WRC – Loeb: “Jari-Matti was the strongest”

Jari-Matti Latvala took his second victory at Wales Rally GB after his success in Sweden and prevents the Citroën WRT from celebrating the Manufacturers' title. Malcolm Wilson's team was even on the verge of a double with Petter Solberg but the Norwegian ultimately failed, nine tenths behind Sébastien. Loeb. The Alsatian sees his streak of five consecutive victories come to an end but the eight-time world champion remains satisfied with his podium which brings him a little closer to a ninth coronation. “I am happy to have retained second place, it is the concrete result of the progress made today. As I regularly say, nothing is ever a foregone conclusion and you have to go for victories with the force of your hand. This weekend Jari-Matti was the strongest and I want to congratulate him for his perfect race. For my part, I must be satisfied with the twenty points scored here. In view of the title, this is a good result. »

If Citroën WRT admits its defeat, the Chevron manufacturer analyzes the situation which remains very positive for the DS3 drivers WRC. The second place of Sébastien Loeb and the fifth position of Mikko Hirvonen mathematically destroys Petter Solberg's chances of victory. “We started the season with the ambition of retaining the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles”, underlines Yves Matton, director of Citroën Racing. “Thanks to the result acquired in Great Britain, there are only Seb and Mikko who can be world champions. We have therefore achieved a first goal, while getting a little closer to the second. At the same time, we do not forget that we were not the best performers this weekend. We will therefore continue to work to progress on this type of terrain. »

Discover the analysis of Wales Rally GB carried out by our special correspondent in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.