Vatanen: Loeb is like Clark or Senna - gifted.

by Rob Wilkins

1981 World Rally champion, Ari Vatanen has said that Citroen star, Sebastien Loeb would still be top dog in the WRC even if there were ten other drivers' capable of taking the title.

Loeb is currently on course to take the title for the third year in a row this season and enjoys a 29-point advantage over his nearest rival, Marcus Gronholm, heading into the second half of the second, which kicks off next month with the Rallye Deutschland. The Frenchman also looks set to surpass Carlos Sainz's record of 26 WRC victories in the next few months - he has won 25 rallies thus far, to become the most successful driver in the history of the sport in terms of outright wins.

Speaking to Crash.net Radio at the 2006 Rallyday on Saturday, where he was celebrating the 25th anniversary of his own personal success in the WRC, Vatanen added that he can't see his fellow countryman, Gronholm, beating Loeb this year, despite the obvious potential of the new Ford Focus.

"There are in any given era drivers' - whether he is called Jim Clark or Ayrton Senna or Sebastien Loeb - who are just simply, very fast," added Vatanen, when asked why he thought Loeb has been so dominant.

"I don't think one can, sort of really break it down, why he is so good. It is just the overall package, himself and his car. He has an unbeatable package and he makes very few mistakes.

"He came to the top very fast, so he is very, very gifted. And of course, the fact at the moment, the world championship is not having its field day, it helps - but I still think even if there were ten drivers' capable of winning the world championship, Loeb would still win lots of rallies."