Loeb clinches 4th title

Citroen ace Sebastien Loeb secured his fourth consecutive world rally title after finishing third on Wales Rally GB this weekend.

The Frenchman drove a sensible rally all weekend and stayed just behind title rival Marcus Gronholm in the overall classification.

The final standings on Wales Rally GB meant that the Loeb driving a Citroen C4 won the drivers’ title by four points from Finland’s Marcus Gronholm.

Loeb is only the third driver to win four world titles, joining Finnish duo Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen.

Overall winner of the Cardiff event was Mikko Hirvonen - number two to Gronholm - who put in a dominant display. The quick and mature boosts his chances of becoming team leader of the BP Ford squad next season.

Gronholm, competing in his last rally before retirement, was 15.2 seconds off Hirvonen's total time of three hours, 22 minutes, 50.9 seconds.

Loeb was emotional as the crews finished the final stage: "It's incredible," he said. "It was really a great championship this year. We had a big, big fight with Marcus all the time and to finish with only a four-point lead is really a great moment. It was my best battle, I think the nicest championship... I am really happy, four times now and I equalled the record of Tommi Makkinen. That is great."

Gronholm lost the championship lead when he crashed out of Rally Ireland last month and the Ford driver admitted: "I am disappointed of course, this was a difficult rally, but we lost the title in Ireland."

Top Brit was Matthew Wilson. The rising star brought his VK Stobart home an impressive sixth after a rally long tussle with Chris Atkinson in a Subaru. The Australian couldn't match the pace of team leader Petter Solberg, but his seventh place helped the Japnese firm claim third in the manufacturer's championship.

Wales Rally GB result:
1 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 3:22:50.900
2 Marcus Gronholm (Fin) Ford +00:15.200
3 Sebastien Loeb (Fr) Citroen +1:33.000
4 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru +2:57.300
5 Daniel Sordo (Sp) Citroen +3:14.300
6. Matthew Wilson (GB) Ford +7:32.900
7 Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru +8:29.500
8 Manfred Stohl (Aut) Citroen +8:54.600
9 Xavier Pons (Sp) Subaru +9:48.800
10 Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford +10:42.400