The final event of the 2007 WRC calendar in Wales, at the Rally of Great Britain proved to be worthy of being the do-or-die rally of the season, throwing torrid weather conditions at teams and drivers alike, and turning what would have been gravel into a thick slush for the participants to navigate.
Like most of the teams, Sebastien Loeb and the Total Citroen World Rally team took no unnecessary risk this weekend and played it safe right to the very end, earning the Frenchman third place overall and securing his fourth consecutive WRC driver’s title (all in a Citroen). The result also sees Loeb tie the legendary Tommi Mäkinen’s record of four titles and poises him for a likely chance to break that record next season. Loeb won eight rallies this year, making a clean sweep of all the tarmac events as well.
“Yes for sure this is the hardest Championship. There were lots of big battles at the start of the season with Marcus and we had to take a lot of risks to go flat-out and try and take a win. I had really to be on my limit all the time. To win this Championship for me is a really great moment. For all my team, and for Guy Frequelin for whom it is his last season, I am really happy for that. It wasn’t a tough rally for me because I didn’t have to go on the limit. I immediately found a good rhythm and I didn’t have to take risks,” said Loeb in the post-event press conference.
This season was the last for Citroen Team Boss Guy Frequelin (who himself was a French rally driver), a man who brought experience to the then young Citroen team and was always a little cautious about the team finishing rallies rather than being part of the attrition rate. Now that Citroen is no longer a fledgling team, Frequelin can retire with as team principal with pride.
“It’s a fitting reward not only for the talent of Sebastien and Daniel Elena (Loeb’s co-driver) but also for the amazing motivation that spurred everyone on at Citroen Sport throughout this year’s campaign. Returning to the competitive arena after a year’s away to win the Drivers’ title with the brand new Citroen C4 WRC is extremely satisfying,” stated Frequelin.
As was the fierce competition this year, next year will prove to be equally challenging for Loeb, as tough competition in the form of BP-Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Citroen’s own Daniel Sordo are promising prospects for the new year. Hirvonen pulled out all the stops for Wales, as he had pretty much sealed a third place finish in the drivers’ standings a few rallies ago. From the get-go, Hirvonen had ran up a 30 second gap over teammate Marcus Gronholm and despite a minor mishap, maintained that lead for the rest of the event to earn a third rally win this season.
“To finish the season with a victory is the best possible preparation for 2008,” beamed Hirvonen. “For me to stand on the podium with Sebastien Loeb, winner of four world titles, and Marcus Gronholm, one of the sport’s greatest-ever drivers, at the end of such a fantastic season is perfect. It was Marcus’ final rally but I wasn’t tempted to give him the win. I know him well and he would not have wanted it that way. To finish the year with three wins is so much more than I thought at the start of the season.”
In second place (for the rally as well as the drivers’ championship), WRC veteran Marcus Gronholm was probably as close to obtaining a third championship as ever during the weekend, though this strongly depended on Loeb not finishing the event –which by Loeb’s cautious driving this weekend wasn’t going to happen at all. After earlier stints with Toyota and Peugeot, and two relatively problem-free seasons with Ford, Gronholm has officially retired from WRC (as well as co-driver Timo Rautiainen) with two championship titles and 30 rally wins.
“We were both (Gronholm and Rautiainen) very emotional at the end of the final stage. To end my career in a team like this is a wonderful feeling. Although I’m disappointed that I couldn’t win the championship, it was clear before I started this rally that it would be difficult. This was an incredibly hard weekend. Driving in fog, rain and darkness at the same time was so difficult and as I’m newly retired, I’m so happy that I don’t have to drive in those conditions any more! I did all I could but it wasn’t here that I missed out on the title, it was when I crashed on the previous round in Ireland.”
Dani Sordo finished fourth in the drivers’ championship and fifth at the Rally of Great Britain – just 15 seconds behind Subaru’s Petter Solberg). Although he didn’t win an event this season (it so happens that the only drivers who tasted victory landed a podium for the championship as well) he did manage second place finishes four times this season – notably in Japan, which is one of the harder gravel rallies of the calendar and especially for Sordo who prefers the asphalt events.
Privateer’s Stobart M-Sport and especially Jari-Matti Latvala have managed to take the fight to the factory teams this year and were especially biting the heels of a flailing Subaru World Rally team (who only just managed to snatch third-place back during this weekend’s event). After a bad first day for Stobart’s drivers, the door was left open for Subaru and (Petter) Solberg, who finished six points ahead of Stobart-Ford in the manufacturers’ standings and with Solberg managing two podiums this season.
So closes another chapter in WRC. Loeb stands ready to make himself known as the greatest the sport has ever seen if he can manage a fifth consecutive title next season though he is now held in the same regard as legends like Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen. This chapter closes the career of another great, Marcus Gronholm, but promises new title winners out of the hot talent in the rest of the field.
(2008 will be stonking!!!)