Loeb and Elena give the C4 WRC its 36th victory!

Wales Rally GB - Day 3

By Franck Drui

14 November 2010 - 20:09
Loeb and Elena give the C4 WRC its (...)

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena avoided all the pitfalls of the final day of Rally Great Britain and scored their eighth victory of the 2010 season. The C4 WRC has finished its career on a high note with its 36th win in 56 rallies before being replaced by the Citroën DS3 WRC in 2011. Loeb and Elena achieved a unique feat this season by scoring points in every rally with an average of 21!

Sébastien Loeb had only a 5-second lead over Petter Solberg when the third day of the rally began, and he was obliged to push to prevent a comeback by the Norwegian. The Sunday route of the RAC Rally included two classics: Resolfen (29,99 km) and Margam Park (8,08 km).

At the end of the first passage through Resolfen (SS17), Sébastien boosted his confidence by setting the fastest time. His lead over Solberg was 6.7s, and the 7-time world champion increased it to 11.5s, a country mile given the gaps since the start of the weekend! In Margam, the Citroën Total World Rally Team driver was again fastest.

“It’s not raining but the roads are very slippery,” said Loeb at the half-way service halt. “I went well in Resolfen. In Margam I thought that Petter was quicker but he made a small mistake and we opened up the gap. We’ve now got a fourteen-second lead, but it’s not enough on this type of surface. I’m going to have to go pedal to the metal right till the end.”

Loeb was quicker than his closest rival in the last two stages, and in Wales he scored his sixty-second world championship victory: “We had to fight from beginning to end against the road conditions and our rivals. It’s true that Petter beat me in Margam Park in 2003 and pipped me for the world title, but I wasn’t out for revenge. I knew I had to watch out as he’s very quick here.

“It was a great rally and we really enjoyed ourselves in the C4 WRC. As in Spain we could push and take risks without having to worry about the pressure of winning the championship. I was determined to finish the season on a high note to thank the whole team and give the C4 WRC a final victory,” concluded the Frenchman.

“We’ve had a fantastic season with an impeccable performance from Sébastien Loeb, who has achieved an exploit by finishing all the events without ever having to use the SuperRally,” underlined Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Competitions Manager. “Sébastien Ogier has also had some good results. Apart from his mistake yesterday, I’ll remember his two world championship victories. With ten wins in thirteen rallies I think that Citroën Racing has had its best season since it arrived in the world championship. We had two aims this year: continue winning with the C4 and prepare for the future by developing the DS3 WRC. We’ll see in Sweden if we’ve done a good job, but I’m feeling confident for 2011.”

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