World Rally ChampionshipSébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena of France led the Spanish crew Dani Sordo and Marc Marti by 63.4 seconds to a Citroën one-two in Rally Ireland, run over the past four days from Belfast to the Northwest.
The three-time world champion Loeb now holds a six-point advantage over Marcus Grönholm as he bids for a fourth consecutive title. The duel goes down to the wire between Loeb and Grönholm in the Wales Rally in two weeks' time.
In finishing fourth in a Ford Focus RS behind their Finnish compatriots Jari Matti Latvala and Mikka Antilla, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen clinched the manufacturers championship for Ford.
The early exit of Grönholm on Friday took the pressure off Loeb, and on Saturday, despite the mud and rain that made the roads extremely slippy, the Frenchman extended his lead of 11.2 seconds over Sordo to 59.3 seconds.
Manfred Stohl was lucky to miss the trees after sliding off the first stage on a left-hander, but two stages later the Austrian put his Citroën C4 off the road for good and out of seventh place.
Austin MacHale was also out, with a broken steering arm as a result of a crash landing, a pity indeed as all three MacHales, Gareth, Aaron and Austin, were running in the top 15.
The weather was fine for yesterday's four stages and thousands lined the final, spectacular Sligo stage at Mullaghmore, where Petter Solberg set the fastest time in his Subaru WRC.
One of the biggest cheers at the finish was for Gareth MacHale and Allan Harryman, eighth overall, the first Irish crew to finish the gruelling event and score a WRC point.
The Ulster crew of Niall McShea and Marshall Clark, originally unsure of a drive, were ecstatic in finishing 10th and won the production category in a Group N Subaru Impreza.
There was another rousing cheer for national champions Aaron MacHale and Killian Duffy, who brought their Ford Focus RS home in 12th overall.
Round Fifteen
Final overall positions after Stage 20
1 Sébastien Loeb (Fra) Citroën 3hrs 01mins 39.200secs
2 Dani Sordo (Spa) Citroën 3:02:32.600
3 Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 3:03:27.400
4 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 3:03:56.900
5 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 3:04:35.000
6 Guy Wilks (Brit) Mitsubishi 3:07:37.100
7 Matthew Wilson (Brit) Ford 3:11:44.100
8 Gareth MacHale (Irl) Ford 3:12:47.500
9 Andreas Mikkelsen (Nor) Ford 3:14:47.400
10 Niall McShea (Irl) Subaru 3:18:11.300
Standings
Drivers Championship :1 Sébastien Loeb (Fra) Citroën 110pts, 2 Marcus Grönholm (Fin) Ford 104, 3 Mikko Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 89, 4 Dani Sordo (Spa) Citroën 61, 5 Petter Solberg (Nor) Subaru 42, 6 Henning Solberg (Nor) Ford 34, 7 Jari-Matti Latvala (Fin) Ford 30, 8 Chris Atkinson (Aus) Subaru 29, 9 Manfred Stohl (Aut) Citroën 12, 9 Francois Duval (Bel) Skoda 12.
Manufacturer Championship:1 Ford 194pts, 2 Citroen 173, 3 Stobart 80, 4 Subaru 79, 5 OMV Kronos 43, 6 Munchi S 14.
