Loeb romps to Rally Ireland win

Eurosport - Sun, 01 Feb 16:04:00 2009

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb made a perfect start to the season and his quest for a sixth title in a row with victory in Rally Ireland.

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The Frenchman, who won 11 of last season's 15 rallies, chalked up the record 48th win of his career by leading Spanish team mate Dani Sordo in a commanding one-two for champions Citroen.

Loeb dominated the Sligo-based cross-border event, finishing one minute and 27.9 seconds ahead of Sordo and a further 39.9 clear of third placed Mikko Hirvonen, the Finn who finished third overall last year for Ford.

"It's been a really tough rally but I'm very happy to take the 10 points," Loeb said final 1.5km Donegal stage.

"Tarmac rallies are especially important to me. This one has been tricky for everyone, but now we're here at the finish with maximum points. It's a good start to the season," added the Frenchman, who had a scare when he almost went off on the penultimate 18th stage.

The victory gave champions Citroen a maximum 18 points in the manufacturers' standings depleted by the withdrawal last month of Japanese carmakers Subaru and Suzuki.

"We had some problems this weekend," said Hirvonen. "I was hoping I could fight with Sordo but maybe that will come another time. It's still a good start to my season. Now I'm looking forward to the next round in Norway."

Rally Ireland has replaced Monte Carlo as this year's season-opener. Loeb also won the event when it was last on the calendar in 2007.

Norway's Henning Solberg, whose brother and former world champion Petter lost his place when Subaru quit, took fourth place for Stobart Ford.

Australian Chris Atkinson finished fifth for the Citroen Junior Team, losing fourth place after going off on the penultimate stage, ahead of team mate and world junior champion Sebastien Ogier of France.

Britain's Matthew Wilson was seventh for Stobart Ford with Abu Dhabi's Khalid al Qassimi taking his first world championship point for the main works Ford team.

Results:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 2hours 48mins 25.7secs M

2. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +01mins 27.9secs M

3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC08 +02mins 07.8secs M

4. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC08 +06mins 32.4secs MT

5. Chris Atkinson Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC +07mins 51.9secs MT

6. Sebastien Ogier Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC +10mins 44.0secs A8

7. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC08 +11mins 23.8secs A8

8. Khalid Al Qassimi BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC08 +14mins 07.8secs A8

9. Eamonn Boland Subaru Impreza WRC +15mins 23.4secs A8

10. Urmo Aava Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC08 +15mins 35.4secs MT

11. Aaron MacHale Ford Focus WRC +16mins 09.7secs A8

12. Tim McNulty Subaru S12B +20mins 57.9secs A8

13. Shaun Gallagher Mitsubishi Evo 9 +21mins 16.2secs N4

14. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC08 +23mins 32.5secs M

15. Gary Jennings Mitsubishi Evo 9 +24mins 12.1secs N4

16. Aaron Burkart Suzuki Swift S1600 +28mins 15.8secs J

17. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +29mins 03.1secs J

18. Conrad Rautenbach Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC +36mins 37.9secs A8

19. Simone Bertolotti Suzuki Swift S1600 +37mins 15.9secs J

20. Yoann Bonato Suzuki Swift Sport +41mins 22.0secs J

Overall JWRC:

1. Aaron Burkart Suzuki Swift S1600 3hours 16mins 41.5secs J

2. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +00mins 47.3secs J

3. Simone Bertolotti Suzuki Swift S1600 +09mins 00.1secs J

Notable retirements:

SS2/3. Jari-Matti Latvala BP Ford Abu Dhabi Focus RS WRC08 Went off. M*

SS2/3. Niall McShea Proton Satria Neo S2000 Electrical. S2000*

SS3. Kevin Abbring Renault Clio R3 Electrical. J*

SS6. Yoann Bonato Suzuki Swift Sport Stopped in stage. J*

SS6. Urmo Aava Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC08 Went off. MT*

SS6/9. Austin MacHale Ford Focus WRC Withdrawn A8

SS9. Conrad Rautenbach Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC Went off. A8*

SS14. Hans Weijs Citroen C2 S1600 Accident. J

SS14. Niall McShea Proton Satria Neo Went off. S2000

SS14/15. Gareth MacHale Ford Focus WRC Withdrawn A8

SS17. Ross Forde Suzuki Swift Sport Mechanical. J

Reuters

Comment 1 - 13 of 13

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  1. Absolutely amazing driver!

    From Mr Burns, on Tue 10 Feb 12:48PM

  2. Well, Eleana mou, Milos is a wonderful island, i wish­ you and your family the best. Your husband is­ so...blessed and lucky that he have raced on those­ exciting days of rallying...today we have repeated­ stages, spectators in 'prison', silent cars­ that goes straight even on gravel, drivers complaining­ like walking ladies about the rain or the mud, names of­ co-drivers dissappeared from the car like they are not­ part of the result and like we are stupid and two names­ on car confuse us so much...i can go on forever...Tace­ care and lets pray for something that will...bring our­ favorite sport back to life again.

    From dimkaterini, on Sun 1 Feb 5:40PM

  3. So Dimitraki apo Katerini bravo pethaki moy. My Husband­ races many years with Aleko Kantzouris in Toyota's­ - maybe you remember them - Robert is too old now­ (though you wouldnt believe it!! - lol) for racing at­ least but still drives so perfectly! Every year we come­ to Greece for our vacations - this year will be MILOS­ for 15 days!

    From EleanaV, on Sun 1 Feb 3:03PM

  4. what was that I read about Mr Holywood and Proton? They­ cant be serious!

    From EleanaV, on Sun 1 Feb 3:00PM

  5. A pity Subaru pulled out, then, where is Peugeot and­ Nissan and Audi?
    Maybe they (at WRC management) should­ try to cut costs as well, like what F1 is looking for.­ As long as the amount of teams dwindles, the interest­ will fade. Why isn't Monaco part of the WRC­ program?
    What about all the valuable drivers with no­ steering wheel ?

    From Yannec P, on Sun 1 Feb 1:27PM

  6. Eleana you are almost right, its Dimitris from­ Katerini, a seaside city in Central Macedonia,­ Greece.I've been to all the Acropolis Rallies since­ 2000...and im missing Richard, Colin, Tommy and WRC­ cars that are really a pleasure to watch. Richard was­ the same age as me, i felt his loss deep in my­ heart...and yes, Loeb is far much better than the­ others but to win so easy is not good for anybody, not­ even for Loeb.

    From dimkaterini, on Sun 1 Feb 10:50AM

  7. Dimkaterini (Dimitri and Ekaterini??- Greeks??) anyway­ yes those days will be a long while coming back - My­ husband was a very close friend of Ricky Burns and they­ often ran together and even competed in same races­ (Acropolis being one).

    From EleanaV, on Sun 1 Feb 8:35AM

  8. Darned Frenchman is just too good for the rest - simple­ as that. He is a one-off, much like Makkinen in his­ time, unbeatable if he keeps it on the road. The Ford­ is also way too slow on Asphalt. They have to find­ another 20-30 horses to beat the others.

    From EleanaV, on Sun 1 Feb 8:33AM

  9. WRC is getting like F1 in 2001- 2004, instead of all­ schumacer, its all loeb, great drivers but its chocking­ the races a bit

    From Julian, on Sat 31 Jan 7:55PM

  10. As good as Loeb is, its a sad state of affairs when on­ a saturday morning after the 1st stage of the day the­ rally is over. just in from stages 9 + 12 (slough glen)­ and boy what a wet miserable day to test the best. Was­ on corner 17 where Loeb wobbled a little on ss 12.­ Dreading what rte are gonna show on there­ 'highlights' programme

    From gerry, on Sat 31 Jan 7:43PM

  11. Yes...WRC with 2, or if we are lucky 3, good drivers­ 'fighting' for win or podium! Its so sad...I­ prefer IRC, this year's WRC will be the most boring­ ever...unfortunately.I miss years 2000-2003 when 6 to 8­ drivers could win in each and every rally.

    From dimkaterini, on Sat 31 Jan 7:24PM

  12. loeb is just class was at the first stage and second­ stage on friday and he was well faster then the other

    From man utd 112, on Sat 31 Jan 4:38PM

  13. Just back from the first stage on saturday­ morning.Rainy and cold.... Loeb seems to be so much­ quicker than any other drivers.

    From vincent d, on Sat 31 Jan 1:04PM
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