Cyprus [P] - 22-24 Sep 06

Posted: September 25, 2006 3:24 PM

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FRENCHMAN LOEB CLINCHES 28TH WRC WIN WITH VICTORY IN CYPRUS
Frenchman Sébastien Loeb continued to rewrite the history books by securing a record-breaking 28th WRC victory of his short career in the Cyprus Rally, round 12 of the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship.

Partnered by Daniel Elena, Loeb moved ahead of arch rival Marcus Grönholm, from Finland, on the 14th sinuous gravel special stage in the Troodos foothills and the Paphos valleys and eventually reached the finish with a comfortable winning margin of 21.2 seconds.

The victory ­ the Frenchman's eighth of the season - virtually assures him a third WRC title in Turkey in a few weeks time and maintains the Kronos Total Citroën Team's advantage over BP-Ford in the Manufacturers' series, albeit to a reduced advantage of just seven points, with four events still to run.

"Another great win for me," said Loeb. "It was another difficult challenge here in Cyprus and Marcus pushed me very hard for two days. Now we can hopefully go to Turkey and confirm the championship."

Grönholm was forced to play the bridesmaid once again, but collected eight valuable championship points for the Ford team and Finnish team mate Mikko Hirvonen was third overall in a second Ford Focus to add six more to the Blue Oval's points' tally.

The Finn began the day 21.8 seconds behind the Frenchman, but Loeb extended his lead to 29.1 seconds after the punishing 25.24 km of the stage between Vavatsinia to Mandra Kambiou. Grönholm clawed two seconds back in the 18th stage and 1.5 seconds in SS19 to arrive at the mid-day service in Limassol 25.6 seconds behind Loeb.

Teams then tackled a sell-out Down Town Special in the winding back streets of Limassol for the first time. The footage was beamed live across Europe and Loeb was in a class of his own, posting the fastest time of 2m 53.9s, 3.5 seconds quicker than Toni Gardemeister's Citroën Xsara. Grönholm noticeably eased his pace to conserve the runner-up spot, but Limassol special stage times did not count towards the overall results after the FIA insisted the special ran purely as entertainment value to spectators on safety grounds.

"It was a big ask to try and catch Séb today," said Grönholm. "The team decided that it was more important that we confirmed second place and collected championship points. After the first stage this morning it was time to be sensible."

Austria's Manfred Stohl finished fourth overall in his OMV-backed Peugeot, well ahead of Finland's Toni Gardemeister and sixth-placed Xavier Pons. A disgruntled Petter Solberg was eighth in the first of the factory Subarus, his brother Henning overhauling Petter on the final section of the last stage. Australia's Chris Atkinson and young Matthew Wilson completed the top 10.

Spaniard Dani Sordo looked all set to claim a crucial Manufacturers' point for the Kronos Citroën team until he ploughed into a low concrete wall on the Down Town Special stage in Limassol and retired. With SupeRally penalties he slipped behind Matthew Wilson and out of the points.

Japan's Fumio Nutahara started the final leg of five special stages with a commanding 4m 14.7s lead over Finland's Aki Teiskonen, with the 2004 FIA Middle East champion Khalid Al-Qassimi in third. The three held station over the final stages, with Nutahara moving ever closer to Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in the P-WRC points' standings.

Al-Attiyah began the morning fifth of the P-WRC's registered contenders in his bid to stay ahead of Nutahara and Japan's Toshi Arai. Predictably, Arai and the Qatari were the morning's pace setters, with Arai winning the three specials before the mid-day interval, although Al-Attiyah maintained his slender P-WRC lead.

Results and News
www.wrc.com - World Rally Championship Offical Site

Cyprus Rally

• 2006 World Rally Championship

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Superspecial on Sunday to be boardcast live on the Internet.
• CYPRUS ROUND OF THE WRC GETS UNDERWAY ON FRIDAY MORNING
  Frenchman Sébastien Loeb bids to seal third WRC title.
  Al-Attiyah & Chris Patterson aiming to extend P-WRC lead.

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Superspecial to be boardcast live on the Internet on Sunday from 10:30am Irish Time (GMT)

www.wrc.com - World Rally Championship Offical Site

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CYPRUS ROUND OF THE WRC GETS UNDERWAY ON FRIDAY MORNING
Frenchman Sébastien Loeb bids to seal third WRC title.
Al-Attiyah & Chris Patterson aiming to extend P-WRC lead.

Frenchman Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena start as favourites to win this weekend's Cyprus Rally, round 12 of the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship, which gets underway north of Limassol on Friday morning.

The double WRC champion is bidding to seal a third world title and his first for the semi-private Kronos Citroën team. Loeb has won seven of the 11 rounds of the series so far, finished second on four occasions and has amassed 102 championship points. His nearest rival is the Finn Marcus Grönholm, winner of the other four rallies this season for the BP-Ford Team, on 69 points. Victory for Loeb over the twisty gravel stages in the Troodos mountains over the next three days would leave Grönholm needing to finish at least fifth overall to keep the two-horse race alive.

The Finn's joker could be Ford's impressive track record on this event - the Blue Oval won in Cyprus for the first two years that the event was a round of the WRC and has been competitive on the rougher gravel rallies in the WRC calendar. But Loeb has won here for the past two seasons and is chasing a hat-trick of Cyprus victories and a record 28th WRC win.

While the Cyprus Rally could well develop into a two-horse race, despite the threat of changeable weather conditions, Loeb's team mate Dani Sordo is sure to feature in the podium places. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen is overdue a good result, Austria's Manfred Stohl will be hoping to build upon the second place he achieved in Cyprus last season in the OMV-backed Peugeot, while Norway's Petter Solberg and Australian Chris Atkinson need to earn valuable championship points for the Subaru World Rally Team.

Red Bull Skoda will be represented by Finland's Harri Rovanperä and Austrian Andreas Aigner, Matthew Wilson and Luis Perez Companc drive a pair of Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focuses and Norway's Henning Solberg is entered in a second OMV Peugeot.

The Cyprus Rally is also a round of the FIA Production World Rally Championship (P-WRC) and Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah will be bidding to move into an unassailable lead in the hard-fought series. The defending FIA Middle East champion won the category in Argentina and Greece this year and arrives in Limassol with a 14-point lead over Japan's Fumio Nutahara, who won the category in Monte Carlo and Japan. Al-Attiyah has opted to miss the next round of the series in Australia and needs a maximum points' score to maintain a clear lead.

Japan's Toshi Arai and Argentina's Gabriel Pozzo still have a chance to secure the title, but they too need top points' scores in Cyprus. Representing the local contingent will be the multiple Cyprus national champion Andreas Tsouloftas and Spyros Pavlides, who are FIA guest drivers representing the host nation.

Cars were flagged away from a ceremonial start in Limassol at 20.30 hrs on Thursday evening by the island's Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry Antonis Michaelides, but the competitive action gets underway on Friday morning. The opening leg offers four gravel stages, repeated twice, while Saturday's timetable offers a further eight timed sections.

The final leg on Sunday consists of three gravel stages in the Troodos mountains, an all-new Down Town Special stage on Limassol seafront at 12.35 hrs, and a further two timed specials on Sunday afternoon. The official podium finish will take place in Limassol from 16.40 hrs.

Cyprus Rally

• 2006 World Rally Championship