Loeb wins Rally Finland!

Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena have claimed victory on Neste Oil Rally Finland for a second time following a stunning performance in their Citroen DS3 WRC.

The seven-time world champions have run first on the road on all three days of the high-speed gravel event but battled their way to victory ahead of the Ford Fiesta pairing of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila. Citroen team-mates Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished third.

Loeb’s win, the 66th of his world championship career, means he extends his lead at the top of the drivers’ standings heading into round nine of the World Rally Championship, ADAC Rallye Deutschland.

“I’m really happy with my performance because I’ve cleaned the road for three days but won,” said Loeb, whose previous win in Finland came in 2008. “It was the perfect rally.”

SS22: Hirvonen takes Power Stage win

Mikko Hirvonen has won Neste Oil Rally Finland’s Power Stage to secure three world championship bonus points.

Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Hirvonen was 0.3s faster than team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. Latvala picks up two bonus points with Sebastien Loeb, who secured the overall victory, bagging the final bonus score in third position at the wheel of his Citroen DS3 WRC.

Hirvonen said: “My drive in that stage wasn’t too intelligent because I pushed like crazy in that stage but it was very slippery with these worn tyres. But it’s the same for everyone.”

Thousands of fans flocked to the Power Stage close to the rally base in Jyvaskyla. It was shown live on television around the world.