Vota Articolo
Today, Sunday November 2, 2008, will be remembered in rallying's record
books as the day Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena claimed their fifth
consecutive world title, a unique feat in the history of the sport. Indeed, the
pair has reigned supreme since 2004, initially with the Citroën Xsara and, more
recently, with the Citroën C4. As in 2005, they made sure of the crown in
Japan, this time with one round remaining. The curtain is scheduled to come
down on the season in three weeks' time in Wales where Sébastien Loeb/Daniel
Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí will be out to secure the Manufacturers' title,
too, at the wheel of their respective C4 WRCs.
Although the final leg of the 2008 Rally Japan featured just 96.43km of
competitive action (divided into nine stages), everyone in the French squad
found the day extremely long as they waited to pop the champagne to celebrate
today's historic occasion.
As was the case on Friday and Saturday, Sébastien and Daniel made no
attempt to deal their rivals an ipponstyle knockout blow, especially since the
conditions were once again wet and muddy. Not surprisingly, the state of the
stages produced a certain amount of anxiety within the team's ranks. In the
end, however, the Citroën pair completed the rally in third place which was
enough to hand them their fifth world title in just six full WRC campaigns!
This score takes Sébastien and Daniel clear of the record they previously
shared with Juha Kankkunen and, more especially, Tommi Mäkinen, who was the
only driver before them to succeed in racking up four consecutive championship
wins (1996 to 1999).
"It's a fantastic feeling," beamed Sébastien at the finish. "Along
with Daniel and everyone in the team, the objective we set ourselves for this
year was to win another world crown, and it's tremendously satisfying to have
met that target today. I really wanted to wrap up the title here in Japan to
enable us to go into Wales Rally GB with a totally free mind. That made the
weekend very long and very frustrating, and I have to say that it wasn't much
fun. Our C4 and our Pirelli tyres functioned very well together on this event,
though, and we did what we could to keep any thoughts about the championship
out of our minds, but it wasn't easy. The title just seemed to loom larger
after every stage, and it was well worth the wait in the end!"
"I cannot say whether this year's title is any finer than the
others," said the now five-time World Champion*.
"I will always have special memories of our first crown and I don't
want to give the impression that winning is something you get accustomed to;
it's just that each title feels different. One thing that has been the same each
time is the thrill of being able to share our joy with everyone in the team.
They have always given us a car with the potential to challenge for victory,
and this is their title, too. That includes Dani Sordo and Marc Martí whose own
results contributed to our success. Our thoughts now turn to Cardiff where we
will try to make it a championship double for Citroën…"
"It's been a long year, but winning the title is such a great
feeling," agreed Daniel Elena. "This is our fifth world crown
together, and each one has given me tremendous pleasure. I'm not interested in
the statistics, though; what counts the most is enjoying the stages, profiting
from the terrific atmosphere within the team and working with Seb."
"I am very pleased for 'Sébastian' and 'Danos'," added Dani
Sordo. "They have scored ten wins so far this year and they fully deserve
the title. It's an honour for Marc and me to be in the same team as them. There
is still one more round to come and we will do our best to score the points
Citroën needs to take the Manufacturers' crown and for us to finish third in
the Drivers' championship." The Spaniards failed to finish the Rally
Japan, however. Following their turbo trouble on Friday, the team asked them to
stop before the finish to enable them to run a new engine on the Wales Rally
GB, in accordance with the regulations. After today's podium ceremony, Olivier
Quesnel was clearly moved by his first title as the new boss of Citroën Sport: "It's
very, very satisfying," he smiled. "The fact that Sébastien and
Daniel have sewn up the Drivers' title means we have now achieved half the
target we set ourselves before the start of the season. We will take time to
celebrate today's result with all the Citroën Sport staff back at our base in
Satory, but we will then immediately re-focus with a view to wrapping up the
Manufacturers' crown in Wales where the skill of our crews and the motivation
of everyone in the team promise to be valuable allies…"
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