Citroën and Loeb Make it Five out of Five in Argentina
1/06/2009
Citroën and Sébastien Loeb have taken their 2009 winning streak to five out of five in the World Rally Championship with the Argentinean round at the weekend (24-26 April 2009) providing another dominant performance by Loeb putting him on the top step of the winner’s podium and, with team mate Dani Sordo in second place, Citroën has almost twice as many points as its nearest rival in the manufacturer’s title chase.
Loeb made a slow start in the three day event and his rivals had hopes that they could finally beat Citroën this year, with the lead changing eight times on Day One. But Day Two saw Loeb get back into his stride and stamp his authority on the event, with the Frenchman setting the fastest time on stage after stage so that on stage 12 Loeb took the lead. At the end of day two, Loeb’s main challenger faded when Hirvonen’s Ford Focus retired with engine problems, leaving the Citroën duo to take a Latin American 1-2, with the nearest Ford more than four minutes off the Citroën pace.
After wrapping up their 52nd world championship win, Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena had a special thought for Carlos Sainz who took his own record to 26 WRC wins here in Argentina, in 2004, driving a Citroën Xsara WRC, securing the position as the second most successful rally driver of all time behind Loeb. “So much has happened since then," remembered Sébastien as he savoured his success after the finish. "We were second behind Carlos and Marc that year. Since then, we haven't been beaten here in Argentina. It's always nice to win this rally. This year's event was difficult to begin with and we had to drive flat out until Saturday lunchtime. The situation then tipped in our favour when Mikko Hirvonen hit trouble and we were able to control from in front after that. That said, I tried to keep up a quick pace all the way to the finish because it can be so easy to make a mistake over a jump, or by clouting one of the countless rocks that line the stages here. It's been a dream start to the season for us!”
Dani Sordo finished second overall to dislodge Mikko Hirvonen from second place by one point in the chase for the Drivers' title: “I felt comfortable throughout the weekend. This is our second one-two finish of the year and it's a great result for the whole team. My intention now is to defend my second place in the championship.” “This rally gave everyone in the team a chance to shine," notes Citroën Racing Director Olivier Quesnel. “This event is particularly tough on the mechanicals, but both our C4 WRCs proved perfectly reliable and they took it all in our stride. In addition to the strength of our cars, Sébastien and Dani drove with their head and put in a great performance to claim 15 fastest times from 23. They didn't make any mistakes and they both succeeded in turning on the speed when they had to. We fully deserved today's one-two result!”
THE RALLY IN FIGURES
Fastest stage times
Day 1 : SS1 : Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS2 : Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS3 : Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) – SS4 : Petter Solberg (Citroën Xsara) – SS5 : Loeb – SS6 : Sordo – SS7 : Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS8 : Loeb – SS9 : Latvala.
Day 2 : SS10 to 13 : Loeb – SS14 : Hirvonen – SS15 : Loeb – SS16 : Latvala – SS17 : Loeb.
Day 3 : SS19 and 20 : S. Loeb – SS21 and 22 : JM. Latvala – SS23 : S. Loeb.
Best performers: S. Loeb, 12 fastest times – JM. Latvala 5 – D. Sordo, 3 – M. Hirvonen, 2 – P. Solberg, 1
Leaders: SS1 : S. Loeb – SS2 : JM. Latvala – SS3 : D. Sordo – SS4 and 5 : M. Hirvonen – SS6 : D. Sordo – SS7 : M. Hirvonen – SS8 : D. Sordo and M. Hirvonen – SS9 to 11 : D. Sordo – SS12 to 23 : S. Loeb.
Final provisional leaderboard
1. Loeb/Elena Citroën C4 3h57’40’’3
2. Sordo/Marti Citroën C4 +1’13’’1
3. H. Solberg/Menkerud Ford Focus +4’04’’1
4. Villagra/Perez Companc Ford Focus +5’59’’7
5. Wilson/Martin Ford Focus +6’10’’9
6. Latvala/Antilla Ford Focus +9’50’’0
7. Al Attiyah/Bernacchini Subaru Impreza +23’11’’6
8. Marchetto/Diaz Mitsubishi Lancer +23’34’’3
9. Ogier/Ingrassia Citroën C4 +23’53’’9
10. Ligato/Garcia Mitsubishi Lancer +25’24’’5
