Loeb one rally away from fifth World Title

Loeb dominated his home rally, winning 14 of 16 stages, to beat rival Mikko Hirvonen by over three minutes and extend his championship lead to 14 points with two rallies to go.

Loeb, whose fourth consecutive Corsica victory means that he and Elena have already equalled their record of 10 WRC wins in a single season, said of the weekend: "Winning your home event is always something special. Our tactic this weekend was to pull gradually clear to begin with, then hopefully control from in front. We are unbeaten this year on asphalt and we have pulled further clear at the top of the championship standings. The weekend could have been worse!"

A third place finish in either of the remaining two rounds would give Loeb a record fifth world title to add to his 46 WRC career wins. The next round, in Japan, takes place on October 31-November 2.

Final leaderboard on 52nd Rally de France - Tour de Corse*
1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citron C4) 3h 42min 58.0s
2. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 3 min 24.7s
3. F. Duval/P. Pivato (Ford Focus) + 3 min 31.6s
4. JM. Latvala/M. Anttila (Ford Focus) + 3 min 37.5s
5. P. Solberg/P. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 5 min 35.4s
6. C. Atkinson/S. Prevot (Subaru Impreza) + 6 min 10.4s

FIA World Rally Championship Driver Standings after round 13 of 15*
1st S. Loeb, 106 points; 2nd M. Hirvonen, 92 pts; 3rd D. Sordo, 59 pts; 4th C. Atkinson, 45 pts; 5th JM. Latvala, 42 pts; 6th P. Solberg, 40 pts

FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturer Standings after round 13 of 15*
1st Citron-Total, 169 points; 2nd Ford, 146 points; 3rd Subaru, 87 pts; 4th Stobart, 60 pts; 5th Munchi's, 22 pts; 6th Suzuki, 21 pts.


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Credits: JRC