Sebastien Loeb wins Rally Spain

Citroën super star Sebastien Loeb won Rally Spain from Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen on the weekend and in doing so put himself back in the outright lead in the chase for the 2011 drivers’ world championship.

Despite an engine failure and subsequent DNF from Citroën driver Sebastien Ogier, Loeb’s victory was enough to secure a seventh manufacturers’ title for the French outfit. Failure in Spain was a double blow for Ogier who is now out of the title race with just one rally left in season 2011.

It was another solid outing for MINI with Dani Sordo finishing fourth and teammate Kris Meeke behind in fifth. You sense there’ll be a victory or two in store for MINI in 2012.

Loeb now holds a slender eight point lead over Hirvonen, despite the Frenchman winning five races so far this year to the the Finn’s two. There’s 25 points plus bonuses on offer for a win and the final race in Wales (10–13 November) shapes up as being a nail-biter.

Speaking after his win in Spain, Loeb said, “For the moment we’re celebrating Citroën’s seventh title! But the drivers’ crown is far from over. Mikko Hirvonen has done a good job by finishing second here and we know he’ll be competitive on the stages in Wales. We must finish in front of him. The best thing we could do would be to win. So our destiny is in our own hands!”

 

Citroën reigns in Spain as it takes its seventh world title* and Loeb is back in the lead for the drivers’ title

A win the penultimate round of 2011 World Rally Championship, the Rally of Spain, at the weekend (20-23 October 2011) for Sébastien Loeb and his Citroen DS3 WRC, has provided Citroen with an insurmountable lead in the race for the 2011 WRC Manufacturers world title and put the seven time World Rally Champion back in the lead for the 2011 Drivers’ title.

The outcome for the bid the 2011 Drivers’ title is now between Loeb and Ford’s Milko Hirvonen, with Loeb’s team mate, Sébastien Ogier, failure to finish the Rally of Spain ending his 2011 title hopes.

The 2011 Rally of Spain was a mixed surface event; with the Catalonian gravel added some spice to the first day of the Spanish round of the World Rally Championship. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena opened the road on the six stages which made up the leg, and they put themselves in a strong position by taking the lead in the overall classification. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were delayed by a puncture, and ended the first day fourth in the second Citroën Total World Rally Team DS3 WRC.

The opening day gravel three stages were covered twice on day one and were laid out in the mountains to the west of Tarragon, representing 40% of the total timed distance of the rally.

Sébastien Loeb, who was a bit apprehensive about the sweeping he had to do on the first day, found an unexpected ally in the dust, which played a decisive role right from the start of the first stage. The seven-time world champion set the fastest time in Peselis (SS1), and went into the rally lead while Sébastien Ogier lost 18 seconds almost straight away.

“In the first stage we couldn’t see anything because of the dust thrown up by the cars that started ahead of us,” explained Ogier. “The further we drove the more the sunrise, which was straight in front of us, made things difficult. Some clouds of dust were so thick that I had to brake on the straights on several occasions. It was impossible to know where we were.”

At the midday break, Loeb was happy to be in the lead despite being first out on the road. Ogier in third place was hoping to take advantage of the second loop to close the gap. Unfortunately, a puncture in SS5 cost him 1m 40s.

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena found that sweeping was more of a handicap than in the morning and they dropped a few seconds here and there in the stages. They lost their lead at the end of SS4, but were back in front by the end of the day. Latvala was in first place till he spun in SS6 and the seven-time world champions arrived back in the Salou service park with a 30-second lead.

“We’re in an ideal position,” said Loeb. “Our aim was not to lose too much time in relation to our rivals. Finishing the day twenty seconds behind Latvala would have suited me. And in the end, we’ve got a lead of thirty seconds, so it’s perfect! I had to push very hard all day. Tomorrow, being first out on the road will no longer be a handicap and we can choose the rhythm that we want to impose on the rally.”

The first day’s racing ended with a 75-minute service halt during which the Citroën Total World Rally Team mechanics transformed the DS3 WRCs into tarmac setup.

“With Sébastien Loeb first and Sébastien Ogier fifth, we’re well placed to clinch Citroën’s seventh world title this weekend. Loeb drove a perfect day in the context of the drivers’ title. Despite his puncture, Ogier is still in the running for a place on the podium. But we have to be on our guard as a whole new rally starts tomorrow on tarmac,” summed up Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal at the end of day one.

After the opening day on gravel, Rally Spain continued on the Catalonian tarmac. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who were in the lead at the end of the first leg, controlled the gap to their pursuers. Their performance enabled them to bag the only record still lacking in their incredible results – the highest number of fastest times.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are lying fifth after another puncture bringing the Citroën Total World Rally Team a step closer to their seventh world title.

Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier tackled the second day of Rally Spain in their Citroën DS3 WRCs converted into tarmac setup. The day’s three stages to be covered twice represented a total of 144 timed kilometers.

Loeb started the day with a new record by setting the fastest time in El Priorat, the longest stage of the rally. He was quickest again in Riba-Roja del Ebre, the seven-time world champion’s 802nd fastest time in the WRC, beating Markku Alen’s previous record.

Loeb and Elena controlled the race as they pleased with an intelligent combination of attack and calculated risks: “We had a good run. The roads were clean in the first loop but a bit dirtier in the afternoon. We didn’t take any risks, as we didn’t want to lose everything. We had to drive cleanly and not clip the apexes. Second time through I preferred to use the dirtier parts of the road rather than cutting the corners.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll have to tackle the stages in the same spirit. I’ll be especially careful in the first one, as the ground will be very cold. Jari-Matti Latvala is pushing hard, but we’re sure that second place will go to Mikko Hirvonen. The only thing we have to do is to make it to the end and stay in front,” summed up the overall leader.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia had a more problematic day due to a puncture midway through SS7.

“We started out with the aim of catching Mikko Hirvonen, but the second puncture stopped us in our momentum. We’re now over three minutes behind so there’s not a lot left to hope for,” explained Ogier. “Yesterday, it was my fault but today I don’t understand what happened as we didn’t cut the corner. Now our aim is to finish the rally and score points for Citroën.”

As the current overall classification stands, Citroën is on the way to winning its seventh manufacturers’ title.

“The situation is as good for us as it was yesterday, but we’ll have to confirm tomorrow and ensure that we score the results we need,” stated Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal. If Sébastien Loeb wins again tomorrow, he’ll open up a small gap in the drivers’ championship but Mikko Hirvonen is still a big threat for the title. The pressure’s there but its positive pressure, which drives us to give our very best!”

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who were in the lead with thirty seconds in hand over their nearest rival, were determined to convert their position into their fifth victory of the season on the final day of the Rally of Spain.

After making the best tyre choice, they were able to control the gap in the first leg and set the fastest time in Coll de la Teixeta (SS15), the special used for the Power Stage. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, who set off in fifth spot, started the day well with two fastest times and two second places. Just when they were on the point of snatching fourth in the overall classification they had to stop their Citroën DS3 WRC in the second-last stage due to an engine problem. Ogier did not score any points in Spain so, mathematically speaking; he is no longer in the running for the Drivers’ World Championship.

The Power Stage became the focal point of interest at the end of the race because of its bonus points. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were on hard tyres on the soaking wet tarmac and did not take any unnecessary risks. Nevertheless, they set the third-quickest time synonymous of a bonus point.

“We’re very relieved to have won. It really wasn’t an easy victory, and we had to fight right till the very end,” explained Loeb after celebrating his sixty-seventh win on his 150th start in the world championship. “Today, choosing the right tyres was a bit complicated because of the uncertain weather. We were not really in the best position for the Power Stage but we still managed to score a point, which could prove very useful for us in three weeks! On tarmac, you have to adopt a very precise driving style rather like on a circuit. But this year, we laid the foundations of our victory on gravel in the first leg.”

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will start Rally Great Britain with a lead of eight points over Mikko Hirvonen:

“For the moment we’re celebrating Citroën’s seventh title! But the drivers’ crown is far from over. Mikko Hirvonen has done a good job by finishing second here and we know he’ll be competitive on the stages in Wales. We must finish in front of him. The best thing we could do would be to win. So our destiny is in our own hands!”

While awaiting the final duel between Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen, the whole Citroën Total World Rally Team is savouring their seventh world title as Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal, underlines. “Today, we’re very proud of our World Championship title, the fourth in succession for Citroën. It’s the result of consistent work by a calm and humble team. We’ve stuck together through the hard times. We’ve won ten out of the twelve rallies held so far, which is a pretty good score. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia should also be associated with this result, as they had a great season despite their retirement this weekend. We’re going to analyse his car in the workshops to find out exactly what the problem was, but we already know that it isn’t linked to Sébastien Loeb’s retirement in France. We had two objectives this season, the drivers’ title and manufacturers’ crown. Today, we fulfilled one of them!”

*Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.