By winning Rally Sardinia at the weekend, Sébastien Loeb closed in Carlos Sainz’s record total of WRC wins. The Frenchman’s co-driver, Daniel Elena, surpassed The Matador’s long-time navigator Luis Moya to become the record-holder for most WRC co-driver wins.
By winning Rally Sardinia at the weekend, Sébastien Loeb equaled Carlos Sainz’s record total of WRC wins. The Frenchman’s co-driver, Daniel Elena, surpassed The Matador’s long-time navigator Luis Moya to become the record-holder for most WRC co-driver wins.
The Italian event started with a tough battle for Loeb… Ford’s Marcus Gronholm was the quickest driver at the onset (the Finn was 18 seconds faster than Loeb on the first stage alone) and by the end of the first day the Focus RS WRC driver had a lead of 35 seconds.
But Gronholm’s retirement on the second day, when a rock punctured the Ford’s sump, turned the rally on its head. Loeb hit the same rock but thanks to his good fortune – and the legendary reliability of his Kronos Citroën Xsara – he got away with it.
Although Gronholm won the first two rallies of the 2006 season, Loeb has dominated every WRC event since and, following his fifth win in row, the French ace needs only one more victory to tie Sainz’s record of 26 WRC triumphs.
“Victory always tastes sweet, but this one is special,” Loeb explained. “For Daniel, it’s a historic moment. Knowing just how much I want to beat Sainz’s record myself, I can imagine exactly how Daniel is feeling after becoming the first co-driver to chalk up 25 wins.”
Loeb cruised to victory on the narrow gravel roads of the Mediterranean island and finished two minutes and 41 seconds ahead of the second-placed Mikko Hirvonen (Gronholm’s team-mate). Third was Loeb’s team-mate, Daniel Sordo, another 46 seconds adrift of Hirvonen, underscoring Loeb’s impressive performance.
The second place was Hirvonen’s best finish to date, bettering his third place in a privateer Ford Focus in last year’s Rally de Catalunya.
“Finally everything has come together for me this weekend and it feels fantastic to finish second on a WRC event,” the young Finn explained. “I just have one more step to reach the top level of the podium.
“The roads were rougher then they looked on the recce but they were enjoyable to drive,” he continued. “Sardinia is a good island for me and it seems to have a good history for Finns. More than anything this weekend I have learned how to drive in these conditions without taking any risks and yet still achieve a good result.”
Xavier Pons campaigned the third Kronos Xsara – and the second nominated car for the privateer team – to fourth place. However, the Spaniard struggled in Italy and finished two minutes behind Sordo, and nearly five and a half minutes off Loeb’s pace.
“Sardinia is a very difficult rally,” Pons said. “I feel less at ease here than in Argentina, maybe because of the narrow stages. Securing the manufacturer points was my priority since yesterday afternoon, so I was very careful throughout the second half of the rally.”
Jussi Valimaki finished a minute and 40 seconds behind Pons in a 2005-spec Mitsubishi Lancer WRC. “It was a good finish, but too big a gap to the front,” the Asia-Pacific rally champion Valimaki said.
“It has been a year and a half since I last drove a WRC car, and it shows. The level of competition in WRC is so high, that you can’t just walk in and drive for wins,” he added.
Valimaki looked set for seventh place – which would have still been a career-best result – but gained two places in the final stage, as Subaru’s Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson dropped out of the points, with steering arm failure and an accident, respectively.
“It’s been a hard event for me,” Solberg said. “I tried as hard as I could all weekend but the overall result is disappointing. There’s not really a lot more to say. We’re looking forward to the next event now. I like the Acropolis Rally a lot and I’ll give it my best shot.”
Kristian Sohlberg took sixth in a Red Devil Subaru Impreza, followed by Manfred Stohl (OMV-Norway Peugeot 307) and Francois Duval (Skoda Fabia WRC).
