SEBASTIEN LOEB, VICTORY AND A RECORD
 At
the time when the sun is just rising in Western Europe, the
land of the rising sun is applauding Sebastien Loeb and Daniel
Elena. Last year, the Franco-Monegasque pairing clinched a
second consecutive world title in Japan. This year, after
27 stages, Seb and Daniel took their 27th career victory and
claimed one of the few remaining records that had not yet
been in their possession : the record for the total number
of career wins, which they had held jointly with Spanish legend
Carlos Sainz since the Rallye Deutschland. Now, this historic
landmark is theirs alone. This 27th victory was claimed after
a sumptuous and nail-biting battle that lasted throughout
the entire three days of the rally. Its intensity, duration
and uncertainty will stick in the mind for many years to come.
After their closely-fought confrontation in Germany, Seb
and Marcus Grönholm carried on as if nothing had happened.
« I pushed at 100%, and sometimes even more when it
was necessary, » said Seb. To try so hard on the fast,
narrow and damp Japanese roads clearly carried its risks.
Seb though steered clear of trouble – even during the
thrilling final leg where he had to fend off a tooth-and-nail
assault from Grönholm, that saw the Frenchman win by
just 5.6 seconds at the finish!
At the end, after a final lap of honour around the spectator
superspecial, Seb was thinking more of the battle than the
record.
He said: « How was that for close
? At the start of the final leg, I thought that the eight
points for second place would have been a good result for
the championship. Then we took the decision just to go for
it, to try everything. The fight was too good just to walk
away and settle for second. Mentally, that was an important
turning point. But once we had decided on that course of action,
Daniel and I were only thinking about one thing. We had no
split times so it was just a question of going flat-out and
driving as quickly as possible on order to try and win. On
the last stage, we took a few risks. The smell of victory,
and the potential joy of a team that once again performed
faultlessly, made it all worth it… »
Dani Sordo – a lifelong fan of Seb – was of course
delighted. The young Spaniard could have naturally hoped for
an easier rally than the treacherous Japan in which to get
back onto the horse after his bad luck in Finland. Nonetheless,
he did not put a foot wrong to underline his humility and
patience. He said: « The Rally Japan is fun but very
tricky. Given my inexperience, I just focussed on scoring
the maximum possible number of manufacturer points for Kronos.
That was my job, and I did it to the best of my abilities.
»
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