Loeb: “Improve myself in Spain”

You are five points behind Mikko Hirvonen due to the penalty received at the end of the Rally from Australia. What do you think about it in hindsight?
I started Rally Australia with one goal: to be ahead of Mikko Hirvonen. He was very efficient on this field and I really had to do my best to beat him. When I was told the news a few hours after arrival, I felt great frustration. Our C4 WRC was compliant, but an administrative error in the homologation form cost us a victory acquired on the special stages. I can't blame my team because everyone can make a mistake. I did it too this year. This penalty was difficult to swallow, but in hindsight I tell myself that it would have been worse to finish behind ?Hirvo?, without having been able to compete. It came at a bad time, but it's all behind me now.

Before you is the Rally of Catalonia. You have won the last four editions, what are the secrets of this event?
You have to adopt clean, circuit-style piloting, taking the brakes to the apex, taking care and widening your trajectories? Since the rally is based in Salou, we are no longer confronted with ropes dug during the passages. As most roads have been resurfaced by adding asphalt on top of the old surface, there are high steps on which it is best to avoid placing your wheels! I really enjoy these special stages and the driving at the limit that it requires. In order to properly prepare for this event, we carried out tests in the Salou region. The C4 WRC has slightly evolved in its ?asphalt? configuration. compared to last year, and we managed to erase the small defects identified in 2008.

Two rallies to go, five points behind Mikko Hirvonen? Are you still confident in your chances of winning a sixth world crown?
I cannot be confident since I have to rely on events external to my own results. I didn't want to be in a situation of "dependency". I don't like it, but we'll have to deal with it. However, a Citroën double seems less difficult to achieve in Spain than in Sweden. If Dani or anyone else comes between Mikko and me next weekend, the counters will almost be reset to zero. We will then see in what state of mind we should approach the Rally of Great Britain. For now, my job is to establish myself in Spain.