Beaten to the ‘Finnish’ by local favourite Marcus Grönholm, a seventh consecutive rally success proved elusive for Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Citroën Xsara this weekend at Rally Finland.

Just 66 seconds from further re-writing the record books, Loeb had to settle for the runners up spot, which extended the Frenchman’s lead to an incredible 28 points, taking him a step closer to a second successive World Rally Championship title. Nevertheless, the Citroën crew's seventh consecutive podium finish equals the existing record established by Carlos Sainz.

For practically two full days of competition, and over 16 stages, the Citroën crew successfully matched the pace of Grönholm and pushed him to his limits before accepting the runners up spot and eight crucial championship points. The focus has now switched to securing a record breaking eighth win at the Rally of Deutschland in three weeks time.

"We gave him a very close run and we came away with eight valuable points," said Seb at the finish, before adding with his customary frankness: "In championship terms, this is an excellent result… but it's not a victory. Whenever a winning run like this comes to an end – even if you know it will stop one day – it is bound to be a little bit sad. That said, I am very happy and proud to have been able to take the fight to Marcus over stages he has competed on every year since 1989. You have to know when to accept being beaten by an opponent of his calibre on his home ground. We put in a very good run… and he put in a flawless performance."

Continuing the process of rebuilding his confidence with a view to contributing valuable support in the events to come, François Duval and his co-driver Sven Smeets had the satisfaction of producing a faultless run in Finland: "We didn't put a foot wrong on an event where it is so easy to make a mistake," said the young Belgian. "We also achieved the objective we were set and we are looking forward to doing better still in Germany which stands out as a more straightforward rally for us…"

Final leaderboard of Neste Rally Finland

1- M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 307)   2 h 54 min 11 s2- S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara)    + 1 min 06,7 s3- M. Märtin/M. Park (Peugeot 307)    + 1 min 35,6 s4- P. Solberg/Ph. Mills (Subaru Impreza)    + 2 min 08 s5- M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus)    + 2 min 13,6 s6- T. Gardemeister/J. Honkanen (Ford Focus)   +  3 min 32,4 s7- H. Rovanperä/R. Pietiläinen (Mitsubishi Lancer)   + 4 min 27,9 s8- F. Duval/S. Smeets (Citroën Xsara)    + 5 min 10,4 s9- H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus)   + 5 min 45,8 s10- J. Tuohino/M. Markkula (Škoda Fabia)   + 6 min 42,3 s

12- X. Pons/C. Del Barrio (Citroën Xsara Kronos)   + 10 min 44,1 s

FIA World Rally Championship after round 10 - Manufacturers

1. Peugeot, 106 points – 2. Citroën, 105 pts - 3. Ford, 69 pts – 4. Subaru, 59 pts – 5. Mitsubishi, 43 pts - 6. Škoda, 8 pts

FIA World Rally Championship after round 10 - Drivers

1. S. Loeb, 83 pts – 2. M. Grönholm, 55 pts - 3. P. Solberg, 53 points – 4. M. Märtin, 48 pts – 5. T. Gardemeister, 47 pts – 6. H. Rovanperä, 22 pts - 7. M. Stohl, 12 pts - 8. C. Sainz, 11 pts – 9. R. Kresta, 10 pts – 10. H. Solberg, 9 pts – 11. F. Duval, 8 pts – 12. M. Hirvonen, 8 pts – 13. G. Panizzi, 7 pts - 14. G. Galli, 6 pts – 15. D. Carlsson, 4 pts - 16. A. Warmbold, 4 pts - 17. Ch. Atkinson, 2 pts – 18. J. Pykälistö, 1 pt.