Category: WRC

Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen completed a dominant 1-2 rally win for the Citroën World Rally Team in Rally New Zealand on the weekend. There was a minor fight with Ford’s Jarri-Matti Latvala on the opening day, but the rally soon became the plaything of the unstoppable Citroëns.

At least this time Loeb and Hirvonen were able to fight freely for the win. Mostly, after a good battle on day two, the team asked their two drivers to concentrate on the double podium in the closing stages of the event. With that came Loeb’s fifth win of the year and an ever tightening grip on the driver’s championship.

The eight-time world champion now has 145pts, which puts him 38pts clear of Hirvonen, with Solberg 55pts behind the leader. Unsurprisingly, with a 96pt lead over Ford, Citroën appears unbeatable in the manufacturers’ title race.

Speaking after the rally Loeb said he’s looking forward to a well earned rest: “We had to hold out to the end after an exciting two-day battle with Mikko. Once again, conditions were difficult but we managed to secure a one-two finish. I’m very pleased that I can go on holiday now with a comfortable lead in the championship! It’s true that the first half of the season has been fantastic, with five wins out of seven rallies.”

For his part, Hirvonen is ready to building on a steady opening to his Citroën career: “This is another good result for the team; it concludes the first part of the season, during which I have learned a lot. I am pleased with how the first seven rallies have gone. I have been fighting for the win a regular basis, and that feels good. I now have a fine collection of runner-up spots, so I’ll be going into the second half of the season hoping to claim some wins.”

The WRC goes into hiatus for all of July and returns for Rally Finland in August.

A lengthy press release from Citroën can be read after the break and is complemented by over 25 pictures from Rally New Zealand. We thank Ateco Automotive for access to the shots.

Citroën World Rally Team driver Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen have walked away without injury following a high-speed crash on Thursday. The pair were testing their Citroën DS3 WRC racecar in Tuscany, Italy, as part of their preparation for the upcoming Rally New Zealand.

A Citroën team member explained: “Mikko rolled a lot of times, the accident was high-speed. The most important thing is that Mikko and Jarmo are both OK. They are back at the hotel tonight. The test is finished.”

Amazingly, the crash has been dramatically captured on video (see below), where the person filming was just metres away when Hirvonen left the road causing his car to rollover a number of times.

[Source: Eurosport]

The unstoppable Sebastien Loeb has proved that once again after he won the 2012 Acropolis Rally by 40 seconds from his Citroën teammate Mikko Hirvonen.

While the end result makes it look like it was a dominant weekend for the Citroën team, that wasn’t really the case. Loeb started the final day just 10 seconds ahead of Ford driver Petter Solberg and a battle for the win loomed. However, Solberg, needing to apply the pressure, made an error and crashed out on the day’s opening stage. So, later in the day on SS20 when Loeb was slowed by a puncture he was able to remain reasonably calm.

Hirvonen had settled for third place in his mind, but was promoted to second place after Solberg’s retirement. It’s the third one-two victory for the Citroën team this year and it’s no surprise to see they enjoy a 73pt lead in the manufacturers’ championship.

Meanwhile, Loeb’s fourth win of the year has helped him to a 30pt lead over Hirvonen in the race for the drivers’ title. Incredibly, the win in Greece is Loeb’s 71st career victory in the WRC.

“We managed this race well, despite the constant pressure we were put under by our rivals,” said Loeb. “I never lost my cool at any point, even when we got a puncture, because I knew we would still have enough of a lead.”

You can read Citroën’s official account of the Acropolis Rally below. The WRC heads south for its next event, Rally New Zealand on 22–24 June.

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have added to their remarkable record with victory in Rally Argentina on the weekend. It is their seventh consecutive win in the event and their 70th WRC win overall.

The Citroën master pairing finished 15.2 seconds ahead of their teammate Mikko Hirvonen. The one-two result gives the French team a healthy 45 point lead from Ford in the manufacturers’ title race.

Although it is worth noting that half way through Day 2, when the Citroëns held a safe lead back to third place of around 90 seconds it was decided the leading pair should hold station. “I spoke to both the crews and they agreed that it was the best solution,” explained Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal.

Ford driver Mads Osteberg took the final podium step, over three minutes behind Loeb. Stand-in driver Ford Dani Sordo was on track for fourth place until he stopped and withdrew from the rally on the very last stage.

Loeb’s third win for the year puts him on 91 points in the drivers’ championship, ahead of Petter Solberg (73) and Hirvonen (70).

After the event Loeb summed up his feelings, saying: “It’s great to get back to winning ways after drawing a blank in Portugal. Everything went really well this weekend. Although the first few stages didn’t go quite how we’d have liked, we stayed calm and in the end we were able to take control of the race.”

Meanwhile, Hirvonen had this to say: “This result is perfect for the team and the twenty points I scored this weekend take me back up to third in the overall standings. I have made further progress in my understanding of the DS3 WRC and I can’t wait to compete in the coming rallies!”

The WRC now returns to Europe for the Acropolis Rally at the end of May.