After their first exploit in 2008, Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and Citroën have won Rally Finland for the second time. This new historic success is rounded off by Sébastien Ogier’s and Julien Ingrassia’s third place. With its two DS3 WRCs on the podium, the Citroën Total World Rally Team has consolidated its first place in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Sébastien Loeb has increased his lead in the Drivers’ World Championship to 27 points.
Three crews broke away from the pack in the first two days. Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier had to fightoff Finn Jari-Matti Latvala when all three tackled the very long final leg consisting of 140 timed kilometers.Loeb in the lead had to cope with a situation he feared. The seven-time world champion was first out on theroad and he was afraid he would meet conditions less favourable than those faced by his direct rivals. Theno.1 decided that attack was the best form of defence and tried to open up a gap on roads that were stilldamp from the morning dew. In Leustu 1 (SS12), Loeb stunned his rivals by beating Ogier by 6.4s andLatvala by 10.7s in 21,35 kilometers. “I was on the limit everywhere. I drove my heart out,” he gasped.In the next stage he underlined his determination by setting another fastest time. Despite this, Ogier wasn’tgiving up: “It’s not over yet. I’m going to keep pushing. The gap’s only ten seconds, and Latvala’s not farbehind.”
But the unflappable Loeb continued on his merry way. Despite increasingly difficult conditions, he managedto hold on to his first place and won the rally in the country of a 1000 Lakes, the first-non Finn to achievesuch a performance and allowed Citroën at the same time to set another record with seven consecutive winsin the season.
This new victory is to be added to the sixty-five previous ones scored by the seven-time world champion withCitroën since the 2002 season. It has helped him to consolidate his lead in the Drivers’ World Championshipwith 27 points in hand over Mikko Hirvonen and 31 over Sébastien Ogier. “It’s one of the greatest wins ofmy career. But I had to work for it and it took a long time before it took shape. Sometimes you have to gobeyond the limits to open up the gap. I felt really good on the roads with the Citroën DS3 WRC, even moreso than in the past with the Xsara or the C4. My aim was to be in the lead in the world championship beforethe events on tarmac. I’ve achieved it, but there are still a lot of points up for grabs.”
Ogier’s hopes of victory were punctured in SS17 when he suffered a flat tyre. The former Junior WorldChampion finished on the podium behind Jari-Matti Latvala, 12.8s behind the winner. “It was all goingpretty well until the last loop. We were in a good position to push for victory until we punctured. I feelfrustrated because it was a racing incident that ruined our chances.”
“Citroën has continued to privilege the sporting aspect,” underlined Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën RacingTeam Principal. “We fully assume our decision to give our two drivers free rein to race as they wanted. Eachcrew had its own strategy and could apply it depending on the circumstances. Sébastien Loeb and DanielElena mastered the situation perfectly. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were in a position to fight forvictory until their puncture. Our crews have achieved a remarkable new exploit, and I want to congratulatethe technical team for the work done on the DS3 which has shown again an incredible level of perfomanceand reliability. ”
