Loeb and Elena give the C4 WRC its 36th victory!
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena avoided all the pitfalls of the final day of Rally Great Britain andscored their eighth victory of the 2010 season. The C4 WRC has finished its career on a high notewith its 36th win in 56 rallies before being replaced by the Citroën DS3 WRC in 2011. Loeb andElena achieved a unique feat this season by scoring points in every rally with an average of 21!Sébastien Loeb had only a 5-second lead over Petter Solberg when the third day of the rally began, andhe was obliged to push to prevent a comeback by the Norwegian. The Sunday route of the RAC Rallyincluded two classics: Resolfen (29,99 km) and Margam Park (8,08 km).
At the end of the first passage through Resolfen (SS17), Sébastien boosted his confidence by setting thefastest time. His lead over Solberg was 6.7s, and the 7-time world champion* increased it to 11.5s, acountry mile given the gaps since the start of the weekend! In Margam, the Citroën Total World RallyTeam driver was again fastest.
“It’s not raining but the roads are very slippery,” said Loeb at the half-way service halt. “I went well inResolfen. In Margam I thought that Petter was quicker but he made a small mistake and we opened upthe gap. We’ve now got a fourteen-second lead, but it’s not enough on this type of surface. I’m going tohave to go pedal to the metal right till the end.”
Loeb was quicker than his closest rival in the last two stages, and in Wales he scored his sixty-secondworld championship victory: “We had to fight from beginning to end against the road conditions and ourrivals. It’s true that Petter beat me in Margam Park in 2003 and pipped me for the world title, but Iwasn’t out for revenge. I knew I had to watch out as he’s very quick here.
“It was a great rally and we really enjoyed ourselves in the C4 WRC. As in Spain we could push and takerisks without having to worry about the pressure of winning the championship. I was determined to finishthe season on a high note to thank the whole team and give the C4 WRC a final victory,” concluded theFrenchman.
“We’ve had a fantastic season with an impeccable performance from Sébastien Loeb, who has achievedan exploit by finishing all the events without ever having to use the SuperRally,” underlined OlivierQuesnel, the Citroën Racing Competitions Manager. “Sébastien Ogier has also had some good results.Apart from his mistake yesterday, I’ll remember his two world championship victories. With ten wins inthirteen rallies I think that Citroën Racing has had its best season since it arrived in the worldchampionship. We had two aims this year: continue winning with the C4 and prepare for the future bydeveloping the DS3 WRC. We’ll see in Sweden if we’ve done a good job, but I’m feeling confident for2011.”
* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.
THE RALLY IN FIGURESSébastien Loeb / Daniel ElenaSS17: Resolfen 1 (29,99 km) 1st 1stSS18: Margam Park 1 (8,08 km) 1st 1stSS19: Resolfen 2 (29,99 km) 4th +7’’4 1stSS20: Margam Park 2 (8,08 km) 3rd +6’’6 1stFastest times in the stages
Day 1 – SS1: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS2: Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS3: Loeb – SS4:Latvala – SS5: Ogier – SS6 and 7: Loeb.
Day 2 – SS8 and 9: Solberg – SS10: Loeb – SS11: Solberg – SS12 to 14: Loeb – SS15: Solberg –SS16: Loeb.
Day 3 – SS17 and 18: Loeb – SS19: Latvala – SS20: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4).Best performers: Loeb, 11 fastest times – Solberg, 4 – Latvala, 3 – Ogier and Sordo, 1 each.Leaders: SS1: Loeb – SS2: Latvala – SS3: Loeb – SS4 to 6 : Latvala – SS7: Loeb – SS8 and 9 : Solberg– SS10 to 20: Loeb.
Final overall provisional clasification1. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 3h14’54.0s2. P. Solberg / Patterson Citroën C4 +19.1s3. Latvala / Anttila Ford Focus +1’35.3s4. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus +1’53.3s5. Sordo / Vallejo Citroën C4 +2’12.2s6. H. Solberg / Prévot Ford Focus +6’26.57. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +8’37.8s8. Räikkönen / Lindstrom Citroën C4 +10’27.9s
