With Sebastien Loeb’s seventh world championship riding on a home win – this year Rally de France replaced the historical Tour de Corse – and a one-two for Citroën to bring the team a sixth world championship, the weekend couldn’t have ended sweeter for both parties.
According to a report by Autocar, current Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Kris Meeke has apparently signed on to drive for the Prodrive-run Mini World Rally Championship team next year.
After a devastating second round for Sebastien Loeb in Sweden, the Frenchman sailed to victory on the extremely jagged surface of the first gravel event of the season – Rally Mexico.
Not only did rally ace Sébastien Loeb triumph in Rally Monte Carlo at the weekend, he also added another WRC record to his name by winning the event for the fifth time. This record is shared with Loeb’s long-time co-driver Daniel Elena, who has been with Loeb since their first victory at Monte Carlo in a Citroën Xsara.
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.
Rally Ireland proved more than just your average tarmac event this weekend; as rain, road imperfections and mud-layered surfaces characterised much of what could be considered the toughest rally of its kind on the WRC calendar
Mikko Hirvonen capitalised on the errors of the two main contenders for the driver’s championship to obtain his third career win, at the Rally of Japan this weekend. Rally Japan proved to be a real stuck-in-the-mud affair for the reigning WRC champion Sebastien Loeb and championship rival, Marcus Gronholm. Both rally aces retired on separate days due to pacenote errors.
Sébastien Loeb put on a dominant display this weekend, driving to victory in Corsica. The Frenchman’s win on asphalt goes back to back with his performance in Spain recently. With Tour de Course being the penultimate tarmac event of the season, Loeb has yet another asphalt rally to look forward to in Ireland.
Three-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb moved closer to defending his driver’s title for a third time by winning Rally Catalunya for the third consecutive year on Sunday. The 33-year-old Citroën ace is now just six points behind rival Marcus Gronholm in the drivers’ standings with four rallies left in the season.
Three-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb has won Rallye Deutschland for a record sixth consecutive time. He made history in 2002, when he claimed his official maiden WRC victory on the German asphalt, and has dominated the event ever since.