WRC Rally Australia - Citroen's streak ends as Hirvonen wins

Loeb's roll, halfway through Friday's very wet Brooklana stage (SS4), was uncharacteristic for the Frenchman, who last rolled a car back in 2009. The combination of the slippery conditions and the fact that Loeb was one of the early runners on the gravel roads may have contributed. Afterwards, Loeb accepted responsibility for the accident, saying he had lost concentration ahead of the fast right hander that resulted in his Citroen rolling an estimated five times.

Loeb's team mate, Sebastien Ogier, also struck trouble on Friday, damaging his Citroen DS3 WRC after spinning and hitting a tree on Shipmans (SS6). Fortunately for both Citroen drivers, the team fixed each car under the three hour time limit (part of the SupeRally regulations), and they were allowed to restart the rally on day two, Ogier in eighth place, Loeb in ninth.

Playing catch up for the rest of the rally, both the Citroen drivers performed well, each taking a win on Saturday's Super Special Stage (SS19 & SS20) held on the Coffs Harbour waterfront. Loeb was also fastest on Sunday's first run through Clarence (SS24), finishing ahead of Ogier. Loeb also won the second'Power Stage' run through Clarence (SS26). Loeb eventually finished tenth after team order instructions for Sebastien Ogier to drop back on SS26 allowed the seven time champion to claim the rally's final championship point as well as three bonus points for topping the timesheets on the 'Power Stage'. Prior to that, Ogier started the second Plum Pudding test (SS25) five minutes late to incur a 50-second time penalty to ensure Loeb finished inside the top ten.

"On this rally, the team made this choice because there is big pressure from Mikko who closed the gap a lot in the championship because of our mistake," said Loeb.

Ogier was downhearted when he was forced to surrender a points finish that would have been fitting reward for the fight back from his crash on Friday.
"I received a team order and I respected this," he said. When asked if the loss of what would have been two drivers' championship points would spell the end of his title ambitions, Ogier said: "I have no comment about that. You can draw your own conclusion but no comment for me."

Ogier's frustrations intensified when he slowed again before the finish of the Power Stage to ensure he didn't take any bonus points away from Loeb, who claimed three extra points for topping the times on the rally-closing test. He eventually finished 11th.

Privateer Petter Solberg was the only shining light for Citroen, finishing third overall behind Hirvonen and Latvala after a string of consistem performances, including a victory on the Brokklana stage that claimed Loeb.