Defending champion Sébastien Loeb began the defence of his World Rally Championship crown by finishing second in the season-opening Rally Sweden.
The Frenchman finished 42.3 seconds behind arch-rival Mikko Hirvonen, who recorded the 12th WRC win of his career and with it picked up the new 25-point maximum.
Loeb, who had gone into the final day 16.6 seconds behind the Finn, did win the first stage for Citroën Racing but was unable to capitalise on his early success in the stages that followed.
Hirvonen responded by taking the next stage 7.3 seconds ahead of the six-times world champion, who took the uncharacteristic decision of conceding victory to the factory Ford driver and settling for 18 championship points.
'This is definitely not an easy rally, but we've got a lot more experience' - Kimi Räikkönen
Loeb, who will be looking to get back to winning ways in Mexico next month, reflected: "It’s been a tough weekend, and Mikko has done a perfect rally.
"We made a little mistake yesterday, but even without it I don't know if I would have been able to beat him in the stages. He was strong and he deserves his victory. I did my best. There's nothing more to say."
Jari-Matti Latvala eased his way to third place in the second works Focus ahead of Loeb’s Citroën team-mate Dani Sordo, who was largely undone by not removing a blanking plate which caused his car’s engine to overheat.
The Spaniard was neverthless pleased with his display, telling reporters: "Fourth place is not bad, but of course third would have been better.
"The first day was OK, then we made a mistake, but that's rally sometimes. It’s OK, though, we need to look to the future now. And fourth place will give me a good start position in Mexico, where the others will be cleaning the road."
Sébastien Ogier took fifth place after a faultless performance in his Citroën Junior team-run C4 WRC – he was 4 minutes 15.3 seconds adrift of Hirovonen but was delighted by his team’s display.
Ogier said: "It's a good result for all the team and I want to thank them for giving me a second season – it's a great opportunity.
"The rally was good for me on day one then got a bit more difficult when we had to conserve our place. So it was less fun that I expected! But the most important thing was to finish and get experience."
Finland’s Marcus Gronholm, a two-time world champion, finished 21st, while 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen came home 30th on his WRC debut, 37 minutes behind the leaders, in his Citroën C4 WRC.
Räikkönen, who got stuck in a snowbank on Friday, commented: "Of course, I'm not happy about getting stuck on the first day but I maybe I've improved a lot since.
"This is definitely not an easy rally, but we've got a lot more experience of the car and the notes now. Mexico is next.
"I've never driven the car on gravel before but the grip should be consistent. I'm looking forward to it."
For all the latest rallying news, visit www.redbullrally.com.
Sweden Rally provisional result on Sunday
1. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford 3hrs 09m 30.400s
2. Sébastien Loeb (France) Citroën +00:42.300
3. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Ford +01:15.400
4. Daniel Sordo (Spain) Citroën +02:41.600
5. Sébastien Ogier (France) Citroën +04:15.300
6. Henning Solberg (Norway) Ford +05:23.400
7. Matthew Wilson (Britain) Ford +07:53.900
8. Mads Östberg (Norway) Subaru +09:22.200
9. Petter Solberg (Norway) Citroën +10:17.500
10. Per-Gunnar Andersson (Sweden) Skoda +12:08.900
Comments
Add a comment