LOEB AND CITROEN START THE SEASON ON THE PODIUM
Six time world champion, Sebastien Loeb has started his bid for his seventh World Rally Championship title with a podium finish in the opening round of the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship season, the Rally of Sweden (11-14 February 2010).
Loeb finished to second to Ford’s Mikko Hirvonnen, to whom he lost the rally lead on day one and despite a fight back that saw him close the gap to four seconds on day two, Loeb started the third day of the rally 16.6s behind Hirvonen, knowing that he had to do something really special to wrench the win from the Finn.
“Everything’s still possible with 100 kilometres of specials ahead of us, but it’s going to be difficult.”
At the end of the 22-km Rämmen (SS17) special, the C4 WRC driver set his seventh scratch time in the rally. But he finished only two-tenths of a second in front of his rival.
“There’s no use just matching his pace, I’ll have to go even quicker to close the gap!”
The crews immediately attacked the Värmullsasen special. This time, Hirvonen came out on top.
Sébastien finished 7.3s behind and the gap exceeded 20 seconds.
“We’ll just have to be happy with second place,” said a resigned Loeb when he got back to the Hagfors service park. “I managed to pull out a slight lead by the first splits of SS18, but Mikko fought back and he closed the gap again. I gave myself a few frights, in particular when I kissed a wall of snow! I said to myself that from now on it’d be better to hang on to second and not start the championship with a retirement.”
After the 30-minute stop in the service park the crews competed in the last three stages of the rally. As the gaps between the front-runners were quite large, all the drivers gave themselves a wide safety margin and there were no changes in the order until the finish at Karlstad.
“As I’ve always said, I start each rally with victory as my aim. But if I feel that winning isn’t within my
grasp, I prefer to bag the maximum number of points rather than risk an accident,” stated Loeb. “I didn’t reckon I was the favourite for this event and I found myself up against a rival who drove a perfect rally. It’s good to start the season with a large haul of points and I’m looking forward to Mexico to get my revenge!”
Dani Sordo put his previous day’s disappointment behind him and concentrated on keeping fourth place on the final day.
“My mission was simple: hold on to fourth and score points for Citroën in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Mission accomplished, but sometimes it’s difficult to run at a slower pace than to push really hard like I did on Friday. I’m sorry not to be on the podium, but like Seb I’m now looking forward to the next rally.”
“On our rivals’ favourite surface our performances had nothing to envy theirs,” summed up Olivier
Quesnel, Citroën Racing. Team Principal: “Sébastien and Dani both drove great rallies but you can’t win them all! Our drivers’ second and fourth places are a pretty good result in the context of the world championships. And I’d like to finish by adding that we’ll be perfectly placed to tackle the specials on the Rally Mexico gravel roads.”
THE RALLY IN FIGURES
Fastest times
Day 1 – SS1: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4) – SS2 et 3: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS4 and 5: Mikko
Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS6: Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS7: Hirvonen – SS8: Loeb.
Day 2 – SS9: Hirvonen – SS10 to 12: Loeb – SS13: Latvala – SS14: Marcus Grönholm (Ford Focus) –
SS15: Latvala – SS16: Martin Prokop (Ford Fiesta).
Day 3: SS17: Loeb – SS18 and 19: Hirvonen – SS20 and 2: Latvala.
Best performers: Loeb, 7 best times – Hirvonen, 6 – Latvala, 5 – Sordo, Grönholm and Prokop, 1.
Leaders: SS1: Sordo – SS2 and 3: Loeb – SS4 to 21: Hirvonen.
Final overall general classification (subject to the official publication of the results)
1. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus 3h09’30’’4
2. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 +42’’3
3. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +1’15’’4
4. Sordo / Marti Citroën C4 +2’41’’6
5. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 +4’15’’3
6. H. Solberg / Minor Ford Focus +5’23’’4
7. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +7’53’’9
8. Östberg / Andersson Subaru Impreza +9’22’’2
9. Solberg / Mills Citroën C4 +10’17’’5
10. Andersson / Fredriksson Skoda Fabia +12’08’’9
(ends)
For further information:
Citroën Australia Media Web Site: http://media.ateco.com.au/
Miles Williams
/ Tel: (02) 8577 8020General Manager / Fax: (02) 8577 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0419 800 520
E-Mail:
Edward Rowe
/ Tel: (02) 8677 8015Public Relations Manager / Fax: (02) 8577 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0407 913 244
E-Mail:
Citroen Australia
Street Address: 862 – 874 Elizabeth Street, Waterloo, Sydney, NSW 2017Australia.
Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd,Pty Ltd,Locked Bag 5018, Alexandria NSW 2015, Australia
Telephone: 02 8577 8000; Direct Telephone 02 8577 8015 Fax: 02 8577 3555. Mobile +61 0407 913 244
A.B.N. 34 000 486 706
If this material contained within this releases is not relevant to your purpose you may wish to prevent further deliveries. If so, please hit ‘forward’ on your e-mail, send the e-mail to and place “Remove from Mailing List” in the Subject Line.
EJR/ejr/938
2/21/2010