Loeb Takes his 50th World Win!!
16/03/2009
Sébastien Loeb has taken his 50th World Rally Championship win of his career following his flag to flag domination of the 2009 Rally of Cyprus at the weekend (13-15 March 2009) in his Citroën C4 WRC and to remind him of where it started as well as a sign of Citroen’s domination of the sport, he was joined on the podium by a five year old Citroën Xsara WRC driven by Petter Solberg!
For the first time since 1996 the WRC featured a mixed surface event – with tarmac on the first day and gravel on the second and third days. Further complicating the event, the new rules meant that the cars had to gravel set up and tyres on the tarmac stages, providing a great deal of day one sideways action for the spectators. In addition to the Citroën C4 WRC cars entered by Citroën Racing and Citroën Racing Junior Teams, Petter Solberg entered the event as a privateer in a Citroën Xsara WRC that dates back to 2004, when it was an official Citroën team car. A man on mission, Solberg used his formidable skills in the event to prove that he is still a force to be reckoned with and, at the same time, demonstrated that old it may be, but the Xsara WRC is still a highly competitive car.
Loeb and Citroën team mate Sordo used their tarmac skills to finish day one in the lead, but on day two Sordo could not hold Ford’s Hirvonen at bay and handed over second place and for a while Loeb’s lead looked under threat with a brake issue that induced a time consuming spin towards the end of day two.
The third day of action of this year's Cyprus Rally took crews back into the Troodos Mountains, but with a fresh challenge. The leg kicked off with the 30 kilometre Foini stage which was followed by a 15-minute remote service break. Competitors then faced the longest test of the weekend which took the form of the incredibly twisty 40.54 km Anadiou stage. The event finished with a return to Anadiou Dam (11.70km) which crews had already contested on Saturday.
Despite an overnight lead of 49 seconds, Sébastien couldn't afford to control from in front on Foini. "I wasn't getting Mikko Hirvonen's split times, so I had to push quite hard to make sure he didn't get too close," said the five-time World Champion at the remote service park in Anadiou. "There was a lot of mud about, but we survived unscathed. There are still two tough stages to come and we will need to stay on our guard all the way to the finish."
Dani Sordo succeeded in warding off the threat from Petter Solberg by conceding just a handful of seconds to the Norwegian driver. "I had a much better feeling this morning. I am quite pleased with the way I'm driving, as well as with my time. I am completely focused on defending my position."
Sébastien Loeb was feeling confident about his chances of winning by the end of the long stage: "I tried to make sure we stayed on the road without taking any risks. Mikko took a fairly big chunk of time off us but everything is under control." At the same time, however, Dani Sordo was knocked off third place by Petter Solberg: "I stalled in a hairpin and dropped about 10 seconds. After that, I thought it was preferable to make sure we scored Manufacturers' points for Citroën. The fact that Petter was ahead of us changed nothing on that front."
The final stage didn't produce any last-minute drama and Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were able to savour their third win from three since the start of the season: "To have reached our half century is nice, but it's just another statistic. To tell the truth, my thoughts are already turned to our 51st win! This rally went well for us from start to finish. Our C4 WRC handled perfectly, both on the loose and on asphalt."
Another statistic: this weekend's result has taken Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena's record to 13 consecutive podium finishes, a sequence which began on the 2008 Rally d'Italia Sardinia! "It's been a perfect event for us overall," concluded Citroën Racing Director Olivier Quesnel.
"Sébastien's performance was stunning from every angle. As usual, he put in a perfectly paced run and started every stage with victory as his ultimate goal. At the same time he looked after his car which was put to a tough test on this terrain. OK, Dani didn't finish on the podium but I asked him to make sure he reached the finish to bring us Manufacturers' points. The fact that Petter Solberg finished ahead of him doesn't change anything on that score. We have a 16-point lead at the top of the standings tonight after the first three rallies. How could I not be delighted with that?"
The rally by numbers - Fastest stage times
Day 1: SS 1 to 5: S. Loeb (Citroën C4) – S S 6: D. Sordo (Citroën C4).
Day 2: SS7: JM. Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS8: M. Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS9: S. Loeb – SS10 and 11: P. Solberg (Citroën Xsara).
Day 3: SS12 and 13: M. Hirvonen. SS14: M.Wilson (Ford Focus) and JM. Latvala (equal).
Best performers: S. Loeb, 6 fastest times – M. Hirvonen, 3 – P. Solberg and JM. Latvala, 2 – D. Sordo and M. Wilson, 1.
Leaders: SS 1 to 14: S. Loeb.
Final official classification
1. Loeb/Elena Citroën C4 4h50’34’’7
2. Hirvonen/Lehtinen Ford Focus +27’’2
3. Solberg /Mills Citroën Xsara +1’49’’4
4. Sordo /Marti Citroën C4 +2’26’’3
5. Wilson/Martin Ford Focus +6’41’’0
6. Rautenbach/Barritt Citroën C4 +11’11’’9
7. Villagra/Perez Companc Ford Focus +13’18’’5
8. Al Qassimi/Orr Ford Focus +13’44’’1
9. Sandell/Axelsson Skoda Fabia +19’36’’6
10. Araujo/Miguel Mitsubishi Lancer +19’54’’9
