The Citröen Racing partnership of Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena secured their sixth successive WRC title overnight by winning the final rally of the year, the Rally of Great Britain. The rally, set in the Welsh countryside, was a tight battle between Loeb/Elena and Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen pairing, and provided a snapshot of the season itself.
Hirvonen started the rally with a one point lead over Loeb in the title race, but it wasn’t enough. The Frenchman won the race, the Finn was second. Loeb’s victory reversed the drivers’ title scenario and he grasped the world championship from Hirvonen by a single point (93 points to 92).
Loeb had established a 30 second lead at the start of the final day, but desperate driving from Hirvonen reduced the deficit to 18 seconds after the first two stages of the day.
On the second last stage the title was all but decided when a bonnet pin on Hirvonen’s car broke and forced the bonnet to open. Hirvonen had to stop and take the dramatic option of tearing off the bonnet completely before he could continue. This gave Loeb a lead of almost 90 seconds and the chance to drive with caution on the final stage to clinch his sixth world crown.
“There were so much pressure right up to the end of the rally,” said Sébastien Loeb amidst a swarm of microphones. “We had a good start to the year, but then encountered a few problems. However, we got back on top of things just before this rally. Finally, we’ve managed to win the title again, on the penultimate stage. Mikko didn’t give up and I had to push right to the finish. It’s never easy to compare one title with another, but I think this is the best one in terms of the sporting battle we had.”
For more, check out this Q&A with Loeb at wrc.com.