Rally Mexico: Citroen WRT final leg summary

Loeb and Elena score 4th consecutive win in Mexico

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena started the final day of Rally Mexico with a comfortable lead over their pursuers. All they had to do was to control the gap to score their fourth consecutive victory in Mexico. The Franco-Monegasque duo fulfilled their mission. This win puts them in the lead in the Drivers World Championship. Dani Sordo and Marc Marti rejoined in the Super Rally and helped the Citroen Total World Rally Team to score more Manufacturers points than their rivals.

The programme of the final day of the rally had been pared down. After a short stop in the Poliforum service park, the drivers tackled a loop made up of three timed stages, including a final pass in the 'Autodrome de Leon' super special.

Sebastien Loeb who led the rally by almost a minute took the final loop seriously: "Even if the two stages include sections we've already covered over the past two days, I'm going to be the sweeper. I'll have to find the right rhythm and that's not really my cup of tea! I prefer pushing as hard as possible!" At the finish of the 30-kilometre Guanajuatito stage (SS19), the six-time world champion had lost 16 seconds to the quickest drivers: "Sebastien Ogier and Petter Solberg are going very quickly as they're fighting for second place. As far as I'm concerned things are okay. I didn't take any risks and I won't really push in the last two stages."

Seb and Daniel continued in this vein, and when they came back to Poliforum de Leon for the last time, the whole team gave them a hero's welcome. " They did a fantastic job on the second day and that's where they consolidated this mind-boggling victory," smiled Olivier Quesnel, the Citroen Racing Team Principal. "The C4 WRCs have dominated this rally as they set all the quickest times. They also scored the first triple by a French manufacturer in a gravel rally. I'd also like to congratulate Petter Solberg and Sebastien Ogier for their great duel in the best possible sporting tradition."

"This victory's done us a power of good," Loeb confirmed before stepping up onto the podium. "We controlled our race well and I think that we can look forward to the next events with confidence, as they'll be run on similar surfaces. Thanks to this victory we've taken the lead in the championship and opened up a small gap over Mikko Hirvonen. It's a good situation even if we'll have to sweep the road in Jordan." Dani Sordo rejoined in the Super Rally and did the job he'd been asked to do; namely, reach the finish and bag the points that went with seventh place in the Manufacturers' Classification: " I've put yesterday's disappointment behind me and I'm happy to have set some good times while the other two C4s were battling for second spot. Thanks to this result Citroen has scored more points than its rival in this rally and that's the most important thing."

-source: citroen