Sebastien Loeb of France has tightened the race for this year’s World Rally Championship after winning the Rally of Catalonia raced in Spain over the weekend.
The Citroën driver beat his Spanish teammate Daniel Sordo by 13.8 seconds. Finland’s Marcus Grönholm (Ford) came in third, 39.8 seconds behind the winner.
Loeb’s victory narrowed Grönholm’s lead in the drivers' championship table to six points. Grönholm now has 96 points against Loeb’s 90 points. Grönholm’s Finnish Ford teammate Mikko Hirvonen is currently third with 74 points.
The two-time World Champion (2000, 2002) Grönholm cannot be blamed for not trying. The Finn clocked the fastest times on seven of the weekend’s 16 special stages.
"I did everything I could to beat the Citroëns, but that was not enough. In the end I no longer wanted to take unnecessary risks. Who knows how important these six points will turn out to be at the end of the season?” Grönholm commented to news agency DPA.
Mikko Hirvonen came home fourth in the Spanish Rally - raced on asphalt - one minute and 25.8 seconds behind the winner. Yet another Finn, Jari-Matti Latvala from Ford’s number two team, finished seventh (-3:38.2).
The weekend’s victory was Loeb’s sixth this season and the 34th of his career. The Frenchman has seized top honours in the Rally of Catalonia three years in a row.
"Everything went as planned. This was an important victory considering the championship title. Hopefully I can produce equally good results on the remaining asphalt races as well", Loeb contemplated after the race.
Four races remain in the season. The next World Rally event will be the Rally of Corsica on October 12th-14th, which again will be raced primarily on asphalt.
Loeb will be the man to beat also in Corsica. He has won the rally for the last two years. Last year Grönholm came home in second. Grönholm's best chances of success in the remaining races this year will be in Japan and at the closing Rally of Great Britain in Wales.
