Citroen team principal Yves Matton confirms Loeb and Hirvonen told to hold station
Citroen team principal Yves Matton has confirmed he has told drivers Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen to hold station until the finish of Rally Argentina
Providing he does not encounter any mechanical issues, Loeb will therefore score his 70th World Rally career win in Villa Carlos Paz on Sunday afternoon.
The rally leader, Hirvonen and Matton discussed the decision after the morning's loop of stages. Hirvonen is 2.1 seconds behind his team-mate, but Ford's Dani Sordo is 1m30s behind.
Matton said: "I fixed the position. I spoke to the drivers and they both told me they were driving at a high tempo this morning and we are not in a position where we can take the risk in the manufacturers' championship. I asked them to stay like they are and take the tempo from Dani.
"I was very surprised this morning when we were making so big a gap from Dani and I made the decision because of that and because they were fighting this morning. Both of the drivers understand what is happening, there is no problem from Mikko.
"The decision was more difficult after Portugal where Mikko took the win and afterwards was excluded - but this is more in the human side. Both drivers know the objective is the manufacturers' championship and it would have been unacceptable if something had happened before the end."
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About this article
| Series | WRC |
| Drivers | Sébastien Loeb , Mikko Hirvonen |
| Author | David Evans |
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