Loeb dominates Rally of Finland

Frenchman leads from start to finish and eclipses home drivers in "the most difficult one to win"

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Sebastien Loeb’s Gallic cool was in evidence at the end of the Rally of Finland. The Frenchman had just taken his first ever victory in the Finnish WRC rally raced in the surroundings of the central city of Jyväskylä, but remained remarkably calm and composed afterwards.
     
“This was one of the best victories of my career. Still, my very first WRC win felt even better. However, the Rally of Finland is the most difficult one to win in the whole series. And as I did it in front of the Finnish drivers it feels great”, Loeb said, while leaning casually against the hood of his Citroën.
      Behind him a few thousand rally enthusiasts waited anxiously to see the new winner take to the podium.
      Loeb is only the fourth man from outside the Nordic Countries to triumph at the Jyväskylä rally. The others were Carlos Sainz (1990), Didier Auriol (1992) and Estonian Markko Märtin (2003).
      In recent years at least Marcus Grönholm has been able to keep Loeb at bay in Finland.
      “Maybe it was a good thing for me that Marcus quit the sport”, Loeb laughs.
     
On Sunday the Frenchman brought his Citroën to a seemingly effortless victory with a nine-second margin over Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen (Ford), who came home in second. On Sunday Hirvonen managed to narrow Loeb’s lead by nine seconds, but he was never in a position to seriously threaten the Frenchman, who led the race from the first special stage to the finish.
      “We took more risks than last year. Even in the morning I tried to attack, but when our time on the Lankamaa special stage (No. 22) was the same as Loeb’s I realised that the battle was over”, Hirvonen explained.
     
The winning margin of 9.0 seconds is the second narrowest in the history of the Rally of Finland. In 1997 Finland’s Tommi Mäkinen beat his countryman Juha Kankkunen by a mere seven seconds.
      Loeb and Hirvonen were streets ahead of the rest: third-placed Chris Atkinson of Australia (Subaru) came home more than three minutes adrift of Loeb. Owing to the mishap that happened to Jari-Matti Latvala on Friday (see earlier article), Atkinson also leapfrogged over him into third spot in the drivers' table.
     
Hirvonen is familiar with the silver medal position in Finland. Last year the Ford pilot also finished second, while Grönholm took the victory.
      In 2007 the runner-up position felt like a win in itself, as Hirvonen had managed to mount a serious challenge to the seven-time Jyväskylä winner Grönholm.
      This time around, being second felt more like a stinging defeat. Hirvonen had generally been expected to take his first win on home turf now that Grönholm has retired.
     
On Sunday, Loeb nearly gave the prize away when spinning his car in the first corner of the day’s second special stage. The mishap caused the Frenchman to lose six seconds, but he managed to finish the race without further blunders.
      “I am yet to win in Britain, but the victory in Finland was what I had particularly hoped for. The British race has never seemed so hard to win. I have been in the lead there, and at times I have opted to drive slowly to make sure I finish and collect constructors' points”, Loeb explained.
     
The WRC series continues in two weeks’ time on asphalt in Germany. In the drivers’ table Hirvonen remains in the lead just one point ahead of Loeb.
      “I have won the German race every single time it has been organised. So, it is clear that we will be strong there”, Loeb points out. The Frenchman has capped the race a historic six straight times.
     
The victory in Finland marked the 42nd WRC win for the 34-year-old Loeb. The Citroën pilot has taken part in 107 WRC races, which results in an astounding winning percentage of 39. Loeb can justly be described as the best rally driver of all times. Any lingering doubts about his ability to drive on gravel were dispelled this weekend - the Citroen pilot was rampant, and fully deserved his win.
      The four-time world champion is not thinking of quitting just yet, despite press speculation about his motivation, which will doubtless have been further fuelled by his now grabbing one of the prizes in the sport he had long been seeking.
      “I have a contract for next year as well. I have no idea of what I will do after that.”
     
Immediately after the race, Hirvonen remained full of fighting spirit.
      “In Germany we will have a new engine. I will not be going there to race for second place but to take a win”, the Finn declared.
      Realistically, however, the title race is now Loeb's to lose: three of the remaining six events this season are on asphalt (Germany, Spain, and the Rallye de France in Corsica), and on this surface Loeb is frighteningly fast and practically unbeatable.
      But the 34-year-old might nevertheless be advised to take his foot off the gas pedal a bit when he is not racing - he came close to missing this last race after being clocked speeding by police on Wednesday. Details of the incident are in the photo caption.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Loeb leads after first four stages of Rally of Finland (1.8.2008)

Links:
  World Rally Championship: Rally of Finland

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