Rallye de France starting on Thursday 9 October for back-to-back weekends
of asphalt competition.
Facing similar autumnal conditions to those encountered in Spain, the
French island has roads twisting through steep mountains, reinforcing its
nickname as the rally of 10,000 corners. Based from the capital city Ajaccio, the event has
become part of island culture having been based there since 1956.
Loeb will again run first on the road with the Ford drivers having the
added pressure of just three rounds remaining this season to close the gap to
Citroën in both the manufacturers' and drivers' championships.
Citroën is now 27 points ahead of Ford.
With the option of either the hard or soft compound Pirelli P-Zero
tyres, Hirvonen's trial of the soft variant in the final day of last weekend's
Spanish event put the Ford driver back on the pace.
"The weather is so unpredictable here," said the 28-year old
Hirvonen. "One moment it's dry and sunny; the next, it can be pouring with
rain. The tyre rules mean we only have hard or soft compound from which to
choose - basically a dry tyre and a wet weather option - which makes the choice
easier. However, it has become more important to know when it will start
raining, rather than how hard it will rain as we only have the one wet weather
option anyway."
Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena won the event in 2007 for a third
consecutive time, making the Citroën duo once again favourites for the outright
rally win.
Rallye de France is also the final round of the Junior World Rally
Championship (J-WRC), which is led by Frenchman Sébastien Ogier in a Citroen C2
with a four point lead over German Aaron Burkart.
ENDS/
Final
results: Rally de España, 2-5 October 2008
1, Loeb / Elena, Citroen C4
WRC, 3h 21m 17.4s
2, Sordo / Marti, Citroen
C4 WRC, (diff. to 1st) +24.9s
3, Hirvonen / Lehtinen,
Ford Focus RS WRC 07, +1m 02.5s
4, Duval / Pivato, Ford
Focus RS WRC 07, +1m 10.8s
5, Solberg / Mills, Subaru
Impreza WRC2008, +3m 27.4s
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers
After round 12 of 15
1, Sébastien Loeb (F) 96 points
2, Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) 84
3, Dani Sordo (E) 59
4, Chris Atkinson (AUS) 42
5, Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) 37
6, Petter Solberg (N) 36
7, Henning Solberg (N) 22
8, Gigi Galli (I) 17
9, François Duval (B) 16
10, Matthew Wilson (GB) 12
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers / Teams
After round 12 of 15
1, Citroën Total World Rally Team, 159 points
2, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, 132
3, Subaru World Rally Team, 80
4, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team, 55
5, Munchi's Ford World Rally Team, 22
6, Suzuki World Rally Team, 20
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