Sébastien Loeb got hot

Traditionally, approaching the third stage of a rally of the World Championship with 30 seconds in advance is a rather comfortable situation. Bad feeling or not, Sébastien Loeb insists, however, that he must continue to attack to protect himself from a return from Mikko Hirvonen. He doesn't think he's saying that well.

This final day of racing consists of four stages in a row without assistance. Two kilometers after the start of the first stage, the Alsatian felt something abnormal in the engine. If he only concedes a few tenths to his rival, the Citroën driver is worried.

Guided by telephone, the C4 crew WRC n°1 carries out the usual checks under the hood. The diagnosis did not take long to come: problem with “fresh air”, a device optimizing the operation of the turbo. This system is particularly useful on winding sections. However, the following special, Rheola, is full of pins. Loeb drops half a second per kilometer, his lead shrinks to 18??.

Obviously, the Citroën clan carefully hides this bad news from its adversaries. The calculation is easy to do, these 18 seconds may not be enough to resist Hirvonen. To questions from journalists, Loeb simply replied that he was too assertive. But at Ford, it didn?t take long to understand that there might still be a chance to play.

It is in the second passage of Port Talbot that the race will definitely be decided. Hirvonen leaves with the knife between his teeth, while Loeb does his best with a machine that is not in the best shape. The Reds have their eyes glued to the screens displaying the intermediate times. In the first two splits, the two rivals for the title were evenly matched. Suddenly, the ?tracking? screen, which displays the real-time position and speed of the cars, displays dot no. 3 in blue: Hirvonen has stopped! The hood clips on the Focus WRC gave way and the Finn was forced to stop to remove the hood which was obstructing the windshield. A minute flew by, and so did the title.

We breathe a little more in the Citroën camp. However, Olivier Quesnel's men have experienced too much this season to have an early triumph. In the last special, Loeb can afford to ride on a senator's train. Meanwhile, Hirvonen and Sordo are fighting for the place of runner-up. The Finn will have the last word, a meager consolation prize. Finally, joy can break out at Citroën. The party will be even more beautiful?