Frenchman Sebastien Loeb is enjoying the perfect start to the new World Rally Championship campaign by making it two out of two after winning Rally Norway over the weekend. Loeb, who races for Citroen, had to fight hard to keep Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen at bay but was able to fend off the Ford driver to win the race.
CNN reported that the victory is all the more impressive because Loeb effectively served as the road sweeper, mowing down the snowy roads as the first man out on those legs of the rally. This should have helped his competition with their lap times, but Loeb went into the final day with a healthy 15-second lead over Finland’s Hirvonen.
Hirvonen did his best to shave seconds off each of the final day’s six stages, but in the end Loeb kept his cool and emerged victorious with a 9.8 second advantage. Winning Rally Norway marks the 49th WRC victory for the five-time world champion.
Loeb wasn’t entirely confident coming into the Scandinavian event since he was well aware of Ford’s reputation on snowy and icy roads. The last time the rally was held in Norway, in 2007, Ford swept the entire podium, so the victory this time around was all the more delightful for Loeb.
I have been a rally fan for a long time and always supported the Subaru Team ( i myself own a STi, the best car ive ever owned)
But since the Subaru team lost Colin McRae and later Richard Burns, both now sadly R.I.P
They have never had a driver in the same league as the frenchman.
Sebastien Loeb is a fantastic Rally driver and makes his close rival Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen job very hard.
I also love F1 and have my ticket booked to see Lewis Hamilton hopefully win at Silverstone this June.