Citroen Total team leader Sebastien Loeb returned to his rally winning best today, taking victory on Repco Rally Australia after a thrilling three-way fight on the event's final, and longest, day.
Loeb completed the brand new rally, round 10 of the FIA World Rally Championship, 12.5sec ahead of BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team driver Mikko Hirvonen who was second. Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo was third, 4.6sec further back after losing out in a nail-biting battle with Hirvonen that went right to the wire.
Today’s win was the 53rd in Loeb’s record breaking WRC career and his sixth this season. After a run of poor results in the middle of the year, a maximum 10 championship points today puts the Frenchman just one point behind series leader Hirvonen with two rallies to go - firmly back in contention for a sixth consecutive WRC drivers' title.
With just one tenth of a second covering Sordo, Loeb and Ford's Mikko Hirvonen going into the final day of the 2009 Rally Australia, Sunday's action was always going to be exceptionally close. The last day was also the longest of the weekend in terms of competitive action, with a programme of two loops of five stages in the Kyogle region, split by a 15-minute remote service break.
Loeb eased back ahead thanks to his fastest time on the day's opening test, SS26. Mikko Hirvonen responded with the best performance on SS28, but that didn't prevent the five-time World Champion from gradually extending his lead throughout the morning.
By the time crews checked into the short service halt in Kyogle, the cushion was up to 11 seconds: "The gap isn't big enough yet for me to be able to lift. Despite the fact that he is running first on the road, Mikko is still going extremely quickly, and I don't think he has any intention of throwing in the towel. We went well this morning and my C4 WRC feels nicely balanced on these stages. The situation is looking promising for us, but I don't intend to take my eye off the ball."
A fastest time for Dani Sordo on SS27 provided further evidence of the Spaniard's speed in Australia, and he completed the first loop fighting for second spot just 3.8 seconds adrift of Hirvonen.
"I dropped a little time by pushing too hard, which led to a tendency for my car to oversteer, he said. "Our aim is to try to catch Mikko, but clawing back four seconds this afternoon won't be easy. He is going very well and I mustn't forget the prospect of a good Manufacturers' points haul for Citroen."
The afternoon's run saw Sebastien Loeb maintain the same sort of pace to bag a further two fastest times, and it was only on the final stage that he was truly able to control from in front. The Frenchman was clearly delighted with his performance at the finish.
"Winning is always nice, but today's victory has a special taste to it because it's our first since last April! This rally turned out to be long and tough. The variety of the stages and the speed of our rivals kept us on our toes from start to finish. This result is particularly important in terms of the championship. It has brought us back to within just one point of Mikko and we will be looking to regain the lead in Spain."
A further fastest time on SS32 enabled Dani Sordo to figure briefly in second place before eventually reaching the finish in third spot: "Mikko was quite simply faster than me today. That said, I am absolutely thrilled to have finished on the podium here in Australia.
"I was in the thick of the scrap for first place from the beginning of Day One all the way to the end, and the Manufacturers' points we've scored mean that Citroen could potentially wrap up the title in Spain," Sordo pointed out.
"This one is a good one," said Loeb "It was a hard fight, and because it's been a long time since our last win it feels especially good. It was really important for the championship to win here. We've done it and I'm really happy. Spain is next and we're one point behind Mikko - the championship is really interesting. It will be an incredible fight to the final I think."
