Loeb wins to extend lead

Eurosport - Sun, 31 Aug 08:17:00 2008

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb clawed his way back after a dramatic spin on the final day of Rally New Zealand to win the event 17.5 seconds ahead of his Citroen teammate Dani Sordo.

It was a dream result for Loeb, who left second-ranked Mikko Hirvonen of Finland trailing in third with a slow puncture, to take his 44th World Rally Championship victory.

The world champion had a shaky start in the opening stage Sunday, losing control with a spin at the three kilometre mark, which cost him 10 seconds and left him struggling in fourth.

Midway through the course it looked like Hirvonen and Ford teammate Jari-Matti Latvala had the top two positions locked out.

"I was on a mission to close the gap on the Ford team, but got onto the wrong part of the road on a long, left-hand corner and had the spin," said Loeb.

"I wasn't able to make up the gap to Mikko -- I thought it was over and we'd lost the chance, but then it all changed and we were leading again," said the world champion.

By the penultimate stage, the Ford team's challenge had crumbled, with Latvala of Finland retiring and Hirvonen losing 50 seconds to a slow puncture, to finish the rally behind Sordo of Spain.

"This was really a difficult rally, changing all the time, with some strategy coming in too," said Loeb after the three-day contest.

"I needed to win for sure, and that's very nice, but I'm not happy for what happened to Mikko because he was doing really well and it was a good battle. But it's a race and these things happen sometimes."

A disappointed Hirvonen brought his bumper-less Ford across the finish line to claim the final podium place, 24 seconds adrift of Sordo's time.

"I was really confident that we were going to win this rally but what could we do," said Hirvonen.

"We had a slow puncture that dropped us to third, but I'm not going to let this knock my confidence.

"I know we can win rallies. The season isn't over yet so we just have to go flat out again on the next rallies."

Latvala's retirement meant a dissatisfied Petter Solberg of Norway finished fourth for the Subaru World Rally team.

"We want to win, not get fourth, I'm sorry but we're not here for fun. We have to improve the speed," said Solberg.

Loeb's victory means he is now eight points head of Hirvonen in the WRC standings after 11 rounds.

His teammate Sordo's success gives Citroen a 20-point lead over nearest rivals Ford.