Loeb fastest in France shakedown

Sebastien Loeb’s bid to win Rallye de France Alsace has got off to the perfect start after he topped shakedown for the World Rally Championship round this morning.

Although the 2.36-kilometre practice stage located at the Parc des Sports on the outskirts of Strasbourg is not considered to be wholly representative of the stages included on the competitive route, Loeb’s performance in dry conditions has nevertheless given him an early psychological advantage over his rivals.

“I’m here above all to compete in a rally and to try and win it if possible,” said Loeb, the winner in Alsace in 2010. “Like last year I’ll have to concentrate on my race and try and ignore everything else that’s going on around me.”

Loeb’s Citroen team-mate Sebastien Ogier was second fastest, two-tenths of a second slower with Dani Sordo impressing in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

However, Campbell Roy of the MINI WRC Team said the Anglo-German squad was not about to get carried away by the performance.

“We can’t read too much into it because the stage isn’t representative of what we’ll get on the rally,” said Roy. “But the car felt good and our drivers were comfortable and confident with the set-up.”

Jari-Matti Latvala was fourth quickest in the new-look Ford Fiesta RS WRC, which is sporting an all-black colour scheme in France. Petter Solberg set the fifth fastest time in his privateer Citroen DS3 WRC with Kris Meeke completing the top six in his MINI.

Henning Solberg was seventh with ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen eighth on his return to the WRC after missing the previous round in Australia. Matthew Wilson, in an M-Sport Stobart Fiesta and Mikko Hirvonen rounded out the top 10.

Here are the Shakedown times of the leading WRC crews:

1. LOEB. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:47.1
=2. OGIER. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:47.3
=2. SORDO. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1:47.3
4. LATVALA. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:47.9
5. P. SOLBERG. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:48.1
6. MEEKE. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1:48.2
7. H. SOLBERG. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:48.3
8. RAIKKONEN. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:48.5
9. WILSON. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:48.6
10. HIRVONEN. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:48.9
11. OSTBERG. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:49.0
=12. VAN MERKSTEIJN JR. Citroen DS3 WRC. 1:49.7
=12. ARAUJO. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1:49.7
14. KUIPERS. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:49.8
15. OLIVEIRA. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1:51.9
16. CAMPANA. MINI John Cooper Works WRC. 1:52.8
17. AL QASSIMI. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:53.1
18. BLOCK. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1:53.8
18. NOVIKOV. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 1.58.7