Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who hold all the records in the FIA World Rally Championship, find themselves up against a new challenge. The Citroën Total World Rally Team crew will start Rally Great Britain with the aim of winning their eighth title, a unique feat in the history of motor sport. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in the second works DS3 WRC will be out to finish the season on a high note.
The FIA World Rally Championship, which began on the frozen roads in Sweden in February, will finish in the Welsh forests. Cold, rain and mud are on the Wales Rally GB menu and the event will be run on a route that has undergone major changes compared to the previous rallies. The start will be given on Thursday in Llandudno in the north of the country. The stages will be concentrated around the little town of Builth Wells. The cars will not return to Cardiff except for the parc fermé and the podium.
In Rally Spain, the Citroën Total World Rally Team won its seventh World Manufacturers’ title, and it is tackling the last round united behind Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. The seven-time world champions have won five rallies this season (Mexico, Sardinia, Argentina, Finland and Spain) and they are aiming for their eighth title on the trot.
“The scenario’s like the one in 2009. We started Rally Great Britain neck and neck with Mikko Hirvonen and whoever finished in front of the other was world champion,” Sébastien Loeb remembers. “Obviously, it’s less stressful trying to win the title when it’s not the last event. You can say to yourself that in case of problems there will be other match points! This time it’s now or never! We’ll just have to ignore the additional pressure caused by what’s at stake.”
Loeb has an eight-point lead over Hirvonen in the Drivers’ World Championship ratings. “With a seven-point gap between victory and second place and three points for the best time in the Power Stage, it’s not a very comfortable situation,” says the Frenchman. “My aim won’t be to win at any cost but to run my race depending on Mikko’s. It doesn’t matter to me if Ogier, Solberg or Latvala are in the lead provided I’m in front of my rival.”
Like Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier has been on the topmost step of the podium five times this season (Portugal, Jordan, Greece, Germany and France). The driver of the no. 2 DS3 WRC is no longer in the running for the world title after his retirement in Spain, but he is assured of a place in the top three in the 2011 World Rally Championship. “I’m happy to be back racing in this event, even if it doesn’t have only good memories for me. As the manufacturers’ title is already in the bag, I can drive without any pressure where scoring points for the team is concerned. Finishing on the podium would be a good result for me. With regards to the Drivers’ World Championship, Seb is determined to be master of his own destiny by finishing in front of Mikko. But it’s obvious that if circumstances require it I’ll do everything I can to help him win the title.”
“In Rally Spain we achieved our first objective with Citroën’s seventh world title. The make is very proud of this,” declares Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal. “We’re up against a new challenge in Great Britain, and it won’t be easy as Mikko Hirvonen is especially quick on this type of surface. We’re tackling the event with calmness, determination, serenity and humility. Loeb and Elena are never as strong as when they’re faced with these extreme pressure situations.”