CYPRUS RALLY
FINAL : LOEB AND ELENA WIN ANOTHER DUEL
 Sébastien
Loeb and Daniel Elena did not wait long to extend the record
for career victories that they broke in Japan. Their win in
Cyprus – their eighth of the year and their third consecutive
triumph on the ‘Island of Aphrodite’ – brings
the benchmark up to 28 wins, all of them achieved at the wheel
of the Citroen Xsara WRC. Seb’s lead of the drivers’
championship is now up to 35 points, with four rallies and
40 possible points still up for grabs.
Seb and Daniel won yet another tough duel with Marcus Grönholm/Timo
Rautiainen after three hard days. Their battle, just as hotly-contested
as the one that characterised Rally Japan, ran along a similar
timescale. The Finn held the advantage on Friday morning,
during which Seb swept the road clean by virtue of his road
position. Then the Frenchman fought back on the cleaner roads
of the afternoon. A neck-and-neck battle characterised Saturday
morning, before Seb took control on Saturday afternoon. Then…
«I remembered Japan, » said Seb. « On Sunday
morning there I conceded a little bit of time first thing,
which was just the invitation Marcus wanted. So I went flat-out
on the first stage this morning. A few split times later,
it seemed to me that Marcus was no longer pushing to the limit.
I was able to calculate my speed based on his, and the end
of the rally was a lot calmer. »
«While it was nearly the same scenario as Japan, »
added the Citroen driver, «the conditions and the pace
was very different : more like what you find in Greece. Citroen
gathered a lot of data from the Acropolis and worked very
hard in testing : my Xsara was entirely competitive here compared
to its rival. I hope it will continue to be so over the next
four rallies, so that we can win the drivers title and bring
the Kronos Total Citroen team the maximum number of points
in a very open and exciting manufacturers’ championship…
»
The reigning World Champion’s Spanish team mates did
not quite enjoy the same success as their leader. Xevi Pons
and Carlos Del Barrio, who were delayed on the opening day,
eventually found a suitable rhythm for the twisty stages.
They steered clear of trouble throughout Saturday and Sunday,
coming out of the last stage in sixth overall. Unfortunately,
they were forced to stop on the final road section back to
Limassol with a transmission problem.
Dani Sordo and Marc Marti rejoined the rally under the super
rally system on Saturday morning, but had the misfortune to
go off the road on the Limassol ‘Downtown’ spectator
Superspecial. «I found it hard to develop a good rhythm
from the start of the rally, » said a mortified Dani.
« I got a bit over-excited by the thought of being back
on asphalt. But the grip is not so good when you just have
gravel tyres… »
«I’m obviously torn between the joy that Seb’s
victory brings us and the disappointment of the mishaps that
befell our two young Spaniards, » said Kronos team principal
Marc Van Dalen. «Xevi drove the sort of event that he
needed to, in order to rebuild his confidence. I’m very
pleased to see him as competitive as he was at the beginning
of the season again. He deserves his sixth place. As for Dani….what
happened was regrettable, as we know that every point counts
in the manufacturers’ championship. Having said that,
we still lead the title race, and we are going to do all we
can to try and win it
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