Loeb accepts defeat in Sweden

Defending World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb has accepted defeat in the battle for victory in Rally Sweden, saying his Ford rival Mikko Hirvonen is too strong in the conditions.

Citroen C4 driver Loeb threw in the towel at the end of Sunday’s second stage, the 23km Varmullsasen, after rally leader Hirvonen won the test in a time 7.3 seconds quicker. Trailing Hirvonen by 23.7sec overall with three more stages to run, Loeb said he would settle instead for 18 points and the runner-up place.

"I decided to stop fighting," said Loeb. "There’s no change. Even on the limit, when I do no mistakes, he’s as fast as me. I prefer to try and finish second now. On this stage I make a few mistakes and had a few moments. He’s too strong here."

Hirvonen completed the stage before Loeb, but knew from the splits that he was up on the Frenchman’s time. "We were ahead at halfway, but on the downhill section towards the end I didn’t drive very well. We’ll see how close he can get, but I was flat-out."

Manufacturer works team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Dani Sordo had trouble-free runs to the third and fourth quickest times, while Marcus Gronholm rounded off the top five on the stage.

Stobart Ford team driver Matthew Wilson completed Sunday morning’s loop of stages well cushioned in seventh after problems affected the driver chasing him for the position, Mads Ostberg. "From the first stage today the brakes packed up," said Mads. "It seems my bad luck will never stop."

But a minute behind Ostberg, in ninth overall, a frustrated Petter Solberg wasn’t too confident of catching up. "I have a problem too," he explained. "I’m not sure what it is but I can’t get the power down, or lean on the chassis at all. I just don’t know why."

After a 30-minute service in Hagfors, crews will tackle the 10.49km Lesjofors stage before repeating Rammen and the last stage of the rally, Varmullsasen.

Results after SS18