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Sebastien
Loeb has once again
secured a strong victory as he continues to dominate
the top step of the podium. The Frenchman's score is
perfect so far, with four wins out of four.
After managing
the gravel trails, the Citroen driver returned to the
Algarve Stadium – scene of Thursday's
opening stage – to confirm the 51st win of his
World Rally Championship career.
The playing field
was transformed into a parallel asphalt track where
the cars went head-to-head as thousands of cheering
rally fans gathered to watch the show.
The factory Ford team's Mikko Hirvonen did what he
could to break his title rival's string of victories,
but had to concede defeat earlier this morning when
the gap between them became too wide to overcome. The
Finn and his team opted to play it safe and bring home
the points for second place.
Dani Sordo's super special stage appearance amid the
lights and noise crowned his overall fourth position
in the standings, giving his Citroen team another points
boost in regards to the championship.
The Petter Solberg Team was again pleased to claim
fourth place and another top six victory out of three
WRC participations.
Fifth position in the general standings had almost
been promised to Matthew Wilson, yet his off and retirement
on the final gravel stage prevented that from happening.
Stobart Ford teammate Henning Solberg moved in to take
the honours.
Of note, thanks to the efforts of the Solberg brothers
and Mads Ostberg's sixth-place overall result, it is
the first time that three Norwegian drivers find themselves
within the top six final positions of a World Rally
Championship event.
As for the Algarve Stadium super special stage itself,
Henning Solberg was the fastest driver to complete
the temporary track laid upon the soccer field: his
best time of 2:08.8 bettered the results of teammates
Dani Sordo's and Sebastien Loeb's Citroen C4 WRCs.
Mikko Hirvonen's Ford Focus RS and Mads Ostberg's Adapta
Team Subaru Impreza completed the top five drivers
on this course.
The next round of this year's championship will take
place in Argentina, starting April 24th. |