Sebastien Loeb claimed his 49th World Rally Championship victory in Norway over the weekend. With his first win on the event, five-time World Champion Loeb now stands just one win away from becoming the first rally driver ever to claim 50 victories at the highest level.
After securing the opening Rally of 2009 in Ireland, Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena ran at the head of the field from day one but, despite the disadvantage of being the first cars to sweep away the loose snow on each stage, they managed to stay out front throughout the weekend.
After coming second in Ireland, Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti finished fifth in their C4 WRC and helped to maintain Citroën’s 10-point lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Driving an independent, three-year-old Citroën Xsara for the first time in the WRC, 2003 Champion Petter Solberg finished an impressive sixth.
The next rally will be on the third different surface of the year, the gravel-based Rally Cyprus from 13-15 March.
Final leaderboard on Rally Norway*
|
1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën C4) |
3hrs 28min 15.9s |
|
2. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) |
+9.8s |
|
3. J-M. Latvala /M. Anttila (Ford Focus) |
+1min 21.8s |
|
4. H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus) |
+3min 33.5s |
|
5. D. Sordo/M. Marti (Citroën C4) |
+3min 52.0s |
|
6. P. Solberg/P. Mills (Citroën Xsara) |
+6min 25.4s |
