Frenchman Sebastien Loeb enters Argentine rally as points leader but Norwegian rival Solberg wins preliminary
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1) French driver Sebastien Loeb headed into Friday's start of the Rally of Argentina with a field-leading 53 points, a day after Norway's rival Petter Soblerg won the preliminaries.
2) Solberg drove his Subaru Impreza to first place in Thursday evening's two test runs as teams geared up for the three-day event in the rugged hill country of central Argentina.
3) Seventy-four drivers were competing here in the three-day rally that will traverse some 930 miles (1,450 kilometers) of wild, rocky terrain as part of the eighth stop of auto's World Rally Championship.
4) The race was starting later Friday with a 102-mile (160-kilometer) first stage between La Cumbre, Cordoba, and neighboring Casa Grande.
5) Winner of the last rally in Turkey, Loeb entered the eighth stop on this year's circuit as the points leader at the wheel of his Citroen Xsara. He is followed by Solberg with 44 points, Ford's Markko Martin of Estonia with 34. Defending Argentine rally champion Marcus Gronholm of Finland follows with 32 points.
6) Based around Cordoba in central Argentina, the rally here runs the highest elevations of the 16-country championship and will be conducted in 20 stages through dry dusty foothills and river crossings in foothills approaching the Andes mountain chain.
7) In two identical preliminaries late Thursday, two cars raced simultaneously over a 3-kilometer distance as Solbergo clocked the best time of 4 minutes, 20.5 seconds.
8) Martin of Estonia was runnerup Thursday in 4 minutes 20.7 secondss while Gronholm in a Peugeot clocked 4 minutes 20.8 seconds.
9) The World Rally Champoinship events take place on four continents between January and November of every year. Starting with the hill circuit around Monaco, the rally features stops in countries including New Zealand, Turkey and a first-time race in Mexico this year.
10) After Argentina, the rally moves on to Finland Aug. 6-8.


Loeb leads Rally New Zealand after first day's eight stages
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1) World champion Sebastian Loeb of France, driving a Citroen, led the Rally of New Zealand by 23.1 seconds after eight stages on the first day Friday.
2) Loeb took the lead for the first time on special stage four and progressively took charge of the rally after the morning service halt which allowed him to make an astute tire change.
3) Petter Solberg of Norway, in a Subaru, set the early pace in the cool conditions of the morning, although in starting at the head of the field he had to sweep the gravel roads for following drivers.
4) Loeb's fortunate tire choice in the warmer conditions of the afternoon allowed him to gradually build his lead over his closest rivals. He finished the eight stages in a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 1.1 seconds.
5) He ended the day ahead of Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm, who was a further 4.6 seconds ahead of Francois Duval in the second Citroen. Solberg was placed fourth five seconds behind Duval and 31.7 seconds off the lead.
6) "Today has actually been better than I thought it would be, particularly this afternoon when I used the hard tires," Loeb said. "I'm not going to slacken off, though, because Marcus is not the kind of person who gives up easily."
7) Duval was happy with his third placing after a difficult start to the year in which he failed to take a point from the first three rounds of the world championship.
8) "I put a lot of today's pace down to road position," Duval said. "I'm feeling comfortable with the car but I'm not going to push. I'm happy with a points finish."
9) Loeb was almost upstaged Friday by young Australian Chris Atkinson, driving a Subaru, who scored his first WRC stage win on special stage three and followed up with a second win on stage eight.
10) Atkinson was fifth overall at the end of the day, 23.6 seconds behind his teammate Solberg and 54.3 seconds behind leading Loeb.
11) Gronholm said poor tire choice had cost him time throughout the day.
12) "In the morning I chose tires which were too hard and in the afternoon I overcompensated and went too soft," he said.
13) The three-day rally ending Sunday is the fourth round of the 16-race world championship and comprises 20 stages over 1,128 kilometers (701 miles).


Loeb leads Rally Argentina, closest rival Gronholm drops out
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1) Defending champion Sebastien Loeb led the Rally Argentina by nearly 20 seconds after the second day Friday, while closest rival Marcus Gronholm suffered mechanical problems.
2) Loeb, the two-time world champion from France, finished the first 10 of 22 special stages with a 19.8-second advantage over Norway's Petter Solberg in a Subaru.
3) Loeb's lead didn't come easy in Friday's combined 160 kilometers (100 miles) over mostly mountain and loose rocky terrain, starting in steady rain.
4) On the day's opening stage _ the third of the race _ his Citroen Sara skidded and bottomed out but he managed to recover to finish the stage 23 seconds behind stage winner Solberg.
5) Loeb then won four of the of the remaining seven legs for an overall time of 1 hour. 53 minutes,58.7 seconds.
6) After Solberg, Italy's Giovanni Galli was third overall in a Peugeot, followed by Manfred Stohl of Austria, also in a Peugeot.
7) Gronholm, the 2003 race winner, hit mechanical trouble in the eighth stage and fell well back.
8) His fellow Finn, Mikko Hirvonen, also struggled with mechanical problems in the ninth stage.
9) Loeb leads the series with 46 points after five rallies, with Gronholm on 35.
10) Drivers opened the race on a stadium track in Cordoba, 475 miles (650 kilometers) northwest of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.
11) The rally concludes on Sunday.


Gronholm leads Loeb after first-day stages
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1) Marcus Gronholm drove his Ford Focus to victory in four of six stages Friday to lead the Rally of Italy after the first day of racing.
2) The Finnish driver, second in the Championship standings, led two-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb by 35.4 seconds.
3) Loeb took the fourth and fifth stages in his Citroen Xsara, but was delayed by front tire problems in the final sixth leg.
4) Mikko Hirvonen, in a Ford, was third, 1:04.2 back. Henning Solberg, in a Peugeot, was next, 1:44.5 back.
5) Loeb is seeking his 24th career win in the seventh championship round on dusty and gravel roads in the Sardinian island.


Loeb wins Cyprus Rally
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1) Sebastien Loeb of France won the Cyprus Rally on Sunday, earning a record 28th win in the World Rally Championship.
2) Loeb, who has now won eight of the 12 rounds in the series, maintained the lead throughout Sunday's special stages to prevail by 21.2 seconds.
3) "It's my third win in a row in Cyprus. It doesn't get much better," Loeb told Eurosport's Web site.
4) The Frenchman, who started the third leg 21.8 seconds ahead of Marcus Gronholm of Finland, took the first stage of the day and at the same time extended his lead.
5) But the Finn dispelled any suggestions that he had given up, winning the rest of the day's stages.
6) Loeb is now a step closer to his third successive world title with four rounds remaining in the championship.
7) The Citroen driver came into the race leading the drivers' standings with 102 points -- 33 more than Gronholm.
8) Mikko Hirvonen, Gronholm's Ford teammate, finished third.
9) Safety concerns led the FIA to cancel a 3.4-kilometer (2.1-mile) special stage running through the narrow roads of the old town of Limassol. Drivers still completed the course but not at racing speeds.
10) However, Dani Sordo drove into a low concrete wall after he failed to negotiate a left-hand corner. The car was towed out of the stage.
11) Stewards were forced to stop the next stage -- with only two cars having gone through -- due to a 15-minute delay created by Sordo's accident.
12) The WRC next moves to Turkey Oct. 13-15.


Gronholm wins opening stage of Wales Rally
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1) Marcus Gronholm won the opening stage of the Wales Rally on Friday, the final leg of the World Rally Championship.
2) The Finnish driver won the 17-kilometer (11-mile) stage around Port Talbot in 9 minutes, 8 seconds, ahead of Mikko Hirvonen and Manfred Stohl.
3) Five more stages were scheduled for Friday, with seven stages Saturday and four Sunday.
4) Frenchman Sebastian Loeb has already won the season title and Ford has clinched the manufacturers' championship. Norway's Petter Solberg is bidding for his fifth consecutive win in the Wales rally.
5) Loeb hasn't placed in the top 10 in his last three rallies, but leads with 112 points after 15 events and has a 21-point lead over Gronholm, who won the Rally of New Zealand on Nov. 19.
6) Loeb also won the 2004 and 2005 WRC titles.
7) Seven-time world motorcycling champion Valentino Rossi of Italy finished 10th in New Zealand in only his second WRC event. He's not entered in the Wales event.


Loeb wins season-opening Monte Carlo Rally
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1) Three-time defending world rally champion Sebastien Loeb won the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday.
2) Bidding for a fourth straight overall title, the Frenchman won at Monte Carlo for the fourth time in his career, beating Citroen teammate Daniel Sordo who was second. Ford's Marcus Gronholm was third.
3) "I like to start the season like this with 10 points," Loeb said. "The car is really fast, my arm is much better. It was a good start to the season. Hopefully we'll be able to continue."
4) Loeb, 32, won last year's title despite missing the final four races after breaking his arm in a cycling accident. He is looking to equal the record set by Finland's Tommi Makinen, who won four straight overall titles from 1996-1999.
5) Loeb had little to do but drive safely in the final 2.8-kilometer (1.74-mile) drive around the harbor of Monaco, where he finished fifth fastest.
6) Chris Atkinson of Australia won the 15th and final stage in 1 minute, 49.9 seconds. Gronholm of Finland was second in 1:50.4, and Mikko Hirvonen of Finland third in 1:50.9.
7) Atkinson was delighted to break Citroen's dominance, even though Loeb -- who timed 1:51 -- had no need to try and win on the final day.
8) "We tried our hearts out, we really focused," Atkinson said. "To come out on top is really awesome. The guys have done an amazing job. I can't wait for the rest of the year now."
9) Most of the Monte Carlo rally was moved three hours away to Valence, after road closures along the usual course made access too difficult for competitors.


Loeb stays in front at Portuguese Rally
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1) World rally champion Sebastien Loeb kept his lead at the Portuguese Rally on Saturday, with second-place Marcus Gronholm trailing by 40.5 seconds.
2) Citroen driver Loeb clocked 3 hours, 25 minutes, 5 seconds to win all six legs of the 152.9-kilometer (95-mile) stage in Algarve's Silves, Ourique and Almodovar.
3) "I'm surprised by my advantage over Marcus," Loeb said. "Nothing is decided yet though, so I'll keep pushing on."
4) Third-place Mikko Hirvonen, driving a Ford, was 1 minute, 57.3 seconds behind Loeb, followed by Norway's Petter Solberg in a Subaru and Dani Sordo of Spain, driving a Citroen.
5) Loeb's tire choice helped him in wet conditions, while Gronholm said his Ford's tires were to blame for the result.
6) "I made it to a curb too fast and got a little off track," Gronholm said. "My tires are in pieces."
7) The rally ends Sunday.


Hirvonen wins opening super special test in Argentine Rally debut
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1) Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen drove his Ford to first place in a 2.4-kilometer super special test, finishing in 2 minutes, 8.3 seconds on Thursday's opening day of the Argentine Rally.
2) On a course set up at River Plate's famed Monumental soccer stadium, compatriot Marcus Gronholm, also driving a Ford, finished second 0.6 seconds behind, and Spaniard Dani Sordo was just 0.8 seconds back.
3) In fourth, Norway's Petter Solberg finished 1.5 seconds behind, tied with France's Sebastien Loeb.
4) Loeb, the three-time world rally champion, won the Portuguese Rally last Sunday, beating Gronholm by 37.1 seconds for a 38-point total, one point ahead of his rival.
5) The Argentine Republic Rally is the sixth event of the year and continues on Friday on the traditional hill circuits of Cordoba in central Argentina before concluding Sunday.
6) In a novel step, the opening special stage was held in Buenos Aires instead of Cordoba, where rugged outdoor hill circuits of rough dirt roads, steep ascents and washouts await the drivers.
7) Following Thursday's special test, the cars were loaded on trucks to be taken overnight 650 kilometers to the central province for Friday's start. The racers were traveling ahead on chartered jets.


Hirvonen leads rain-interrupted Argentine Rally
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1) Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen won the only stage held on Friday after heavy rains forced the cancellation of all hill stages on Friday's second day of the Argentine Rally.
2) All other second-day stages were scrapped after 16 drivers who competed a day earlier in the opening special stage in a Buenos Aires soccer stadium were delayed for hours in a chartered jet because of bad weather in Cordoba, about 650 kilometers (475 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires.
3) Hirvonen, who also won Thursday's special stage at Monumental Stadium, won Friday's leg at Cordoba Stadium in 2 minutes, 31.9 seconds for an overall leading time of 4:40.
4) Jari-Matti Latvala, a fellow Finn also driving a Ford, was second in 2:32.9 on Friday followed by three-time world champion Sebastien Loeb of France in 2:33.1.
5) Australia's Chris Atkinson was fourth, Spain's Daniel Sordo fifth, and Norway's Petter Solberg sixth.
6) Overall, Sordo remained 2.4 seconds off the pace, and Loeb 2.9 seconds. Marcus Gronholm of Finland was three seconds behind, and Solbergfifth at 3.3 seconds back.
7) Two chartered jets flying drivers reached Cordoba on Thursday night. But a third plane carrying Loeb and others couldn't land in stormy weather in Cordoba and had to return to Buenos Aires to await better weather later Friday, officials said. By the time they arrived, it was too late for the stages on the central hill circuits of Cordoba.


Three-time champion Sebastien Loeb takes 19-second lead over Gronholm
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1) Frenchman Sebastien Loeb drove his Citroen to a 19-second lead over Marcus Gronholm of Finland in the rain-soaked Argentine Rally, capturing seven of Saturday's special stages on a day marred by the death of spectator struck by one of the race cars.
2) A woman was killed when she reportedly tried to cross the course on a connecting stretch between stages near Cosquin near a checkpoint, authorities said.
3) Two other people standing on the roadside also were injured -- although their injuries were not life threatening -- in the accident involving Subaru driver Gonzalo Alenaz of Argentina, police and hospital officials told local media.
4) Loeb, a three-time World Rally champion, won stages 10-14 and 16 and 17 for an overall time of 1 hour, 44 minutes and 13 seconds on the third day of the rally in the central Argentine hills of Cordoba.
5) But while Loeb gained the early edge on steep curves, washed out roads and muddy tracks from Saturday's rain enabled Gronholm close with victories in late afternoon stages 15 and 18. Gronholm drove his Ford in an overall 1:44:32.2.
6) Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jari Latvala, both driving Fords were third and fourth. Hirvonen was 1 minute, 25.3 seconds behind Loeb with Latvala another 1:06.7 back.
7) Norwegian Henning Solberg rounded out the top five in his Ford, 2:44.8 behind Loeb.
8) Until Saturday, only two 2.4-kilometer special stages were run Thursday and Friday as rain played havoc with this year's race.
9) Organizers scrapped several stages Friday and were expected to make up two-thirds of them before Sunday's close.
10) In other developments, Norwegian Petter Solberg, driving a Subaru, abandoned the race with engine trouble Saturday.
11) The annual Argentine Rally is the sixth stop on the 16-nation World Rally Championship. Tens of thousands attend the even in Argentina, packing strategic viewpoints for hundreds of kilometers along the course.


Hirvonen edges Gronholm at start of Acropolis Rally
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1) Mikko Hirvonen nosed Ford Focus teammate Marcus Gronholm by 0.2 seconds at the start of the Acropolis Rally on Thursday.
2) The top five drivers were separated by half a second.
3) The Finn clocked 2 minutes, 50.8 seconds in winning the opening stage at Markopoulo, east of Athens.
4) Citroen's Sebastien Loeb finished the 3.2-kilometer (2-mile) gravel race 0.3 seconds behind the leader, while Subaru driver Petter Solberg was fourth and 0.4 seconds behind.
5) Spaniard Dani Sordo, driving a Citroen, placed fifth.
6) After defending champion Loeb crashed in the Rally of Italy, Gronholm leads the standings heading into the eighth race of the 16-race world championship, and is vying for a second straight Acropolis win.


Rally Finland Results
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1) Results Thursday from the first special stage, a 2.06-kilometer prologue, at the Rally Finland:
2) 1. Chris Atkinson, Australia, Subaru, 1 minute, 20.6 seconds.
3) 2. Marcus Gronholm, Finland, Ford, 0.2 seconds behind.
4) 3. Sebastien Loeb, France, Citroen, 0.3 seconds behind.
5) 4. Daniel Sordo, Spain, Citroen, 0.6 seconds behind.
6) 5. Petter Solberg, Norway, Subaru, 0.7 seconds behind.
7) 6. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, Ford, 1.1 seconds behind.
8) 7. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, Ford, 1.3 seconds behind.
9) 8. Manfred Stohl, Austria, Citroen, 1.9 seconds behind.
10) 9. Henning Solberg, Norway, Ford, 2.1 seconds behind.
11) 10. Juho Hanninen, Finland, Mitsubishi, 2.2 seconds behind.


Gronholm leads fellow Finn Hirvonen by 20.4 seconds before last leg of Finnish Rally
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1) Marcus Gronholm took a 20.4-second lead over fellow Finn and Ford teammate Mikko Hirvonen after Saturday's second leg of the Rally Finland.
2) Gronholm was the fastest on six of the day's nine special stages. The two-time world champion must protect his lead over three stages totaling 40.75 kilometers (25.3 miles) on Sunday to capture his seventh win in the last eight events on the fast gravel roads around the town of Jyvaskyla, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Helsinki.
3) Hirvonen holds reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb of France firmly in third place, which clearly benefits Gronholm in the fight for the title.
4) Gronholm leads the overall standings with 65 points ahead of Loeb, with 56.
5) "I tried to drive cautiously on the last stage to avoid hitting something around the road," Gronholm said. "Hirvonen drives a good rally and I can't go to rest during the rest of the rally."
6) Hirvonen won the first and last two stages of the day, twice with a margin of less than a second.
7) Loeb, driving a Citroen, was unable to keep the pace of the factory Ford Focus cars. The 33-year old three-time champion had one stage win, six third-place finishes and one fourth, losing a few seconds to Gronholm every time.


German Rally Results
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1) Results Sunday from the German Rally after 19 special stages and 1,227 kilometers (762 miles):
2) 1. Sebastien Loeb, France, Citroen, 3 hours, 27 minutes, 27.5 seconds.
3) 2. Francois Duval, Belgium, Citroen, 3:27:47.8.
4) 3. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, Ford, 3:28:46.6.
5) 4. Marcus Gronholm, Finland, Ford, 3:29:04.0.
6) 5. Jan Kopecky, Czech Republic, Skoda, 3:30:34.6.
7) 6. Petter Solberg, Norway, Subaru, 3:30:42.2.
8) 7. Toni Gardemeister, Finland, Citroen, 3:31:05.0.
9) 8. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, Ford, 3:32:56.8.
10) 9. Matthew Wilson, Ford, 3:38:31.7.
11) 10. Guy Wilks, Britain, Ford, 3:47:15.3.


Marcus Gronholm leads Sebastian Loeb at Rally of New Zealand
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1) World Rally Championship leader Marcus Gronholm of Finland held a 13 second lead over his closest championship rival, Sebastian Loeb of France, after Friday's first day and five out of 18 stages of the Rally of New Zealand.
2) Ford's Gronholm, who leads Loeb by eight points after 10 of 16 world championship events, won the first two stages on the rally's opening day to put himself in a strong position to win the New Zealand event for a record sixth time.
3) Tire choices proved important on the first two stages on sweeping, gravel roads through the Waikato district on New Zealand's North Island. Gronholm chose soft compound tires and Citroen's Loeb softer tires and both were relatively satisfied with their handling and performance.
4) Third-placed Mikko Hirvonen of Finland, in a Ford, used tires less suited to the conditions and was more than half a minute behind Gronholm after two stages. He was 49.2 seconds down in third place by the end of the day's final stage.
5) Australian Chris Atkinson, whose Ford finished day one in fourth place, had trouble with the balance of his car throughout the day while fifth-placed Jiri-Matti Latvala hit a rock near the end of stage two and finished the day with his Ford's front bumper missing.
6) Eighth-placed Henning Solberg, also in a Ford, punctured twice on stage one -- over 18.3 kilometers (11.4 miles) -- while Briton Matthew Wilson, who finished the day in 10th, slid off into a fence on an early stage. He was able to reverse onto the road and to continue.
7) "Fortunately the farmer has built a good fence and that stopped us going too far off the road," Wilson said.
8) Loeb won the day's third and fourth stages and was only 13.5 seconds behind Gronholm entering the last, 3.5 super special stage, at Mystery Creek on which he picked up a further half second on his Finnish rival.
9) "I was better in this stage than this morning when I lost a lot of time to Marcus," Loeb said.
10) "The tires were the difference. This morning we had too soft (tires) and this afternoon it was a good choice, the same as Marcus.
11) Atkinson was fastest over the last, super special stage and was 1 minute, 21.4 seconds down on Gronholm by the end of the day, 32.2 seconds behind Hirvonen. Latvala was only 7.8 seconds behind Atkinson in fifth place and Daniel Sordo of Spain a further 4.3 seconds back in sixth.


Finland ' s Hirvonen cruises to victory at Rally Japan
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1) Finland's Mikko Hirvonen won the Rally Japan on Sunday to post the third World Rally Championship victory of his career.
2) Hirvonen, driving a Ford, started the final day with a comfortable 38.2-second lead and won the third leg with a time of 3 hours, 23 minutes, 57.6 seconds, beating Citroen driver Dani Sordo of Spain by 37.4 seconds.
3) Points leader Marcus Gronholm crashed during the first leg on Friday while France's Sebastien Loeb went off the track Saturday.
4) Loeb, who won this race last year, did manage to return Sunday and won four stages but retired due to oil pressure problems on the penultimate stage and still trails Gronholm by four points with two races remaining.
5) Norway's Henning Solberg finished third, 4:33.7 off the pace.
6) The Rally Japan is the 14th of 16 races in the World Rally Championship.


Sebastien Loeb wins record-equaling fourth consecutive championship at Wales Rally
(APW_ENG_20071202.0431)
1) Sebastien Loeb won a fourth consecutive world championship when he finished third in the season-ending Wales Rally on Sunday.
2) Loeb, who needed to finish at least fifth to equal Tommi Makinen's 1996-99 record for consecutive titles, finished 1 minute, 17.8 seconds behind race winner Mikko Hirvonen.
3) Marcus Gronholm, who lost the lead in the standings when he crashed out of last month's Rally Ireland, finished in second place -- 15.2 seconds off Hirvonen's total time of 3 hours, 22 minutes, 50.9 seconds.


Loeb starts rally season with win at Monte Carlo
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1) Four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb cautiously drove on the last leg of the Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday to start the season on a high.
2) The French driver completed the four-day race in 3 hours, 39 minutes, 17 seconds to win the race for a record fifth time.
3) "It's always nice to start the season with a win, but I have no intention of getting carried away because there are some very difficult rallies to come," Loeb said.
4) Mikko Hirvonen of Finland has become Loeb's main rival for the title since Marcus Gronholm's retirement. The Ford driver took second place, 2:34.4 behind Loeb.
5) Hirvonen, however, never managed to put Loeb under pressure in the asphalt event as he feels more comfortable on surfaces such as ice and gravel.
6) Loeb took advantage of a lead of 2:10.6 after the third leg to preserve his tires.
7) "The most significant thing is the way we won this year," Loeb said. "Our Citroen C4 performed faultlessly throughout and the set-up we chose for the start proved excellent."
8) The highlight of the fourth leg was the battle between Chris Atkinson of Australia and Francois Duval of Belgium for third place.
9) Duval trailed the Subaru driver by only 20.1 seconds before the 15th stage.
10) By the end of the last stage, Duval had almost closed the gap on Atkinson, winning four of Sunday's five stages. But Atkinson finally kept third place.
11) "This year's change of tire manufacturer has induced a few changes to the behavior of the car," Atkinson said. "I spun in the first curve of stage 18."
12) The next rally will be held in Karlstad, Sweden, from Feb. 8-10.


Norway ' s Petter Solberg takes early lead in Swedish Rally
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1) Petter Solberg took the early lead in the Swedish Rally, winning the prologue on an illuminated horse trotting course on Thursday night.
2) The Norwegian, who won the world title in 2003 and was the Swedish Rally winner in 2005, drove the two-kilometer (1.2-mile) track in 1 minute, 28.9 seconds in his Subaru Impreza.
3) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, driving a Ford Focus, was half a second behind in second place. Mikko Hirvonen of Finland, Latvala's teammate, was third, 0.9 seconds behind.
4) World championship leader Sebastien Loeb of France, who won the season opener in Monte Carlo, finished fourth, 1.1 seconds back, in his Citroen.
5) Loeb, who became the first non-Nordic winner of the rally in 2004, is trying to win a record 100th world rally event in Sweden this weekend.
6) "My 100th start is a nice round figure, but it's not that important to me," said Loeb, the reigning four-time world champion.
7) The Swedish Rally, run on ice-covered roads in western Sweden, consists of 19 special stages and ends Sunday on the trotting course in Karlstad where it started Thursday.


World champion Sebastien Loeb drops out of Swedish Rally after mishap
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1) World champion Sebastien Loeb withdrew from the Swedish Rally on Friday after a mishap on the fourth stage.
2) Finnish Ford Focus drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen topped the standings after the fifth stage. Latvala had a total time of 39 minutes, 10.1 seconds, with Hirvonen 29.1 seconds behind.
3) Loeb, who won the season opener in Monte Carlo, had three kilometers (1.9 miles) left on the fourth stage when he went off the icy road and got stuck in a snow drift.
4) The Frenchman eventually got his Citroen back on the road, but he lost more than four minutes. After a service stop at Sunne in west Sweden, Loeb gave up.
5) Four years ago, Loeb became the first non-Nordic driver to win the rally in its 57-year history. The four-time world champion was trying to win a record 100th world rally event in Sweden.
6) Henning Solberg of Norway was third after the fifth stage in 39:46.8, more than 15 seconds ahead of Gian-Luigi Galli of Italy.
7) Petter Solberg, Henning's brother and the 2003 world champion, was fifth in 40:21.9 in a Subaru.


Latvala wins Swedish Rally, becomes youngest winner of world championship race
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1) Jari-Matti Latvala won the Swedish Rally on Sunday and became the youngest winner ever of a world championship event.
2) The 22-year-old Finn, who took the lead for good when he won six of seven stages on opening day, had a total time of 2 hours, 46 minutes and 41.2 seconds. Mikko Hirvonen made it a double for Ford Focus and Finland, 58.3 seconds behind.
3) The previous youngest winner of a world championship event was the late Finn Henri Toivonen, who was 24 when he captured the 1980 RAC Rally.
4) "It's a super feeling," Latvala said. "It's almost unbelievable! Henri was one of my idols and secretly I've always wanted to beat his record as the youngest winner.
5) "The rally started so well from the first stage. We've made no mistakes, the car has been absolutely perfect and I've been able to control the speed -- I'm really happy about that. I feel very comfortable now, this result has given me a lot of self confidence and I'm really looking forward to (the next race in) Mexico," he added.
6) Latvala's only previous podium finish came in Rally Ireland last November.
7) Gianluigi Galli of Italy, another Ford Focus driver, trailed Latvala by 2:23.2 in third place.
8) After two races, Hirvonen leads the overall standings with 16 points. Latvala, who did not finish the season opener in Monte Carlo last month, share second at 10 points with defending four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb of France.
9) Loeb withdrew from the Swedish Rally on Saturday after a crash the previous day.


Jari-Matti Latvala takes lead on first day of Rally Mexico
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1) Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala led after the first day of the Rally Mexico by 9.6 seconds from world champion Sebastien Loeb on Friday.
2) Latvala, driving a Ford, won three of the eight stages, clocking a 1 hour, 23 minutes, 38.6 seconds.
3) "I have hit a good rhythm and I am enjoying it a lot," Latvala said after the fourth stage. "My strategy is to drive fast but not take major risks ... here we're driving a rally, and I don't have to pass."
4) Australian Chris Atkinson, driving for Subaru, was third at 22.4 seconds behind Latvala, and teammate Peter Solberg of Norway fourth, 1 minute and 1.9 seconds off the leader's pace.
5) Latvala's teammate and fellow Finn, Mikko Hirvonen, lay fifth, 1 minute, 10.6 seconds behind, and Norway's Henning Solberg was sixth at 2:43.6 behind.


Loeb takes lead on second day of Rally Mexico; Latvala falls with engine trouble
(APW_ENG_20080302.0079)
1) World champion Sebastian Loeb won four of Saturday's eight stages built a lead of 1 minute, 1.4 seconds over Australian Chris Atkinson on the second day of the Rally Mexico.
2) Loeb, a Frenchman driving for Citroen, won the first two stages to turn a 9.6-second deficit into a 4.6-second lead, and won the next two extend that to 12.9 seconds over first-day leader Jari-Matti Latvala.
3) Latvala developed a busted pipe on his turbocharger and fell way off the pace, finishing the day in third, 2:06.4 back.
4) Atkinson, driving for Subaru who was third after the first day, won the final stage of the day to move into second.
5) "It has been better today, but I don't know why," Loeb said. "For the time being, we'll try to go as fast as possible to keep the lead as long as possible."
6) Norway's Henning Solberg won two stages and was fourth, 3 minutes, 51.6 seconds behind the Loeb, while Finn Mikko Hirvonen, was next 4 minutes, 7.5 seconds off the leader. Matthew Wilson of Great Britain came sixth at 6 minutes, 10.6 seconds behind.


Four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb wins Rally Mexico
(APW_ENG_20080302.0715)
1) Sebastien Loeb won all three stages Sunday to claim the title at the Rally Mexico.
2) The four-time world champion from France finished the three-day rally in 3 hours, 33 minutes, 29.9 seconds. Chris Atkinson of Australia was second, 1:06.1 behind Loeb, and Jari Matti Latvala of Finland took third, 1:39.7 back.
3) Organizers canceled the 18th stage, known as Guanajuatito, because too many spectators gathered along it and could be at risk.
4) In January, Loeb won the Monte Carlo Rally for a record fifth time.
5) Mikko Hirvonen of Finland was fourth, followed by Henning Solberg of Norway and Matthew Wilson of Britain.


Mikko Hirvonen takes halfway lead in opening day of WRC ' s Rally Argentina
(APW_ENG_20080328.1164)
1) Mikko Hirvonen of Finland established a big lead through rain and fog over four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb after the fourth stage of the Rally Argentina on Friday.
2) The Ford driver lead by 50.8 seconds over the Frenchman in his Citroen as fog cut down on visibility on the rugged hill circuit. There are four further stages later Friday, finishing with a sprint at a stadium.
3) Chris Atkinson of Australia was third in his Subaru, 43 seconds behind Loeb.
4) Hirvonen got a jump on the pack in the opening 18-kilometer (11.5-mile) stage, leading closest pursuer and Ford teammate Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland by 48 seconds.
5) Hirvonen also won the 23-kilometer (14-mile) hilly second stage near La Cumbre, Cordoba, and the last stage, a 9.6-kilometer (6.1-mile) loop.
6) For Latvala, the strong early showing was followed by some bad luck.
7) Latvala took a tight corner much too hard on the second stage, his car bouncing and rolling sideways against a tree. Spectators helped get the car back on the track, and he was able to continue despite minor dents and a crack in the windshield. But he lost nine minutes to fall behind the leading pace.
8) The rally began with a ceremonial start Thursday night in Cordoba that saw soccer great Diego Maradona ride in the passenger seat alongside Loeb, the defending Rally Argentina champion.
9) "I feel fantastic -- just divine," Maradona said.
10) Friday's course totaled eight special stages over 152 kilometers (91 miles) in northern Cordoba. It was to finish later Friday on a 1.78-kilometer (1.1-mile) super special set up in Cordoba city soccer stadium.
11) Argentina is the fourth stop on the WRC circuit, a race featuring off-road racing on gravel through washouts, hairpin curves and bumpy hills at breakneck speed.


Defending champ Loeb keeps lead on second day of WRC ' s Rally Argentina
(APW_ENG_20080330.0048)
1) Sebastien Loeb of France won three special stages Saturday and consolidated his lead in the Rally Argentina to 79.6 seconds after two days of the Rally Argentina.
2) Loeb won the 11th, 12th and 15th special stages to finish with 3 hours, 28 minutes and 16.5 seconds in his Citroen with one day remaining.
3) Norway's Petter Solberg, third after Friday's racing, reduced his deficit by 29.3 seconds behind Loeb and passed Subaru teammate Chris Atkinson of Australia to take over second place.
4) Atkinson, who trailed by 1:19.6 on Friday, fell to third, 2:08.5 behind Loeb.
5) Solberg won the day's first stage, the No. 10 circuit from Santa Monica to Amboy on rugged hills made slick and muddy by rains a day earlier.
6) But defending champion Loeb, won the next two stages, and with the victory in the 15th stage, surged comfortably ahead by more than 1:25.
7) Solberg rallied to win the final three stages, including a super special sprint through the Cordoba soccer stadium -- to close the gap.
8) Cloudy skies and intermittent rains hampered the day's driving, with occasional patches of dense fog cutting visibility down for the drivers.
9) Sunday's final three special stages are expected to feature some of the toughest hill country tests of the three-day competition, including rutted gravel-strewn tracks, hairpin turns and washouts.
10) The 28th Rally Argentina, which features more than 1,620 kilometers (960 miles) of driving, concludes Sunday afternoon with a super special in which two cars will race simultaneously in the Cordoba stadium before the winner is crowned.


Rally Argentina Results
(APW_ENG_20080330.0691)
1) Results Sunday from the Rally Argentina after 21 special stages (with driver, country, manufacturer and time):
2) 1. Sebastian Loeb, France, Citroen Total WRT, 5 hours, 5 minutes, 48.6 seconds.
3) 2. Chris Atkinson, Australia, Subaru World Rally Team, 2:33.2 behind.
4) 3. Daniel Sordo, Spain, Citroen Total WRTh, 4:04.7.
5) 4. Conrad Rautenbach, Zimbawe, Rautenbach Conrad Citroen WRC, 20:03.5.
6) 5. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, BP Ford, 25:15.3.
7) 6. Federico Villagra, Argentina, Munchi's Ford, 27:42.0.
8) 7. Gigi Galli, Italy, Stobart VK M Ford, 27:51.8.
9) 8. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, BP Ford, 49:13.2.
10) 9. Per-Gunnar Andersson, Sweden, Suzuki WRT, 1:12:32.9.
11) Drivers' Standings
12) 1. Sebastien Loeb, France, 30 points.
13) 2. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, 25.
14) 3. Chris Atkinson, Australia, 22.
15) 4. Giggi Galli, Italy, 11.
16) 5. Petter Solberg, Norway, 9.


Loeb cruises on final day, wins fourth straight Rally Argentina
(APW_ENG_20080330.0791)
1) Sebastien Loeb won another stage and easily claimed his fourth straight Rally Argentina title Sunday.
2) It was the Frenchman's third victory of the year and 39th of his career, mastering the rugged, muddy hills of Cordoba to finish in 5 hours, 5 minutes, 48.6 seconds and put him on and early track for a fifth world title.
3) Chris Atkinson of Australia, driving a Subaru, finished second, 2 minutes, 33.2 seconds behind, and Loeb's Citroen teammate Daniel Sordo of Spain finished third, 4:04.7 behind.
4) Loeb, who also won in Monte Carlo and Mexico this year, took the second of four stages Sunday. Over three days, he won four of 21 special stages.
5) Loeb said muddy conditions made for an extremely difficult race, particularly on the final day. But he said getting out in front of the pack on Friday was the key.
6) "We had a good fight on the first day. But after that, we were in the lead," he said.
7) Loeb led by more than a minute and a half after Friday's racing, which was reduced to 79.6 seconds on Saturday.
8) Drivers remarked about the hairpin turns, washouts and gravelly roads through intermittent rain, occasional patches of dense fog and mud.
9) Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen won three specials Friday in his Ford but then hit a rock, lost time and finished the day nearly 24 minutes behind in 25th place.
10) Loeb improved to 30 points atop the overall standings, five more than Hirvonen and eight more than Atkinson.
11) "I really enjoy racing here in Argentina. The specials are all very quick and its a good run," he said.
12) But he added that the more than 1,600-kilometer (960-mile) course provide some of the most complicated racing on the WRC circuit and he didn't know if he could continue his string of consecutive victories.
13) "I know that this victory streak can be cut at any time," he added, speaking in a news conference.


Spain ' s Dani Sordo takes lead after 1st day of Jordan Rally
(APW_ENG_20080425.0901)
1) Dani Sordo held a one-second lead after the first day of the Jordan Rally, winning three of Friday's eight special stages in punishing heat near the Dead Sea.
2) Sordo took the lead on the first stage and then narrowly held off Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb in the afternoon.
3) "The conditions in the car were very hot and I've struggled a bit with my pace notes," Sordo said. "Tomorrow I will have to go first on the road, so that's not going to be easy."
4) Loeb, the defending world champion, is 1.1 seconds behind.
5) "The stages were particularly tricky this morning, where grip and traction were changing all the time," Loeb said. "But we made some changes at service and it was much better this afternoon."
6) Ford teammates Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen were third and fourth. Petter Solberg had to retire on the sixth stage, when a damper broke on his Subaru after he hit a rock.
7) The United Arab Emeriate's Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi had the best day among the Middle East drivers, sitting in 10th place in his Ford. Abir Batikhi, the first Arab woman to compete in the world rally championship series, was in 45th place in her Subaru, 36 minutes behind Sordo.
8) The race ends Sunday. Loeb leads the overall standings with 30 points after four events, with Hirvonen in second on 25.


World champion Sebastien Loeb crashes in Jordan Rally
(APW_ENG_20080426.0638)
1) Dani Sordo maintained an eight-second lead after the second day of the Jordan Rally, with defending world champion Sebastien Loeb crashing out in a head-on collision with another car.
2) Sordo clocked 2 hours, 29 minutes, 2.9 seconds in his Citroen to edge Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala in his Ford Focus. Mikko Hirvonen was third, also in a Ford, just over 10 seconds behind Sordo.
3) With the leader starting first on Sunday -- a distinct disadvantage on the slippery gravel roads -- both Hirvonen and Latvala slowed down near the end of the final stage to make sure Sordo remained in front.
4) "Some rain would help, but that's pretty unlikely," Sordo said. "Realistically, I think it's going to be more difficult to be first on the road tomorrow than it has been today, because the long stage has so much gravel on it. The repeat pass should be better, so I'll just have to hope I do OK in the morning."
5) Saturday's stages were held under a blazing sun and passed through several of Jordan's historic sites by the Dead Sea.
6) Loeb led after the first three stages, but then collided his Citroen with Conrad Rautenbach on a blind bend in Shuneh. Neither driver was injured in the accident, and Citroen spokeswoman Marie Pierre Rossi said Loeb would likely be able to continue the race on Sunday.
7) "The damage was minor, and the cars are now being fixed," Rossi said.
8) She said the accident happened at a "low speed" on a narrow road as one car went up a hill and the other traveled down in another stage of the event.
9) The race ends Sunday with six special stages, the final leg taking drivers through the Jordan River area that skirts the border with Israel.


Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen wins Jordan Rally; overtakes Loeb in overall standings
(APW_ENG_20080427.0605)
1) Mikko Hirvonen won the Jordan Rally on Sunday to move into the lead of the World Rally Championship.
2) The 27-year-old Finn finished the three-day event in the WRC fifth round in 4 hours, 2 minutes, 47.9 seconds in his Ford, 1:15.7 ahead of second-place Dani Sordo of Spain in a Citroen.
3) Reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb was 10th in 4:26:26. He collided Saturday with Citroen teammate Conrad Rautenbach after the 11th stage.
4) Hirvonen leads with 35 points, five ahead of Loeb and seven more than Chris Atkinson of Australia.
5) "It's fantastic -- and very good news for our title fight," Hirvonen said. "But that last stage was so nerve racking. I had no split times on Dani and no idea how fast he was going. I'm really happy to win and take the 10 points."
6) Sordo led by eight seconds on Saturday, but a spin near the start of the final stage put him behind.
7) "I tried my best and pushed as hard as possible today," Sordo said. "But the gravel was the worst of the event, and my wheels were just spinning in some places. We lost time with a spin at the start of the last stage, and then all we could do was drive to the finish. But I'm very happy to get eight championship points."
8) Atkinson was third for the fourth time this season in his Subaru, nearly five minutes behind Hirvonen.
9) "It's another good points finish, it's good for the team and keeps us near the front in the championship," Atkinson said. "But we want to be winning, not just on the podium."


Loeb leads after first day of Acropolis Rally
(APW_ENG_20080530.1023)
1) Frenchman Sebastien Loeb dominated the first day of the Acropolis Rally, taking four of the seven stages.
2) The defending world champion ended 15.7 seconds ahead of fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo of Spain Friday, and 59.1 in front of Subaru driver Petter Solberg of Norway.
3) The grueling Greek rally ends Sunday.
4) Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen was seventh at the end of the first day. The Ford driver had a broken suspension in the 4.6-kilometer (2.9-mile) final stage, which cost him 50 seconds and three places in the day's rankings.


Sebastien Loeb retains lead after 2nd day of Acropolis Rally
(APW_ENG_20080531.0471)
1) Sebastien Loeb retained the overall lead after the second day of the Acropolis Rally on Saturday, despite not winning a single stage.
2) Subaru driver Petter Solberg of Norway was 28.7 seconds back in second place, while his older brother Henning was third, 1 minute, 5.3 seconds behind Loeb.
3) Loeb, the defending world champion, won four of the seven stages Friday but was beaten on all six of Saturday's legs.
4) Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen dominated the second day, winning three stages and moving from seventh to fourth overall, 3 minutes, 5.6 seconds behind. Italy's Gigi Galli won two stages but trailed in 35th place overall.
5) Loeb's fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo of Spain, who was second until the day's penultimate stage, punctured a tire and fell to seventh, 5 minutes, 33.6 seconds behind.
6) The course featured rough terrain, with Henning Solberg saying that the "rocks in the stages are as big as modern TVs or like washing machines."
7) The rally ends Sunday.


Loeb wins Acropolis Rally to move atop world championship standings
(APW_ENG_20080601.0532)
1) Sebastian Loeb won the Acropolis Rally on Sunday to move to the top of the world championship standings.
2) Loeb led by nearly half a minute going into the last day and pulled away even further to finish 1 minute, 9.5 seconds ahead of Norway's Petter Solberg. Mikkor Hirvonen finished third despite mechanical problems on the first day, 1:56.1 behind.
3) "This year's (Acropolis Rally) was tougher," said Loeb, who also won here in 2005. "We had to preserve our tires and, in some places, we went slow."
4) It was Loeb's fifth win in seven races this season, giving the Frenchman 50 points in the overall standings, one ahead of Hirvonen. Australia's Chris Atkinson is third with 31 points.
5) Estonia's Urmo Aava was fourth on Sunday, while Loeb's fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo of Spain climbed from seventh to fifth. Sordo had been in contention for the top place until he punctured a tire on Saturday, but bounced back to win the last stage of the race.
6) Finland's Jari Latvala won three of Sunday's seven stages to place seventh overall.


Loeb narrowly leads Solberg after first day of Turkish Rally
(APW_ENG_20080613.1160)
1) Sebastian Loeb beat Henning Solberg by 1 second Friday to lead the first day of the Turkish Rally.
2) The Citroen driver and defending champion took an early lead, winning the first stage on a dry gravel course. Loeb fell back in subsequent stages before winning the 7th leg.
3) Jari Matti Latvala of Finland finished third overall.
4) Loeb, who won the Turkish Rally in 2004 and 2005, is looking to widen his one-point lead in the 2008 title race against Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland.
5) Hirvonen finished fifth Friday.
6) Unlike past years, the weather in Kemer near the Mediterranean city of Antalya was dry and bright, making the event's mountain roads easier to access.
7) The Turkish Rally -- the eighth leg of the championship -- ends Sunday.


Hirvonen leads Latvala after second day of Turkish Rally
(APW_ENG_20080614.0855)
1) Miko Hirvonen of Finland piloted his Ford Focus to a 16.2-second lead on countryman Jari Matti Latvala on the second day of the Turkish Rally on Saturday.
2) Running third was defending champion Sebastien Loeb, 34.3 seconds off the lead.
3) Loeb leads the overall series by only a point from Hirvonen, and both knew the half-minute gap between them going into Sunday's last three stages gave hope to both.
4) "It's going to be a big fight tomorrow," Hirvonen said. "I've been flat out all day, but I don't know if my lead is enough. Sunday's going to be a difficult day."
5) Henning Solberg of Norway was fourth and seemingly out of contention at more than two minutes behind.
6) The first stage of Saturday's racing was canceled after Mitsubishi driver Bernardo Sousa hit and injured a Belgian spectator in the leg.


Mikko Hirvonen wins Turkish Rally to take lead in overall championship standings
(APW_ENG_20080615.0458)
1) Mikko Hirvonen of Finland won the Turkish rally on Sunday, moving back to the top of the World Rally Championship standings.
2) The Ford driver had the overnight lead and held off Finnish teammate Jari Matti Latvala on the final stage despite tire troubles to win by 7.9 seconds.
3) "My front tires are finished and I had a puncture for the last few kilometers," Hirvonen said. "I wasn't sure I'd done enough."
4) Hirvonen now leads the overall standings by three points ahead of defending champion Sebastian Loeb of France, who finished third on Sunday, 17.8 seconds behind Latvala.
5) The Turkish Rally, run on mountainous gravel course that wore down the tires for most drivers, was the eighth leg of the championship.


Loeb extends lead in Rally Finland over Hirvonen
(APW_ENG_20080802.0590)
1) Four-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb took a grip on the Rally Finland on Saturday, holding off Mikko Hirvonen in an exciting duel to lead by 18.2 seconds.
2) Only 3.8 seconds separated the two top drivers on the day's 168.25 kilometers (104.5 miles) of special stages.
3) Trailing by 14.4 seconds going out, Hirvonen three times cut the lead to between 11.1 and 11.5 seconds, but the Finnish Ford driver was unlucky as his car stalled at the start of the last stage, losing about four seconds.
4) Behind the two title contenders, Subaru driver Chris Atkinson of Australia had a good day on the fast gravel roads in central Finland to move past Daniel Sordo of Spain for third overall on the last stage. One second separated them before the last day.
5) Atkinson had two top-three finishes and was the fourth fastest five times.
6) There will be a new winner in Rally Finland, as former world champion Marcus Gronholm of Finland has retired.
7) Loeb has never won in Finland, but with a win, and Hirvonen in second, the French Citroen driver would be within a single point of the Finn in the standings. Hirvonen has 59 points against Loeb's 56.
8) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, one of the top drivers and third in the championship standings, was the fastest on three stages and top three on five more after retiring on Friday's third stage.
9) Gigi Galli of Italy had to retire from third place, as did Per-Gunnar Andersson of Sweden when lying ninth.


Loeb leads after day 1 of Germany Rally
(APW_ENG_20080815.1261)
1) Sebastien Loeb of France led the Rally Germany after the opening day on Friday in his bid for a seventh straight victory on the Mosel vineyards roads.
2) The Citroen driver opened a 19.9-second lead over World Rally Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen, despite the Finn not being considered a top contender on asphalt in his Ford.
3) "For sure Mikko is going very well and I've had to push very hard," said Loeb, a four-time world champion. "This afternoon I've been on the limit all the time and it's been difficult to increase the gap. It was possible on the first loop, but on the second he was going well everywhere.
4) "But OK, 20 seconds is a good lead for a first day on tarmac, and for the moment it's going well. There are lots of tough new stages tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see what happens."
5) Hirvonen leads Loeb by one point in the drivers' standings and he felt comfortable in the three afternoon special stages.
6) "I always knew the speed was there, because we set fastest stages here last year, but for some reason I could not find it in the morning," he said. "Now it's here again and I hope I can keep it going tomorrow. It feels really good in the car and I'm enjoying myself. For tomorrow it's a simple plan -- full attack."
7) Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo of Spain held second place for much of the day, but was overtaken by Hirvonen in the fifth of the day's six stages.
8) Sordo will start Saturday's competition 5.7 seconds behind Hirvonen.
9) "The feeling in the car is better now but I had the harder tires this afternoon and in the hairpins I lost a lot of time," he said. "But tomorrow we'll see. Mikko's going well, so my first job is to catch him, and then we'll see."


Last year ' s loss spurs Loeb in New Zealand
(APW_ENG_20080828.0147)
1) Frenchman Sebastian Loeb's close loss to Marcus Gronholm in last year's Rally of New Zealand has spurred the world championship leader's determination to go one better in the 2008 rally starting Friday.
2) Finnish-born Gronholm's winning margin of three tenths of a second last year was the smallest in championship history and prevented Loeb from repeating his 2005 win at New Zealand.
3) "We missed out on victory last year by just three-tenths of a second after one of the most thrilling fights the WRC has ever seen," Loeb said. "I won't be able to take revenge this time though, because Marcus Gronholm isn't competing any more."
4) Loeb said New Zealand had become one of his favorites races since competed here in 2002.
5) "The lush green backdrop to the stages is magnificent," he said. "The stages are fast and technically demanding, but the cars don't suffer. From the driving point of view, it's certainly one of my favorite events."
6) As championship leader, Loeb will start first on Friday's stages, a possible disadvantage because of the loose gravel which is swept from the road by the earliest starters.
7) "How big a handicap that turns out to be will depend on how damp the conditions are," Loeb said. "There are quite a few stages that we will only contest once, so we potentially stand to lose quite a lot of time. That said, the fact that we will be first on the road on day one means that we are on top in the championship, and we intend to do all we can to defend that lead."
8) The Rally of New Zealand offers Ford and Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland a chance to regain the lead in the manufacturers' and drivers' championships, conceded to Loeb and Citroen in the last round at Germany.
9) Hirvonen trails Loeb by four points on drivers' standings after 10 rallies and Ford trails Citroen by eight points on manufacturers' standings.
10) Hirvonen said the New Zealand rally should suit Ford's all-Finnish team.
11) "The roads in New Zealand have a good rhythm to them and they are so smooth that there's no need to worry about damaging the car on rocks," Hirvonen said.
12) "The engine improvements on the new car that we debuted in Germany have made a difference," he added. "The tight regulations mean it's not possible to make big steps forward, but the engine response has definitely improved. Everything happens a little faster than it did so I hope that will benefit us in New Zealand also."


Loeb wins Rally New Zealand, extends WRC lead
(APW_ENG_20080831.0156)
1) World champion Sebastien Loeb took advantage of Mikko Hirvonen's spin on the second-to-last stage to win Rally New Zealand by 17.5 seconds Sunday, doubling his lead over the Finn in the World Rally Championship.
2) The win was Loeb's 42nd in WRC rallies, his third in succession after victories in Finland and Germany and his second in New Zealand, where he was last successful in 2005.
3) He came into the rally with a four point lead over Hirvonen in the drivers' standings and has now moved eight points clear, with 86 points to Hirvonen's 78. His one-two finish with teammate Dani Sordo of Spain also tightened Citroen's grip on the manufacturers' championship.
4) Loeb's winning chances looked at an end when he spun on the opening stage of the day, as he entered the penultimate state 15.3 seconds off the lead, trailing Ford's Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala and Sordo.
5) The Frenchman was faced with having to make up half-a-second per kilometer, but circumstances soon turned in his favor around the dense coastal bush of the Whaanga Coast stage.
6) Latvala was first on the road and worked to sweep the road's thick gravel coating to improve traction for Hirvonen whose Ford Focus immediately followed his own. But he spun twice early in the stage, damaging his car too badly to continue. Then Hirvonen also spun and was forced to nurse his damaged car to the finish.
7) Loeb had some anxious moments on the slick corners of the stage but guided his car safely to the finish to take a commanding lead going into the final stage.
8) "This morning I had the spin and just wasn't able to make up the gap to Mikko. I thought it was over and we' lost the chance," Loeb said.
9) "But then it all changed and we were leading again. But this was really a difficult rally, changing all the time, with some strategy coming in too.
10) "I needed to win for sure and that's very nice but I'm not happy for what happened to Mikko because he was doing really well and it was a good battle. But okay, it's a race and these things happen sometimes."
11) There was nothing Hirvonen could do on the last stage, from third place and 41 seconds behind Loeb, to retrieve the lead he had held for much of the rally's three days.
12) "I was really confident before Whaanga Coast that we were going to win this rally but what could we do?" Hirvonen said.
13) "We had a slow puncture that dropped us to third.
14) "That's how it is now. I'm not going to let this knock my confidence. I know we can win rallies. The season isn't over yet so we just have to go flat out again on the next rallies."
15) The close finish was reminiscent of last year's New Zealand rally which was decided on the final stage and in which Loeb was beaten by 0.3 seconds by Marcus Gronholm -- the slimmest winning margin in WRC history.
16) Loeb declared before the Whaanga Coast stage that it was "impossible to get the victory". His chances had seemed to dissolve on the opening stage of the day when he spun, finished 12th and dropped 17.7 seconds off the lead.
17) "It was a long, long left and I went in the wrong camber," Loeb said.
18) "When I pushed, the car was spinning, spinning, spinning, and I couldn't stop it. I lost a lot of time."
19) Sordo ended the rally in second place, 17.5 seconds behind Loeb, while Hirvonen was third, 41.5 seconds down and Petter Solberg of Norway fourth in a Subaru.


Loeb takes lead at Tour of Corsica
(APW_ENG_20081010.1362)
1) Sebastien Loeb of France swept all six stages on the first day of the Tour of Corsica on Friday.
2) The Citroen driver took a 32.3-second lead over Mikko Hirvonen into Saturday's second day. The Finn took over second place after Dani Sordo struck a wall in the third stage and broke the left-front suspension of his car. Ford driver Francois Duval is third.
3) "There's nothing much I could do," Hirvonen said. "I've had a good day, I'm happy with the car and my driving. It's just not enough to get him."
4) Sordo is expected to restart Saturday under course rules.
5) Loeb won the Catalunya Rally on Sunday to move closer to securing a record fifth world championship. He has won nine of 12 races this season, and leads the drivers' standings with 96 points -- 12 more than Hirvonen.


Rally Japan Results
(APW_ENG_20081101.0310)
1) Results Saturday from the Rally Japan, after 20 of 29 special stages (with driver, country, manufacturer and time):
2) 1. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, Ford, 2 hours, 21 minutes, 31.8 seconds.
3) 2. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, 15.5 seconds behind.
4) 3. Sebastien Loeb, France, Citroen, 53.5.
5) 4. Chris Atkinson, Australia, Subaru, 2:26.0.
6) 5. Matthew Wilson, Britain, Ford, 4:31.6.
7) 6. Toni Gardemeister, Finland, Suzuki, 4:38.5.
8) 7. Per-Gunnar Andersson, Sweden, Suzuki, 5:11.8.
9) 8. Federico Villagra, Argentina, Ford, 9:59.6.
10) 9. Jari Ketomaa, Finland, Subaru, 11:46.4.
11) 10. Evgeny Novikov, Russia, Mitsubishi, 12:29.5.


Loeb takes record fifth WRC title
(APW_ENG_20081102.0192)
1) Sebastien Loeb of France finished third in Rally Japan on Sunday to clinch a record fifth World Rally Championship title as Mikko Hirvonen of Finland took out the race.
2) Loeb, who has won five straight races and 10 overall this season, was 2:30.6 off the lead driving a Citroen but it was good enough for his fifth consecutive title, becoming the first man to claim five WRC crowns.
3) Loeb and partner Daniel Elena spun out on the penultimate stage but recovered to finish in the same spot they started going into the final leg.
4) "It's perfect, I'm so relieved," said Loeb. "Last year Daniel and I equaled the record with four wins, so being the only ones to do five, we are very happy."
5) Hirvonen, driving a Ford, won two of the final four special stages to finish 31.1 seconds ahead of compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala.
6) "That's it, it's over," said Hirvonen, who won this race last year. "But OK, he won 10 events before coming here so he deserves it. I did all I could. Now we need to try again next year."
7) Finland's Tommi Makinen won four straight championships from 1996-1999, while his compatriot Juha Kankkunen also won four titles between 1986 and 1993.
8) The Rally Japan is the 14th of 15 races in the World Rally Championship.


Loeb takes day 1 lead in Norway
(APW_ENG_20090213.1149)
1) Five-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb held a 2.6-second edge over Mikko Hirvonen after the first nine special stages of the Rally Norway on Friday.
2) The Frenchman, who won the world rally championship opener in Wales last month, had a total time of 1 hour, 13 minutes, 41.7 seconds.
3) Jari-Matti Latvala, Hirvonen's Finnish countryman and Ford Focus teammate, was 26.2 seconds behind in third place.
4) Loeb was happy to be in the lead, having predicted that his Citroen would struggle on the snowy and icy roads.
5) "I'm quite happy to be in this position," he said during a service stop. "I was thinking Mikko might be far ahead. The car is working well."
6) Hirvonen won the rally in 2007, the last time Norway hosted a world championship event.
7) Dani Sordo, Loeb's Spanish Citroen teammate, was 1:08.6 back in fourth place. Petter Solberg, the 2004 world rally champion from Norway, was fifth in another Citroen, 1:31.5 back.
8) The rally continues Saturday with eight stages between the two 1994 Winter Olympic cities of Hamar and Lillehammer.
9) The event consists of 23 special stages and ends Sunday.


Loeb takes day 1 lead in Cyprus
(APW_ENG_20090313.0797)
1) Five-time defending world champion Sebastien Loeb held a 41.8-second lead over Citroen teammate Dani Sordo after dominating the first six special stages of the Cyprus Rally on Friday.
2) The Frenchman, who is on track to win his third straight event of the season and a record 50th overall -- 20 more than his nearest rival -- had a total time of 1 hour, 37 minutes, 46.3 seconds.
3) Mikko Hirvonen of Finland was 1 minute, 0.2 seconds behind in third place in his Ford Focus RS.
4) Loeb, who won this event in 2004, '05 and '06, won five of the six special stages, with drivers tackling the asphalt portion of the mixed-surface rally and encountered plenty of trouble negotiating the twisty mountain tracks on gravel tires. Afternoon rain showers in the mountains made for even trickier driving.
5) The event has one day of asphalt competition followed by two days of driving on loose gravel, but regulations forced drivers to use gravel tires for all stages.
6) Henning Solberg had to drop out when his Ford collided with a pickup truck on the road section between the service park and the first special stage. Solberg's team said the driver was "99 percent sure" he would rejoin the event on Saturday, but he will have a 30-minute penalty for missing Friday's stages.
7) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland was 1:08.3 back in fourth place. Petter Solberg, the 2004 world rally champion from Norway, was fifth in a Citroen Xsara, 2:27.1 back.
8) The rally continues Saturday with five special stages across the southwestern Troodos mountain range.
9) The event consists of 14 special stages totaling 332 kilometers (206 miles) and ends Sunday.


Loeb wins Cyprus Rally
(APW_ENG_20090315.0319)
1) Defending world champion Sebastien Loeb of France held off Mikko Hirvonen of Finland on Sunday to win the Cyprus Rally for his third straight victory of the season.
2) The five-time champion's 27.2-second win lifted his career victory tally to a record 50 races -- 20 more than his nearest rival.
3) Loeb covered the 14 special stages in 4 hours, 50 minutes, 34.7 seconds to move to 30 points in the overall standings, eight ahead of Hirvonen.
4) Daniel Sordo, Loeb's Spanish teammate with Citroen, remained third overall with 17 points after finishing fourth in Cyprus.
5) Muddy gravel tracks snaking across the Troodos mountain range again challenged drivers, as a cautious Loeb pushed his Citroen C4 hard enough in event's final three stages to protect a lead accumulated over the previous two days.
6) "It's incredible," Loeb said of his 50th win. "It's like a dream. I'm very happy with what I've achieved, but I'm not finished yet. Next, I'm going for 51."
7) Hirvonen tried hard to make up the difference on Loeb, driving his Ford Focus to wins in two of the three stages.
8) "If it was drier, the result might have been different, but that's how it is," said Hirvonen. "We were faster today, though, hopefully we can take that speed to Portugal."
9) Petter Solberg, the 2004 world rally champion from Norway, did well in his 2001-built Citroen Xsara to claim third place after leapfrogging Sordo in the event's next-to-last stage.
10) "I was so pleased with our stage win in Norway, but this is even more amazing," Solberg said. "I know this is an old car and maybe Citroen would like to finish ahead, but they should be proud about how good the Xsara still is."
11) Sebastien Ogier of France, who was in sixth place at the end of day two, retired with mechanical problems just short of the finish line.
12) Evgeny Novikov of Russia also retired when he went off the road and slid into a ditch during Sunday's first special stage. He had been in seventh place.
13) Matthew Wilson of Britain clinched fifth place in his Ford Focus by winning the final stage in the same time as Jari-Matti Latvalla of Finland.


Hirvonen leads by 15 seconds in Portugal Rally
(APW_ENG_20090403.1079)
1) Mikko Hirvonen of Finland took the lead in the Portugal Rally despite winning just one of six stages Friday.
2) The Ford driver, third overnight, won the fourth stage on the dry dirt roads of southern Portugal. He finished in an overall time of 1 hour, 24 minutes, 12.6 seconds, opening a 15-second advantage over Daniel Sordo of Spain after two days of the race.
3) World championship leader Sebastien Loeb of France was third, 18 seconds behind Hirvonen. Marcus Gronholm, racing for the first time since he retired in 2007, was almost 26 seconds back in fourth place.
4) Jari-Matti Latvalla set the early pace, winning the day's first two stages, but he hit a wall in the third to drop out of the race.
5) The race finishes Sunday.


Loeb sweeps 6 stages to lead Portugal Rally
(APW_ENG_20090404.0660)
1) Sebastien Loeb won all six stages of the Portugal Rally on Saturday to take a 26.8-second lead into the final day.
2) Loeb, who started the day in third place, still faces five stages on Sunday as he tries to continue his perfect start to the season with a fourth straight win.
3) "I did all I could to increase my lead. The road-cleaning effect was inconsistent, with some stages cleaning more than others, but the most important thing is we have a good lead for tomorrow," the Frenchman said. "Overall I couldn't have hoped for better."
4) Ford's Mikko Hirvonen, who led going into Saturday, was less than 10 seconds behind before Loeb increased his lead over the final two stages.
5) "I did all I can on this stage but my tires are finished," the Finnish driver said. "Tomorrow is a long day and I will have a cleaner road position than Sebastien. As long as I don't have any problems with dust in the air, or anything like that there's still a chance of catching him."
6) Loeb's Citroen teammate Dani Sordo of Spain is third, while Citroen's Petter Solberg and Ford's Matthew Wilson rounded out the top five.


Sordo leads Rally Argentina after day 1
(APW_ENG_20090424.1409)
1) Dani Sordo of Spain finished in front of the Rally Argentina after a closely contested first nine stages in which the lead changed eight times on Friday.
2) Sordo's Citroen led Mikko Hirvonen's Ford by a little over five seconds, and less than 19 seconds separated the top four drivers.
3) After 142 kilometers (88 miles) worth of stages, world champion and series leader Sebastien Loeb of France was third and Petter Solberg of Norway fourth.
4) Countryman Henning Solberg was fifth, and Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, who contended with a puncture and overheated engine in his Ford, was still only 66 seconds behind.


Latvala, Hirvonen lead Ford 1-2 in Sardinia rally
(APW_ENG_20090522.0983)
1) Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen secured the top two places in Friday's opening day of the Rally of Sardinia.
2) Latvala finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes, 15 seconds after six stages. Hirvonen was 39 seconds back.
3) Citroen occupied the next three places with Sebastien Loeb third, Petter Solberg fourth and Evgeny Novikov in fifth.
4) Despite leading, Ford was not overly happy at the end of the day after Loeb's tactics.
5) "It's not going to be an easy situation tomorrow," Latvala said. "But the road hasn't been cleaning as much as we thought it might today. All I can do is keep a clear head and try to stay cool."
6) The five-time champion slowed just before the finish to allow Hirvonen to pass to give himself the best start position for Saturday's stages, leaving the Ford pair with the worst available.
7) "I seriously messed up. I couldn't have got it any more wrong," Hirvonen said. "This is a completely my fault. I can't believe Sebastien slowed so much. I made a massive mistake."


Latvala, Hirvonen hold Ford 1-2 in Sardinia rally
(APW_ENG_20090523.0558)
1) Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen held the top two places in the Rally of Sardinia for a second successive day Saturday.
2) Latvala finished first in a time of 2 hours, 58 minutes and 3 seconds, 9.9 seconds ahead of Hirvonen.
3) The Finn survived a scare on the penultimate stage when he spun, but he recovered to finish the day in the lead.
4) "On the last stage my tires were finished," Latvala said. "It won't be easy tomorrow because I expect Mikko will push and I've lost a little bit too much today.
5) "Overall though it's been a good day. We had a really, really tough battle in stage 11 and I made a little mistake when I spun on a junction. But that's the only mistake I've made."
6) Defending world champion and World Rally leader Sebastien Loeb slipped farther behind, finishing fourth behind Petter Solberg in third.
7) The French Citroen driver had a puncture during the 11th stage and lost a minute whilst the tire was replaced.
8) "Now I'll try to catch third, it's the only thing I can do," he said. "This rally has been a difficult one from the start. It hasn't gone as we wanted it to and we had some bad luck.
9) "Our tactics yesterday were good, but with the puncture today this is all we can do."


Latvala wins Rally of Sardinia in Ford 1-2
(APW_ENG_20090524.0385)
1) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland won the Rally of Sardinia on Sunday for his second career victory.
2) Latvala, who won in Sweden in 2008, was first over all three days at the Rally of Sardinia to lead a Ford 1-2 with Mikko Hirvonen of Finland. Latvala finished in 4 hours and 55.7 seconds to beat Hirvonen by 29.4 seconds.
3) "It is a great thing for me to win this rally and also for the team with a 1-2," Latvala said. "It has been unbelievable, but I've been lucky too. I've made mistakes earlier this year, so this win has come at a very important time."
4) The result means Ford takes the maximum 18 points in the constructors' championship.
5) "We had a good rally with a really good fight," Hirvonen said. "Jari-Matti definitely deserves this result, so that's fine."
6) Petter Solberg of Citroen finished third in 4:02:53.
7) "My car was overheating again towards the end, and in these temperatures this is the best I could do," Solberg said. "Overall, it's been an excellent rally. The team have been great and we've shown consistency."
8) Defending world champion and current World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb originally finished third but was demoted to fourth after his co-driver Daniel Elena broke a safety belt rule by unbuckling for a tire change before the car had come to a complete stop.
9) The result snaps the Loeb's world record run of six consecutive rally victories.


Hirvonen leads after 1st day of Acropolis Rally
(APW_ENG_20090612.1063)
1) Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen slipped into the lead Friday on the first day of the Acropolis Rally after fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala went off the road in the final stage.
2) Latvala had led throughout the day after winning the first stage, but lost time in the final race and dropped to 11th place.
3) "In a fast left corner we went too fast, and right after that there was a hairpin, so we went off road," Latvala said. "We had to get out of the car and push it and we lost a lot of time."
4) Hirvonen ended the day just 3 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo of Spain, with Frenchman Sebastien Loeb in third place, 21.1 seconds behind.
5) Sordo and Loeb led the charge for Citroen, which took five of the top six positions Friday.
6) Loeb leads the standings after winning the first five rallies on the world circuit this year and finishing fourth in the previous Rally of Sardina. Hirvonen and Sordo are second and third in the standings.
7) The Acropolis Rally ends Sunday.


Mikko Hirvonen of Finland wins Acropolis Rally
(APW_ENG_20090614.0375)
1) Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen of Finland won the Acropolis Rally on Sunday by avoiding the mishaps that hit his rivals.
2) Hirvonen finished in 4 hours, 9 minutes, 42.5 seconds to record his first win of the season, beating Citroen's Sebastien Ogier of France by 1 minute, 12.9 seconds. Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland took third in 4:11:27.5.
3) That allowed Hirvonen to close the gap to seven points behind World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb of France. Loeb, who crashed Saturday but was unhurt, has 55 points after seven rounds. Hirvonen has 48. There are five more races.
4) "I drove cleverly; no punctures, no mistakes -- it was fantastic," Hirvonen said. "If you get through this difficult rally like this, you are the winner. We are back in the fight (for the championship)."
5) Hirvonen, who had an overnight lead of 1 minute 40.1 seconds from Citroen's Sebastien Ogier, finished between seventh and ninth place in all of Sunday's four stages.
6) Ogier hit a cow in Sunday's second -- and 14th overall -- stage, damaging his car's right front corner and crumpling the bonnet.
7) "There were three cows about two kilometers from the start and we hit one of them," Ogier said after the stage.
8) Latvala failed to take advantage of Ogier's mishap when his car had trouble starting in the same stage. However, Latvala was happy to finish third. He has 25 points to be fourth in the overall standings, six behind Citroen's Dani Sordo of Spain.
9) "It was a very good result, we scored points for the team," Latvala said. "We will have a better chance now in the championship."
10) Sordo, who broke his suspension Saturday, finished 12th.
11) Citroen's Evgeny Novikov had transmission problems Sunday and dropped from fourth place overnight to 16th.
12) The 16th stage -- the rally's penultimate -- was canceled because the large crowd gathered at its start posed safety problems.


Hirvonen closes on victory in Finland
(APW_ENG_20090801.0473)
1) Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen of Finland opened a 32-second lead during Saturday's nine stages of Rally Finland.
2) His main rival, five-time champion Sebastien Loeb of France, damaged a wheel and a tire when he hit a pot-hole on the day's fifth stage, losing 13.5 seconds to Hirvonen.
3) "The fight is over," Loeb said. "We don't catch Mikko (when) he drives that fast, we have to be content with second place".
4) Hirvonen won the first four stages with Loeb as runner-up.
5) Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala won three stages and overtook Spaniard Daniel Sordo for third to take a 10.5 second lead in the race for a podium place.
6) Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn who normally drives for Ferrari in Formula One, lost control during the last stage and rolled his privately entered car twice. Raikkonen and his co-driver Kaj Lindstrom escaped unhurt.
7) Competing while F1 takes a month-long break, Raikkonen, the 2007 F1 world champion, held third place in the N Group class when he was forced to retire.
8) Four stages covering 47.44 kilometers will be held on Sunday.
9) Hirvonen leads the drivers' championship with 58 points from Loeb, who is on 57, after eight events. Sordo is third with 39 points.


Hirvonen, Loeb continue battle in Rally Australia
(APW_ENG_20090902.0240)
1) Win or lose, Finland's Mikko Hirvonen knows he needs to leave Australia with as many points as possible if he is to hold his lead in the World Rally Championship and maintain his challenge for Sebastien Loeb's title.
2) Ford driver Hirvonen leads Frenchman Loeb's Citroen by just three points -- 68-65 -- with three rounds remaining heading into Thursday's start of Rally Australia, run for the first time on the roads and through the forests on the far north coast of New South Wales state.
3) Spaniard Dani Sordo is a distant third on 44 points in the standings.
4) "It's a crucial rally for the championship," Hirvonen said. "I will try to win but if I can't, then I must score as many points as possible. Zero points and the title fight could be over for me this year."
5) Hirvonen has seized the initiative from Loeb in the 12-race championship, winning the past three rallies in Greece, Poland and his home round of Finland.
6) "I have a good record on new rallies, although I don't feel I do anything differently ... and I'll be happy if I can maintain that record," Hirvonen said.
7) Five-time world champion Loeb dominated the early part of the season, winning the first five rallies. But he has only picked up 15 points since then, including a second-place finish in Finland.
8) "Our goal is to win, or at least finish ahead of Mikko," Loeb, the 2004 Rally Australia winner, said of his weekend aspirations.
9) "As the situation stands, the way the championship finishes is in my hands," he said. "If I win the last three rallies, I will be the world champion. My mission will become somewhat more complex ... if Mikko beats me just once."
10) Drivers in the rally will face hard-packed gravel stages around the rural communities of Kyogle, Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby just south of the Queensland state border.
11) "This weekend's event promises to be extremely close because Mikko is particularly strong on fast gravel, especially when the stages are new to everyone," Loeb said. "The way recce (reconnoiter - scouting the course) goes will be vital, not only in terms of the precision of our pacenotes but also regarding the quality of the information we are able to provide the team in order to decide on the best set up for the start."
12) Hirvonen claimed his first WRC win in Australia in 2006, but the 29-year-old acknowledges that will count for nothing on new roads.
13) "This is a brand new rally so I don't know what to expect," he said. "The roads in the west (Western Australia) where I won in 2006 are different to those we will experience here. The tracks were covered in slippery marble-like stones, but I understand these roads are more traditional gravel, which should suit me."


Protesters stop Rally Australia on 1st full day
(APW_ENG_20090904.0112)
1) Rock-throwing protesters halted the first full day of Rally Australia on Friday, forcing drivers to pull up at the end of the fifth stage.
2) While officials at the World Rally Championship event tried to clear the road for the sixth stage, competitors also said they were confused after encountering people in the middle of the road waving yellow flags, unsure if they were officials or protesters.
3) The "No Rally" and Peacebus groups had staged a campaign leading up to Rally Australia, condemning the event for disrupting the environment in the hinterland site and frightening wildlife.
4) One local government official unsuccessfully attempted to get a court injunction last week to stop the rally, which is being held in this part of Australia for the first time. The last Rally Australia was held in 2006 in Western Australia state.
5) Organizers were considering skipping the sixth stage Friday and moving onto the seventh to try to circumvent problems.
6) Five-time world champion Sebastien Loeb said he felt "sorry sometimes to be here but I have to."
7) "Some people don't like us in front of their house but I didn't ask to come here. I can understand why some people don't like the rally but I have to do my job," Loeb said.
8) Meanwhile, Jari-Matti Latvala in a Ford Focus was the early overall leader after five stages, with a 1.2-second advantage over the Citroen of Sebastien Ogier.
9) Loeb's Citroen was running third, one spot ahead of Mikko Hirvonen of Finland, who leads Loeb in the overall WRC season standings by three points with two races to go after Australia.
10) "I am not sure what is wrong with my car, it is not right," Loeb said. "It is not a good feeling with the car."


Rally Australia Results
(APW_ENG_20090906.0366)
1) Leading results Sunday after the final day of the three-day Rally Australia, 10th event on the World Rally Championship. Revised after a one-minute penalty was handed to Citroen drivers Sebastien Loeb, Dani Sodro and Sebastien Ogier for a technical infringement, resulting in Hirvonen being named the winner.
2) 1. Mikko Hirvonen, Finland, Ford, 2 hours, 53 minutes, 6.5 seconds.
3) 2. Sebastien Loeb, France, Citroen, 47.5 seconds behind.
4) 3. Dani Sordo, Spain, Citroen, 1:04.6.
5) 4. Jari-Matti Latvala, Finland, Ford, 1:52.0.
6) 5. Sebastien Ogier, France, Citroen, +2:23.3.
7) 6. Matthew Wilson, Britain, Ford, +5:38.8s.
8) 7. Henning Solberg, Norway, Ford, +7:30.3s.
9) 8. Federico Villagra, Argentina, Ford +7:51.9s.
10) 9. Hayden Paddon, New Zealand, Mitsubishi, 15:48.6.
11) 10. Martin Prokop, Czech Republic, Mitsubishi, 15:57.2.


Loeb penalty hands Rally Australia win to Hirvonen
(APW_ENG_20090906.0368)
1) Mikko Hirvonen extended his World Rally Championship lead Sunday after being declared the winner of Sunday's Rally Australia when Sebastien Loeb was demoted to second place after incurring a penalty.
2) Five-time world champion Loeb was stripped of his victory because his Citroen team was given a one-minute penalty for a technical infringement.
3) Dani Sordo and Sebastien Ogier, who also drive Citroens, were likewise given one-minute penalties. Although Sordo remained in third place, Ogier ended up fifth. Ford's Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala moved up to fourth place.
4) Stewards found an irregularity in the Citroen C4s' anti-roll bars, which did not conform to FIA technical configurations.
5) The decision enabled Hirvonen to claim his fourth victory of the season and extend his lead over Loeb in the drivers' championship to five points with only the Spanish and British rounds remaining.
6) Loeb, who initially won the rally by 12.5 seconds, has not triumphed since Argentina in April. Hirvonen, meanwhile, is on course to become the first driver to deny the Frenchman a world championship title since Petter Solberg won in 2003.


Loeb leads Hirvonen on day one of Wales Rally
(APW_ENG_20091023.0850)
1) World champion Sebastien Loeb leads title rival Mikko Hirvonen by 5.3 seconds at the end of a hard-fought first day of the season-ending Wales Rally.
2) The Frenchman led Hirvonen by 8.9 seconds after winning the first three of Friday's six stages in fog and rain before his rival reclaimed 4.9 seconds with victory in the fourth.
3) The pair then won another stage each.
4) Loeb says "it's a really exciting fight. The important thing is I'm in front for the moment, we'll see what we can do tomorrow."
5) Loeb, who is aiming for a sixth straight title, trails the Finnish driver by one point in the standings.


Loeb wins Wales Rally to capture 6th world title
(APW_ENG_20091025.0454)
1) Sebastien Loeb captured his sixth world title on Sunday by winning the Wales Rally, the final race of the season.
2) Although Mikko Hirvonen led by one point going into the race, the Frenchman finished the season one point ahead of the Finn after opening up a big lead on Friday in his Citroen and going into the final day 30 seconds in front. Hirvonen, driving a Ford Focus, finished second on the day, 1 minute and six seconds behind.
3) In the standings, Loeb finished with 93 points, Hirvonen had 92 and Dani Sordo of Spain, at the wheel of a Citroen, was third with 64.
4) "It's been an incredible season," Loeb said after his seventh victory in 12 races this year and 54th overall. "We made a good start (to the season) then we lost everything and we came here one point behind Mikko. Finally we've done it and I'm really happy but Mikko has been extremely strong. I know it will be tough next year for sure.
5) "This has been one of my best title wins; the battle was so intense - going almost until the end of the last rally. It was incredible. We have had some highs and some lows this year but we finished with the victory. It's an incredible feeling."
6) Hirvonen's slim chance of catching Loeb virtually ended on the next to last stage when his hood flew up after a pin broke.
7) "Well, the bonnet pin was the last of our problems but I really lost the rally yesterday when I couldn't find the speed on those two stages," Hirvonen said.
8) "Now I need to go back to work and find more speed for next year. It was definitely the best year I've ever had, though. We're really close now to his speed and that feels good. It's been a great year, but of course a big disappointment at the end."


Sebastien Loeb of France wins Mexico Rally
(APW_ENG_20100307.0778)
1) Sebastien Loeb of France won the Mexico Rally on Sunday, his fourth victory in the race.
2) Loeb finished ahead of Petter Solberg of Norway and Sebastine Ogier, also from France. All three were driving Citroens.
3) The victory for the six-time defending series champion gives him a six-point lead at the top of the drivers standing ahead of Mikko Hirvonen. Hirvonen finished fourth on Sunday and Jari-Matti Latvala was fifth. Both of them were driving Fords.


Latvala leads after first day of Jordan Rally
(APW_ENG_20100401.0777)
1) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland powered into the lead on the first day of the Jordan Rally.
2) Latvala won three of the day's seven stages in the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship to take a commanding 30.2-second advantage into day two.
3) The Ford driver finished Thursday in a total time of one hour, 11 minutes, 31.5 seconds, with Citroen's Sebastien Ogier in second place.
4) Defending world champion Sebastien Loeb of France struggled in the opening six stages but won the seventh -- Mount Nebo 2 -- to go third overall in 1:12:03.3.
5) "I tried to push on in the last stage to get some time back, but I was relying on what the others did to determine my starting position for Friday," Loeb said.
6) Norway's Petter Solberg and Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, the winner of the Jordan Rally in 2008, completed the top five.
7) Poland's Michal Kosciuszko led the FIA Super 2000 WRC in his Skoda Fabia S2000 until the final stage, when his demise left Bernardo Sousa's Ford Fiesta S2000 in front.
8) Sweden's Patrik Flodin was the early pacesetter in the FIA Production World Rally Championship after a battle with Martin Semerad and defending champion Armindo Araujo.
9) Thursday's route took in seven special stages over around 96 kilometers that most drivers labeled as "very slippery."
10) Friday crews will tackle six special stages and a total of 138.28 kilometers, but two of those runs are through the harsh 41.45km Jordan River stage.


Loeb takes lead on day 2 of Rally of Turkey
(APW_ENG_20100417.0519)
1) Sebastien Loeb of France took the lead on day two of the Turkish Rally by winning three of Saturday's eight stages.
2) Loeb rose from fifth place to finish the day in his Citroen 16.2 seconds ahead of Norway's Petter Solberg. Mikko Hirvonen of Finland was a further 1.1 seconds back in third.
3) Dani Sordo of Spain, Sebastien Ogier of France and former Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen were next.
4) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland hit a bank and crashed his Ford into a ditch, telling Anatolia news agency that "the spectators helped us get the car back on track" but losing nine minutes to drop to 12th position from sixth.
5) The Rally of Turkey, the fourth event of the FIA World Rally Championship, ends Sunday.


Latvala wins Rally of New Zealand
(APW_ENG_20100509.0049)
1) Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala, driving a Ford Focus, came from behind on the final stage to win the Rally of New Zealand on Sunday, edging overnight leader Sebastien Ogier of France by 2.4 seconds.
2) World championship leader Sebastien Loeb of France continued an astonishing comeback to lead the rally after the first of four stages on the final day but swiped a bank on the next stage and finished third, 15.2 seconds behind Latvala.
3) The error ended Loeb's run of three straight rally wins, though he retained overall lead in the world drivers' championship, 36 points ahead of Latvala.
4) The Rally of New Zealand is the fifth round of the world championship.


Ogier leads Rally of Portugal, Sordo in 2nd
(APW_ENG_20100528.1014)
1) Sebastien Ogier of France won four of the six stages to open a 26-second lead in the Rally of Portugal on the first day Friday.
2) The Frenchman drove aggressively to overtake fellow Citroen driver Dani Sordo, who led after the first two stages on the dry, gravel roads of southern Portugal.
3) Sordo complained that the throttle on his C4 was sticking.
4) Ogier was poised for his first victory this month when he led the Rally of New Zealand but was edged by Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala on the final stage.
5) World Rally Championship leader Sebastian Loeb, looking for his 58th career victory, improved over the day from fifth to third and stood almost 45 seconds behind Ogier.
6) Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen was two seconds behind Loeb in fourth. Citroen's Petter Solberg, who finished with a shredded right rear tire, was fifth, almost 50 seconds off the lead.


Norway ' s Petter Solberg wins first stage
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1) Norway's Petter Solberg has taken the first stage of the Rally Finland ahead of Finland's Mikko Hirvonen and six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb of France.
2) Solberg, the 2003 world champion, covered an uphill stretch of 4.19 kilometers, on both asphalt and gravel, in two minutes, 33.2 seconds, one second ahead of Hirvonen and 1.6 faster than Loeb, who tied with Jati Latvala of Finland.
3) They were followed by Norway's Henning Solberg, Frenchman Sebastien Ogier and Spain's Daniel Sordo.
4) Citroen driver Loeb leads the championship standings on 151 points, ahead of second-place Ogier on 100.
5) The drivers will negotiate a total of 310 kilometers on the famously fast gravel roads in three days.


Latvala leads Finnish rally going into last day
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1) Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland held a 9.1-second lead Friday over Norway's Petter Solberg in the Rally Finland going into the final day.
2) Latvala took over the lead from Solberg on the seventh stage, after front-runner Mikko Hirvonen of Finland suffered a spectacular crash on the fourth leg.
3) Hirvonen held a 5-second lead when he crashed at a speed of 140 kph (87 mph), rolling his car five times but escaping unhurt.
4) "The dream is over and it's just disappointing, but at least we were on the pace before it happened," said Hirvonen, Latvala's teammate at Ford.
5) Defending world champion and overall leader Sebastian Loeb is fourth behind Citroen teammate and fellow Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, 32 seconds behind Latvala.
6) Behind the leaders, former Finnish great Juha Kankkunen -- a four-time rally world champion who is making a one-race comeback -- was more than three minutes back in seventh place. The 51-year-old Kankkunen was 7.5 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, the Finnish former Formula One champion who is competing in his first season on the rally circuit.
7) The rally, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, ends with another eight stages on Saturday.


Loeb wins 7th straight rally world title
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1) Sebastien Loeb clinched a record seventh straight world championship title after winning the Rally of France on Sunday.
2) The Citroen driver has an insurmountable lead in the overall standings with two rallies remaining.
3) "This is the best thing that ever happened to me in my sporting life," Loeb said after sealing his win on a stage in his Haguenau hometown. "I could never have imagined racing here and winning."
4) The Rally of France was held on the island of Corsica for 35 years before moving to the Alsace region in northeastern France this year.
5) "It's unbelievable to become world champion at home, in front of all those people," said Loeb, who claimed a record career 60th rally win and now has three more world titles than Finnish drivers Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen.
6) On treacherous and muddy roads, Loeb dominated from the start and finished 35.7 seconds ahead of his Citroen teammate Dani Sordo.
7) Loeb's hopes of winning the title were boosted on Saturday after Sebastien Ogier, his closest rival in the standings at that time, broke his suspension and lost 10 minutes.
8) Sunday's penultimate special stage was canceled for safety reasons after fans packed along the roadside.
9) "This is fantastic," Loeb said. "I didn't expect so many people to be here."
10) Citroen also has an insurmountable lead in the manufacturers' championship and won the title for a sixth consecutive year.
11) "Sebastien was in imperious form and won the title for the seventh straight time, and we won it six times in a row, this is crazy," said Citroen Sport boss Olivier Quesnel.
12) Petter Solberg of Norway finished third in his private Citroen, 1:16.8 back while Ford drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen were fourth and fifth respectively.
13) "This third place is good for the championship and I think I will be dangerous in Spain," Solberg said.
14) The Rally of Spain will be held from Oct. 22-24 before the last race of the season next month in Wales.


Loeb starts 6th straight Catalunya win with lead
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1) Fresh from securing a record seventh successive world rally championship, Sebastien Loeb's bid for a sixth straight Catalunya Rally win started well as the Frenchman took a 3.8-second lead after the first day.
2) Loeb won three of six stages on the 126-kilometer (78-mile) course, and finished Friday in a combined 1 hour, 25 minutes, 26.8 seconds.
3) Sebastien Oger was next for Citroen followed by Jari-Matti Latvala of Ford, who was 19.9 seconds adrift in the mixed surface event.
4) Kimi Raikkonen did not race after rolling his Citroen beyond repair during the shakedown on Thursday.
5) Racing continues on Saturday with six more stages over 126 kilometers.
6) Loeb clinched the season title at the last race in France. There remains only the Rally of Wales after Spain.


Loeb takes 1st-day lead at Wales Rally GB
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1) Sebastien Loeb took a narrow lead after the first day of the season-ending Wales Rally GB.
2) Loeb has already been crowned world champion for a seventh time and looks to finish the season on a high after taking a 1.8 second lead over Petter Solberg of Norway.
3) The Frenchman navigated the wet conditions to win four of Friday's seven stages for an overall time of 1 hour, 15 minutes, 36.4 seconds.
4) Sebastian Ogier of France was 3.6 seconds back in third, with Mikko Hirvonen of Finland in fourth, 42.2 seconds behind.
5) The race ends Sunday.


Loeb claims 3rd straight Wales Rally GB title
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1) World champion Sebastien Loeb won his third straight Wales Rally GB title Sunday by finishing 19.1 seconds ahead of Petter Solberg in the season's final event.
2) The French driver, who was already assured of a seventh world title, began the day with a lead of 4.8 seconds over his Norwegian rival and extended his advantage in all four stages Sunday to claim his 62nd career win and eighth this season.
3) Citroen driver Loeb says "it was definitely the longest battle I've had this season."
4) Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala came third in the stage to snatch second place overall, two points ahead of Solberg, and teammate Mikko Hirvonen was fourth.