Loeb sets sights on home win
Sebastien Loeb is desperate to celebrate his world championship victory with success on home ground in this weekend’s Tour of Corsica.
The Frenchman capped a dominant season with his second consecutive world title last time out in Japan but is not easing up, and has designs on a ninth win this year on home turf in Corsica.
Loeb starts as favourite to win in France for the second straight year and he is confident of living up to his billing, providing the weather stays fine.
He said: “I can’t conceal that I really want to win the Tour of Corsica. I say that I want to win it, not that I will win it.
“I want to win it because it is France’s round of the world championship. All my friends will be there and we will have the support of thousand of fans. I also want to win it because victory has escaped me at least once there so far.
“Judging by the way the season has gone until now, I think we stand a chance. The car is very strong on asphalt. It will be up to me to make full use of that.
“If it rains, especially if the weather is showery and unpredictable, anything can happen. But we will give it our very best whatever happens.”
Loeb’s dominance this year has been such that even Petter Solberg has struggled to muster the kind of optimism he is famous for.
The Subaru driver, who beat Loeb to the 2003 world title, concedes victory is too much to hope for this weekend but hopes to at least stand on the podium as he looks to overhaul Marcus Gronholm for second in the championship.
“We have completed three days of testing on asphalt with the current car and we found a balance we were very happy with,” he said.
“We also tried a new Pirelli tyre compound and I got a good feeling. The performance was good and I think there is more to come from the package in rally conditions.
“We have been reasonably competitive on asphalt in previous rallies and I will try, like in every event, to be in front. I think we can realistically hope for a podium – we have to hope and try for this.”
The battle for world championship honours may be settled, but the junior series is still up for grabs, with two Britons among the battle for the title.
Guy Wilks is currently tied on points with Daniel Sordo, but Per-GunnarAndersson and Kris Meeke are not far behind.
The Suzuki pair of Wilks and Andersson will miss this weekend’s round as their compulsory dropped rally, leaving Citroen’s Sordo and Meeke attempting to take advantage.
Meeke is just six points behind Wilks, but a repeat of his second place in Germany will keep him in the title hunt going into the last round of the season in Spain.
