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Sebastian Loeb wins Rally New Zealand
WORLD rally car champion Sebastien Loeb took advantage of Mikko Hirvonen’s spin on the second-last stage to win Rally New Zealand by 17.5 seconds and double his lead over the Finn in the world drivers’ championship.
The win was Loeb’s 42nd in world championship rallies, his third in succession after victories in Finland and Germany and his second in New Zealand, where he was last successful in 2005.
He came into the rally with a four-point lead over Hirvonen on overall drivers’ standings and has now moved eight points clear, with 86 points to Hirvonen’s 78.
His one-two finish with teammate Dani Sordo of Spain also tightened Citroen’s grip on the manufacturers’ championship.
A spectacular crash ended Australian Chris Atkinson’s hopes of a podium finish on Friday.
France’s Loeb trailed Ford drivers Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala and Sordo coming to the 29.72km Whaanga Coast stage, the 17th stage of the 18-stage rally.
Loeb was inevitably reminded of last year’s New Zealand rally, which was decided on the final stage and in which he was beaten by 0.3 seconds by Marcus Gronholm, the slimmest winning margin in WRC history.
As the overnight leader, Latvala was first on the road in the 17th stage and worked to sweep the road’s thick gravel coating to improve traction for Hirvonen whose Ford Focus immediately followed his own.
But Latvala spun twice early in the stage, damaging his car too badly to continue, then Hirvonen also spun and was forced to nurse his damaged car to the finish.
Loeb also had some anxious moments on the slick corners of the stage, considered one of the best in the world championship, but guided his car safely to the finish to take a commanding lead.
Loeb had considered winning the rally to be “impossible” when he started the 17th stage so far behind Hirvonen. His own winning chances had seemed to dissolve when, starting the day in third place behind Latvala and Hirvonen, he spun on the opening stage, finished 12th and dropped to fourth overall, 17.7 seconds off the lead.
Loeb’s mood was gloomy coming to the Whaanga coast, a serpentine stage through dense coastal bush in the Waikato district of New Zealand’s North Island.
“It’s impossible to get the victory,” he said before the stage began.
“If Mikko is not making any mistakes, I think he will win. He was going very well this morning, and I could not do much more.”
But as Latvala, then Hirvonen left the road, Loeb raced to the lead, taking out the stage by 14.7 seconds from Henning Solberg, who was one of the day’s improvers, with Petter Solberg third and Spain’s Sordo fourth.
There was nothing Hirvonen could do on the last stage, from third place and 41 seconds behind Loeb, to retrieve the lead he had held for much of the rally’s three days.
Sordo ended the rally in second place, 17.5 seconds behind Loeb, while Hirvonen was third.
Results from the five stages on the final day of Rally New Zealand:
1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Citroen C4 3h 59:18.9,
2. Dani Sordo (ESP) Citroen C4 3h 59:36.4,
3. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Ford Focus 4h 00:00.4,
4. Peter Solberg (NOR) Subaru Impreza 4h 02:07.8,
5. Urmo Aava (EST) Citroen C4 4h 02:49.6,
6. Per-Gunnar Andersson (SWE) Suzuki SX4 4h 06:56.3,
7. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Suzuki SX4 4h 07:13.8,
8. Federico Villagra (ARG) Ford Focus 4h 07:53.9,
9. Henning Solberg (NOR) Ford Focus 4h 08:34.1,
10. Martin Prokop (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer 4h 13:07.9
Special stage winners: Henning Solberg 3 (SS12, SS13, SS16), Loeb 2 (SS14, SS15)
