LOEB GETS UNPRECEDENTED EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY IN GERMANY
2010-08-23 14:06:40 Author: admin Source:
A trend has developed throughout the 2010 World Rally Championship (WRC) season as with previous seasons, the all-out dominance of the Citroen World Rally Team and its superstar rally driver Sebastian Loeb. After monopolizing the first two places in the first two stages, Loeb gave the French marque another double when the flag fell to signal the end of Rally Germany. In addition, Loeb is accorded with an eighth consecutive victory in the event, setting a new record. Team mate Dani Sordo had a fault-free race to round off the team’s triumph in second overall. To add further icing to the cake, Citroen Junior's Sebastian Ogier added a third place and clean -sweep of the Rally Germany podium for the French carmakers.
With Loeb's latest victory exploit, the C4 WRC has racked up its 32nd win since its debut almost two years ago, equalling the previous Xsara WRC’s score and putting it among the most successful cars in the history of rallying.
Ford adversaries Jari-Matti Latvala (above) and Mikko HIrvonen did not have the answers to the dominating drives of the Citroen crews, with only Latvala completing his Rally in fourth as the sole representative for the Ford WRC factory squad. His Finnish team mate met with an unfortunate incident involving a broken transmission at the end of the second leg and retired soon after.
After two interesting rallying days, the last leg of Rally Germany was much shorter with 85 timed kilometres. The crews were back among the Moselle vine yards and covered the Dhrontal and Moselwein stages twice. The rally finished with the Circus Maximus Super Stage in the streets of Trèves.
Loeb and Sordo, comfortably installed in the first two places, left the Trèves service park on soft tyres. The Citroën drivers opted for steadiness rather than sheer speed as their only aim was to see the finish.
Loeb testified that it was a tough rally, but the 6-time WRC champion took it all in stride. Like the first run though the stages, the second stage enabled the Citroën drivers (Loeb and Sordo) to make the double an ever greater reality.
In front of a crowd that was rooting for him, Loeb put on a show in the Circus Maximus stage and crossed the finishing line victorious for the eight consecutive time. “It’s always a great pleasure to win here. Once again I was able to count on a perfect, quick and reliable car that really got the best out of the tyres, This is my fifth win in 2010 and brings me one step closer to my ultimate aim – my seventh world title on the trot.”
Sordo added, “In the final leg, we had nothing to gain and everything to lose. The double that looked on the cards would be a great coup for Citroën in the context of the WRC championship for Manufacturers.”
With that said, the championship points to another Citroen romping in the series as Loeb pulls out to a 58-point lead to nearest driver Citroen Junior team's Sebastian Ogier and by a larger 74 points margin to Ford's Latvala. In the manufacturer's side of things, it is clearly a race between the factory Citroen and Ford, with Citroen amassing a huge 86-point gap to Ford after nine rallies.
Latvala hailed a new found confidence on asphalt after scoring a solid fourth place finish, but still quite adrift from the team's overall expectations. The Finn, for whom sealed surface rallies are their least favorite, battled for a podium place throughout this ninth round rally event. Latvala held third for virtually the entire first day. He extended his advantage over closest rival Ogier on the second day until a spin on the first pass over Panzerplatte cost 20sec and a position on the leaderboard. He gave his all to regain the time loss but could not claw back the vital seconds on Sunday's final leg, which ended with a speed test in the streets of Trier.
Latvala, winner of two gravel rounds this season, admitted: "This weekend I've been more confident on asphalt than ever before. It's not my favorite surface but I had a really good feeling here and I don't feel so concerned about driving on the surface any more. This is my best result in Germany and it has given me a big boost for the two remaining asphalt rounds this season."
Hirvonen (above) joined Latvala in the battle for the final podium position during the first leg. The veteran was fifth, but just 9.8sec from third, at the end of the day. He struggled for confidence initially during the second leg before a set-up change improved his feeling. However, a broken input shaft in the transmission sidelined him on the penultimate stage. He returned for the final leg in eighth, but when the gearbox jammed in first gear on the second stage he was forced to retire on the spot.
Sole Stobart crew Matthew Wilson achieved sixth fastest at the Rally Germany on board his Stobart Ford Focus, while Kimi Raikkonen. Khalid Al Qassimi, M. Van Edik and P. Sandell completed the top ten rankings for the Rally Deutschland.
Next up, the Rally crews head to the land of the Rising Sun for the tenth round of the WRC from 10 - 12 September.
Results
1. S Loeb Citroen 3:59.38
2. D Sordo Citroen 4:00.29
3. S Ogier Citroen 4:01.51
4. J-M Latvala Ford 4:02.12
5. P Solberg Citroen 4:06.26
6. M Wilson Ford 4:08.25
7. K Räikkönen Citroen 4:08.28
8. K Al Qassimi Ford 4:17.14
9. M Van Eldik Subaru 4:17. 31
10 P Sandell/E Axelsson Skoda 4:17.37
Drivers standings
1. S Loeb 191 points
2. S Ogier 133
3. J M Latvala 117
4. Petter Solberg 102
5. Dani Sordo 95
6. Mikko Hirvonen 84
7. Matthew Wilson 56
8. Federico Villagra 26
9. Henning Solberg 25
10. Kimi Raikkonen 21
Manufacturers' rankings
Citroen 308
Ford 222
Citroen Junior 168
Stobart Ford 118
Munchi's Ford 40
