Loeb leaves the field open to Hirvonen

With five victories in five races, no one saw how Sébastien Loeb could escape a sixth consecutive world crown, which seemed almost promised to him at the end of the rally from Argentina. Two months later, and before the end of the Polish rally, the cards are already redistributed. Indeed, having hit the stump of a tree in SS4, Sébastien Loeb had to abandon for the day. If he hopes to leave on Saturday morning, the Frenchman's hopes of victory are dashed. Loeb will in fact be heavily penalized for the special stages not run during the day (four times five minutes). Mikko Hirvonen, passing near the driver he is chasing in the world championship, was able to see the damage on the C4: “ I saw his car on the side of the road; it?s like he had rolled over but he didn?t look bad " said Hirvonen. “ After that, I took a lot of precautions. I didn't want to make the same mistake ».

Before the start of this Polish rally, Sébastien Loeb had a seven-point lead in the general classification of the WRC, on Mikko Hirvonen. A victory for him during this eighth round, knowing that the Frenchman will, in all likelihood, not score any points this weekend, would then give him the lead in the championship. From then on, the Frenchman has one mission: bring his Citröen C4 to the finish line on Sunday to score manufacturers' points. At the same time, the Alsatian will certainly have an eye on the performance of Mikko Hirvonen, to know if, on Sunday, he will retain his seat as leader of the WRC.