Sebastien Loeb says he won't take any unnecessary risks in Finland next weekend, even though he would love to win there.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has said that he while he would dearly love to win the Neste Oil Rally Finland next weekend, he isn't going to get distracted and lose sight of what is really important.

Loeb heads to the ninth round in the World Rally Championship trailing BP Ford Abu Dhabi's Mikko Hirvonen by three points in the race for the 2008 drivers' title, despite having won five events to the Finn's two in the first half of the year.

Seb focus then is very much on regaining the initiative as he strides to win the drivers' crown for a record fifth time - something that has never been achieved in the history of the sport.

The 'Rally of the Thousand Lakes', as it use to be known though, is one of the few events in the World Rally Championship that Loeb has yet to win on and while he has done well there in the past - and finished on the rostrum in 2007, 2006 and 2005 - he has yet to finish on the top step.

"We have never won this event and that is one of the targets I set myself for 2008," he confirmed ahead of what will be his ninth outing on the event.

"But however dearly I would love to win it, and despite the ground that would enable us to make up in the Drivers' standings, I have no intention of taking any more risks than usual just to add a fresh line to my personal record.

"This time last year, we were nine points down. This year, the gap is just three points. We therefore can't afford to make any mistakes, yet it is so easy to put a foot wrong in these forests where you're constantly driving on a knife edge, with all the concealed bends and the trees so very close!

"This event will also allow us to see how the Pirelli Soft tyre performs. We won't be allowed to re-cut its pattern if there's mud about, so that could cause a few surprises."

Citroen Sport's technical manager Xavier Mestelan-Pinon meanwhile would also dearly love to see Loeb come out top on the event, especially as the French manufacturer is also winless there.

He too however is cautious: "Citroen has yet to win here and it would be nice if we could succeed at last this year," he added.

"But we are taking things one step at a time; our past experience of Rally Finland tends to make us particularly wary of this event."