Loeb on course for final winner’s trophy of the season

Citroen star Sebastien Loeb is on track to win the Wales Rally Great Britain for the third consecutive year, thanks to a big push from the Frenchman and a mistake from Petter Solberg.

The Norwegian hit a rock in Margam Park, dropping just over four seconds, and will start the final two stages 14 seconds behind Loeb.

The seven-time champion won both stages this morning and commented: “The first stage was really good, but Margam was not so good for us: it was very fast and very narrow at the end. We’ve not done enough yet. If you lose a little bit of the rhythm here you drop so much time. So we’ll keep pushing.”

Despite his insistence to the contrary, Loeb’s efforts seem to have been enough. Solberg promised not to give up but he conceded that it would be an uphill struggle from here on. “It’s difficult when you’re not in a manufacturer car,” said the privateer Citroen driver. “I hit a rock on the left in Margam and I thought I had a puncture. I’m trying but it the conditions are getting very bad. I think first on the road is a better place to be but I’m trying. I’m going to keep the pressure on...”

There was no pressure though between the Ford drivers, with Mikko Hirvonen preparing to concede his third place to his team mate Jari-Matti Latvala to guarantee the younger Finn second place in the drivers’ rankings - providing that Petter Solberg stays on the road.

Hirvonen however was not entirely happy on both the cold and damp stages of the final day, in temperatures that hovered around just five degrees centigrade.

“We’ll see how the fight between Petter and Sebastien develops before there’s any change of position, but we also made a few mistakes ourselves so we’ll see how it goes,” he concluded.

Latvala, who actually slipped to 3.4s behind his team mate by the end of the stage, reported the stages as being fast and slippery - a sentiment that was echoed by Dani Sordo in fifth. “I’ve been trying to drive a little bit faster,” said the Spaniard, on what is expected to be his last outing with Citroen. “It was really difficult to make those times though.”

Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson, both driving Stobart Ford Focuses, reported no problems but Kimi Raikkonen encountered gear selection difficulties that forced him to switch to the manual shift.

The Super 2000 World Rally Championship was effectively decided in favour of Ford Fiesta driver Xevi Pons on the first stage of the day when Jari Ketomaa rolled his similar car while attempting the seal the win that he needed to clinch the title. Andreas Mikkelsen continues to lead the S2000 class in a Skoda.

In the Production Car World Championship battle, Mitsubishi driver Armindo Araujo is still on track to win his second consecutive Group N title, while Pirelli Star Driver Ott Tanak - a protégé of Markko Martin - is at the head of the category in 16th overall with another Mitsubishi.

Overall standings after SS18: