It was an emotional final day at Rally Great Britain for the Citroen World Rally Team: in spite of having led from the outset, Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena only saw the rally swing decisively in their favour on the penultimate stage.

With their 54th world class win, the Franco-Monegasque pairing sealed their sixth consecutive World Championship. After fighting until the final minutes of the rally, teammates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti finished just one second off second place.

The third day of Rally GB was shorter than the first two – but it still proved a real challenge. The competitors had to complete two runs through the Port Talbot and Rheola stages, which equated to nearly 80km without any breaks for service.

Although he held a 30-second lead over Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, Loeb knew he couldn't afford to relax during this decisive final leg. In Port Talbot 1 (SS13), the still-five-time World Champion lost eight tenths to his rival: "It's not a bad time, but I felt a loss in power just after the start of the stage. I hope it's not too serious..."

Several phone calls later, the Citroen Racing engineers had diagnosed a 'fresh air' problem, which is a system that optimises the performance of the turbocharger. In SS14 (Rheola 1), Loeb lost 11 seconds in one go.

"This stage was much twistier and our problem is quite a big handicap in those sections," Loeb reported. "We've still got a lead of 18.2 seconds, we'll need to give everything."

Dani Sordo's morning wasn't any more relaxing. After a good start on SS13, he lost seven seconds to Citroen Junior Team driver Petter Solberg in SS14: "We swiped a big rock with the right rear, but the car isn't too badly damaged. I don't want to lose my place on the podium, so I need to keep on pushing to stay ahead of Petter."

The rally took another big swing in SS15, when Mikko Hirvonen lost more than a minute... after having to stop to close his bonnet when a pin broke.

"It's a great stroke of luck, but we've still got a tough stage to come," emphasised Loeb. At the same time, after catching up to Solberg, Dani Sordo had come within 0.9 seconds of second place.

Each member of the Citroen Total World Rally Team was holding their breath during the last stage. Loeb and Elena put in a controlled performance to secure their 54th victory and sixth world title.

At the same time, Sordo and Marti were attempting to snatch second place from Mikko Hirvonen, but the Finn was one tenth faster and therefore retained the advantage by a single second overall.

After returning to Cardiff, the team and drivers celebrated together enthusiastically.

"There were so much pressure right up to the end of the rally," said Sebastien Loeb amidst a swarm of microphones. "We had a good start to the year, but then encountered a few problems. However, we got back on top of things just before this rally. Finally, we've managed to win the title again, on the penultimate stage.

"Mikko didn't give up and I had to push right to the finish. It's never easy to compare one title with another, but I think this is the best one in terms of the sporting battle we had," the now six-time world champion declared.

"When you win a title with three rallies to go, the pressure isn't the same because you've always got another opportunity to do it. This was the final rally and we couldn't afford to get it wrong. Everybody expected us to win, but I can tell you that nothing was certain until we reached the finish! That's why it means so much to us."

As well as being delighted for his team-mate, Dani Sordo was pleased with his third place overall.

"When we got to within nine tenths of Mikko in the penultimate stage, we told ourselves we had to give it a go and we pushed to the limit," he said. "We believed we could do it, but he managed to hold out.

"I'm satisfied with a third-place finish in the championship, and that I made a real contribution to Citroen's success. We've had another very good season."

"Three weeks after winning the manufacturers' title, we've rounded off this extraordinary season with the drivers' title, too, concluded Frédéric Banzet, Director of Automobiles Citroen. "We're pleased to have the best team, and best driver and co-driver, in the WRC."