Loeb trapped in New Zealand

Large leader of the WRC before starting this fifth event of the season, Sébastien Loeb had warned that the New Zealand meeting would be a difficult step towards a seventh world title. From the first morning, the Citroën driver had already lost any chance of winning.

Published on 07/05/2010 à 03:35

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Sébastien Loeb knew that the first day of Rally from New Zealand could turn into an ordeal. By opening the road, the Alsatian estimated that his delay could amount to one minute at the end of SS9.

Fighting against the elements, Loeb first limited the damage by finishing SS3 in sixth place, 15??6 behind the leader, his teammate Dani Sordo. But in SS4, the Citroën C4 WRC #1 encountered a bridge?

“We arrived at a right turn which closed onto a very narrow bridge,” says Seb upon his arrival at the Whangarei service. “The car slid and hit the left side. We lost time trying to close the damaged door so we could continue. I first blocked it with a strap but it wasn't enough. We were able to finish the special then we repaired on the service road. The rest of the rally promises to be more complicated from now on. We no longer have a choice, we must attack to gain as many places as possible. »

Relegated to eighth place at 1:40?? by Dani Sordo, Sébastien Loeb can eye the seventh place of Henning Solberg (-25??7), victim of a transmission problem, or even the sixth of Matthew Wilson (-1?11??3). But the top 5, as it stands, will remain inaccessible.

Dani Sordo, author of great performances in the two long stages, occupies first position with a 5??5 lead over Sébastien Ogier. Jari-Matti Latvala is at 6??5, Petter Solberg is at 9??5 and Mikko Hirvonen is at 17??7.

Five special stages are still to be completed today.