The full Monte for Loeb
World champion Sebastien Loeb completed a clean sweep of stage wins on the Monte Carlo Rally today but he was left needing a stroke of luck to keep his Principality winning streak alive.
Loeb has won the last three season openers, and would have won in 2002 but for a post-rally penalty.
He was on course to add another winner’s trophy to his already creaking mantelpiece before crashing out of the Friday’s final stage, incurring a five-minute penalty.
That left Ford debutant Marcus Gronholm clear at the front and he relentlessly stretched his cushion over the chasing pack today to two minutes 5.9 seconds, leaving him certain to win barring a problem.
Loeb, driving for Kronos Racing, stole the show today though, roaring back into podium contention in style by winning all five stages to move up to fourth.
Loeb, bidding to become the first privateer world champion in over a decade, trails third-placed Manfred Stohl by 32.8 seconds, a realistic target to aim for on tomorrow’s final six stages.
OMV Citroen driver Stohl is embroiled in a close fight with Peugeot privateer Toni Gardemeister, who stole second place this afternoon and holds a slender 2.9secs advantage.
Ex-Formula One driver Stephane Sarrazin is fifth for Subaru but team leader Petter Solberg failed to start today’s action after retiring overnight with an oil leak.
The Norwegian was left cursing his bad luck in the Principality. “I still can’t really believe it,” he said.
“It’s incredible really – it seems I have no luck here in Monte Carlo. It must change soon.”
Chris Atkinson, starting just his second season in the world championship, provided the shock of day one by holding second place for Subaru but it did not last and this morning he slid to sixth.
The Australian was not worried though, with his priority to reach the finish line tomorrow in one piece.
He said: “Obviously we’ve dropped back today, but we’re still doing some pretty good times. We’ve been taking a cautious approach from the start and we’ll keep doing so.”
Gilles Panizzi’s podium challenge faded this morning and his hopes of points took a knock this afternoon as the Red Bull Skoda driver slipped to eighth.
Citroen driver Daniel Sordo, the protege of former world champion Carlos Sainz, leapfrogged Panizzi to take seventh this afternoon, dropping Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen out of the points into ninth.
English teenager Matthew Wilson continued to impress at the start of his first season in the world championship, on a rally feared by drivers young and old alike.
The 18-year-old, driving a Stobart Ford, moved up to 14th after another day of cautious progress. In the production class, Manxman David Higgins is third in his Mitsubishi.
