Citroen's Sébastien Loeb claimed a record-breaking seventh successive World Rally Championship crown at the Rallye de France after dominating his home race in Alsace.
'To win the title here is the best thing that could happen' – Loeb
A 60th career victory for Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena confirmed the championship win after the Frenchman’s Citroen C4 WRC had led from start to finish once again, finishing 35.7 seconds ahead of nearest rival, fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo.
Fittingly, the 36-year-old sealed the win in Haguenau – the town in which he was born.
"It is really special," he said. "It was a great but difficult rally. It was great to see so many people in my home town. To win the title here is the best thing that could happen."
With Sordo coming in second and privateer Petter Solberg 41.1 seconds behind him in third, it meant a podium clean sweep for Citroen, a result which gives the French marque an unassailable lead in the manufacturers’ championship, ensuring that the FIA crown will head to Paris for a sixth time.
Junior Team driver Sébastien Ogier finished in sixth place overall after the Frenchman had been forced to run under SuperRally regulations following a crash on Saturday.
Kimi Räikkönen, meanwhile, retired from the race on the final day in order to save his car for the Catalunya Rally in three weeks' time. The ex-Formula One champion had a difficult time on Saturday, sliding off the road on two occasions and dropping out of the top 50 overall.
“I didn't think we were going to learn much more under these conditions, so the sensible decision was to save the car for the Catalunya Rally,” said the Finn.
In the SWRC category, Swedish driver Patrik Sandell claimed his second consecutive Super 2000 victory by winning the Rallye de France, in the penultimate round of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship.
With just one round left to go in Wales on November 14, Sandell is in pole position to claim overall victory in the inaugural championship.
Sandell and co-driver Emil Axelsson undertook redbull.com's Team-mate Challenge while in Alsace. See how they fared here.
WRC Rallye de France final results:
1. Sebastién Loeb 3:05:49.3 0.0 0.0
2. Dani Sordo 3:06:25.0 +35.7 +35.7
3. Petter Solberg 3:07:06.1 +41.1 +1:16.8
4. Jari-Matti Latvala 3:07:18.6 +12.5 +1:29.3
5. Mikko Hirvonen 3:09:33.1 +2:14.5 +3:43.8
6. Sebastién Ogier 3:17:45.2 +8:12.1 +11:55.9
7. Federico Villagra 3:20:04.7 +2:19.5 +14:15.4
8. Matthew Wilson 3:20:16.2 +11.5 +14:26.9
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