WRC: Loeb Wins in Finland for the First Time

42nd career win for Frenchman.

SPEED Staff | Posted August 03, 2008 Helsinki, Finland

Loeb posted his 42nd career win in the WRC. (LAT Photo)

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb has won the 2008 Rally Finland and with it the 42nd WRC victory of his career.

In an event which is historically dominated by local drivers, Loeb becomes only the fourth non-Scandinavian to win the rally since it was first run in 1951.

At the finish control Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena climbed onto the roof of their Citroen C4 WRC and waved a French national flag. “It’s fantastic, an incredible feeling, winning here in Finland means so much to me!” said Loeb. “I desperately wanted to win this rally because it’s been one of the hardest. So getting a win here was more important to me than just getting points. It’s been a very hard battle with Mikko all weekend with no chance to relax. He did a great job - I’ve had to fight for every second.”

A maximum 10 points moves Loeb closer his rival Hirvonen in the 2008 drivers’ championship although he remains in second place, one point adrift of the Finn.

Hirvonen brought his Ford Focus RS over the finish line in second, just 9.9 sec slower than Loeb after 340 kilometres of furious, high speed competition. “I wanted to win here, but it was still fantastic event,” said Hirvonen. “I’m pleased with the speed we had but Seb was able to find few more seconds, and in the end that’s all he needed to win. The championship fight is not over, but of course all the rallies coming up are more important now. It’s not over yet.”

Chris Atkinson was third in his Subaru Impreza WRC2008 and moved ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala into third place in the drivers’ championship. “It’s the best rally in the world, the one everyone wants to win, so to finish on the podium is really cool,” he said. “You want to come to Finland to go fast but to get a podium is more than we expected. It’s been a great team effort. Stephane [Prevott - co-driver] did a great job and that meant I could do my best.”

WRC – Rally Finland results:

1) Loeb, Citroen, 2h54:05.5
2) Hirvonen, Ford, + 9.0
3) Atkinson, Subaru, + 3:17.0
4) Sordo, Citroen, + 3:30.9
5) H Solberg, Ford, + 3:57.7
6) P Solberg, Subaru, + 4:04.1
7) Rantanen, Ford, + 6:11.1
8) Gardemeister, Suzuki, + 8:18.7
9) Wilson, Ford, + 8:37.3
10) Rautenbach, Citroen, + 10:30.9