Loeb wins in Germany as Kronos take 1-2.
Kronos Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has won the Rallye Deutschland, the ninth round in the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship, for the fifth year in succession.
The Frenchman, who led from the off, eventually ended the event around 30 seconds up on his team-mate, Daniel Sordo. In winning the event, Loeb has now equalled the record held by Carlos Sainz - both are now jointly the most successful in the history of the WRC in terms of event wins, having notched up 26.
Kronos Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has won the Rallye Deutschland, the ninth round in the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship, for the fifth year in succession.
The Frenchman, who led from the off, eventually ended the event around 30 seconds up on his team-mate, Daniel Sordo. In winning the event, Loeb has now equalled the record held by Carlos Sainz - both are now jointly the most successful in the history of the WRC in terms of event wins, having notched up 26.
BP Ford team leader, Marcus Gronholm took the final podium place, despite coming under late pressure from Toni Gardemeister, in his Astra Racing-run Xsara WRC.
Gronholm's team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen was fifth, however he had a problem following the final stage and dropped down to ninth. OMV Peugeot driver, Manfred Stohl thus moved up a place and took four drivers' points, with Skoda duo, Andreas Aigner and Jan Kopecky sixth and seventh respectively.
Aigner put in his best performance of the season in his Red Bull-branded Fabia and scored his first ever WRC points - although he had a dramatic finish when he went off 3 km from the end of the final stage and damaged the front of his car. Kopecky also shined in his Czech RT-run Fabia, managing to win two stages outright on Saturday. He too had a dramatic finish though when he went off and hit a barrier in the same test, his car suffered minimal damage in the incident.
Subaru 'third' driver, Chris Atkinson took eighth and the final drivers' point, with Gareth MacHale tenth, followed by DTM star, Mattias Ekstrom and Stobart VK driver, Matthew Wilson. Wilson's team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala also finished, after restarting on Saturday under the SupeRally. Despite ending up way outside the top 20, he took the final manufacturers' point.
There were three significant retirements: Francois Duval going out on day one in his First Motorsport Skoda, while Petter Solberg had to call it quits on the opening stage on Saturday, after engine problems. Solberg's Subaru team-mate, Stephane Sarrazin joined him on the sidelines on Sunday, when he went off the road on SS16 and was unable to rejoin due to gearbox problems.
Full report and result to follow soon...
