Written by:
SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
03/15/2009
Limassol, Cyprus
Citroen Total team driver Sebastien Loeb has won the FxPro Cyprus Rally by a margin of 27.2 seconds from the man in second place, Mikko Hirvonen of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team.
Loeb brought his C4 WRC cleanly through the final 11km gravel stage to notch up his third consecutive win of the season and the 50th of his record breaking WRC career.
Sebastien Loeb celebrated his 50th WRC win Sunday at Cyprus, continuing to set new records in his Citroen C4. (WRC)
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But while the Citroen team celebrated Loeb’s win, there was drama too, when the French firm’s Junior team driver Sebastien Ogier crashed out of fifth place on a hairpin bend 200 metres before the finish.
At the stage end, Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena jumped onto the roof of their C4 WRC to celebrate their win. “It’s incredible!” said Loeb. “I remember when I beat the records of Carlos [Sainz] and then Colin [McRae] it wasn’t so long ago, and now we’re on 50. It’s a big number. And a nice number! It’s like a dream. I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved but I’m not finished yet. Next I’m going for 51.”
Daniel Elena said: “It feels really nice. Now the most important thing is to try and get all 12 wins this year!”
Hirvonen congratulated Loeb at finish control, and wrote ’50’ in the dirt on the back of the Frenchman’s Citroen. “We lost this event on Friday,” said the Finn. “We managed to take some time back today. If it was drier the result might have been different, but that’s how it is. We were faster today though, hopefully we can take that speed to Portugal.”
A jubilant Petter Solberg took the final podium spot in his Citroen Xsara, and became the first privateer to make a WRC podium since Toni Gardemeister on the 2005 Monte Carlo Rally.
“I was so pleased with our stage win in Norway, but this is even more amazing!” the Norwegian said as he jumped down from the roof of his car. “Everybody in the team - all the mechanics - have done an incredible job. We’ve only got 11 people in our team and they’ve all worked unbelievably hard to get us here. The build up to this rally was just as stressful as it was in Norway. I know this is an old car, and maybe Citroen would like to finish ahead, but they should be proud about how good the Xsara still is.”
Loeb’s Citroen team-mate Dani Sordo finished fourth and said the WRC title races were more important than battling Petter - especially as the Norwegian was not registered in the manufacturers’ contest. “I’d prefer to finish fourth and get points in the drivers and manufacturers’ rather than risk going out and taking nothing,” said the Spaniard. “Now I’m happy for Citroen. It’s been a very good weekend.”
After losing fifth place to Ogier on the previous test, Briton Matthew Wilson moved back up when his rival got stuck off the road, within sight of the finish, and retired.
The Stobart VK M-Sport team driver also celebrated a joint stage win with Jari-Matti Latvala.
“I think that’s my first ‘proper’ stage win,” beamed Wilson. “I couldn’t have gone any faster in there. The plan was to go for it and it looks like the pressure got to Ogier. But what a fight it was. We showed some good speed today - okay it wasn’t always consistent - but it’s been good.”
Also benefiting from Ogier’s misfortune was the Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach, who brought his Citroen Junior Team C4 to the line in sixth. “Sixth place - it’s crazy,” he said. “Earlier today we lost Novikov and now Ogier. It’s been a really difficult weekend, and very hard to get through, but we did it and here we are. It’s unfortunate about out team-mates, but what can you do?”
On his 2009 WRC season debut, Federico Villagra finished seventh for the Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team. “The weather has made this a very difficult event but we’re very happy to be here and in a points winning place,” said the Argentinean.
Eighth overall, and taking the last drivers’ championship point, was Khalid Al Qassimi of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team. “It’s a good result considering we didn’t have a handbrake yesterday or today,” he said. “It’s a bit like asking somebody to go fishing without a net! Without the problem we know we can push a little bit harder.”
