Loeb clinches fourth Corsica win

Hirvonen had fallen back with a puncture this morning, so in the final stage of the rally Ford delayed his teammate Francois Duval and Stobart driver Jari-Matti Latvala so the team's title hopeful could regain the runner-up spot.

However Loeb's fourth successive home win keeps him 14 points ahead with two rounds remaining, meaning that a fourth place finish in Japan two weeks from now will be sufficient to clinch the title.

His Corsica success was also his 10th victory of the season, equalling his own record from three years ago.

"It's just getting better and better," said the ecstatic Loeb, whose final winning margin was an enormous three minutes, 24 seconds due to Ford's tactical changes. "To win here in Corsica is always a great moment, and this year we were going much faster than everybody."

Loeb had dominated this event from the outset, winning 14 of the 16 stages, but Citroen's weekend was slightly compromised when his teammate Dani Sordo crashed out of second on Friday morning.

Hirvonen looked on course for second thereafter, for despite a few exchanges with Duval, it was always clear that Ford would ensure their designated number one finished ahead. This was guaranteed when Duval checked in to the final time control two minutes early to incur a two-minute penalty, and Latvala started nine minutes late to receive a 90-second penalty, slotting both into the gap between Hirvonen and Petter Solberg.

While Hirvonen was a little uncomfortable with the team tactics, Duval had no qualms about settling for third at the end of his two-rally return to the works Ford squad.

"Good rally, no mistakes, no punctures, I am so happy," said Duval. "It's been a long time since I had a really good car on tarmac, and it's been a good weekend."

Latvala was slightly rueful about having to hand over a podium, but was satisfied to have made a breakthrough with his asphalt style during Saturday. That allowed him to pull away from what had been a close battle with Subaru duo Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson.

"Personally I'm disappointed, but we have to do the best thing for the team," said Latvala. "But nothing will take away the confidence and experience I've gained here."

The Subarus held on to fifth and sixth places, despite Solberg sustaining his second puncture of the day in the final stage. He still finished 35 seconds ahead of Atkinson, who had his own puncture drama on Saturday.

"We backed off after our puncture yesterday, but didn't realise there would be such carnage today," said Atkinson. "But we still got some points."

Any number of drivers could have claimed the final points, but eventually they fell to Urmo Aava (PH Citroen) and Matthew Wilson (Stobart Ford), who recovered from a suspension breakage and an off-course excursion on Friday respectively.

Brice Tirabassi's second appearance for Subaru ended with mechanical problems this morning while battling with Wilson and Adapta Subaru driver Mads Ostberg for eighth, while Suzuki's chances of points disappeared on Saturday when Toni Gardemeister was delayed by fuel pressure problems and PG Andersson crashed.

Aava's teammate Conrad Rautenbach also had a shot at the top eight before being delayed by a puncture during leg two.

But the unluckiest man in this group was surely Andreas Mikkelsen. The Ramsport Ford driver incurred an 80-second penalty for arriving at SS1 late due to "miscalculations", then twice sustained costly punctures while charging back through the field.

A final gallant push on Sunday saw him come within 7.7 seconds of overhauling Stobart Ford's Barry Clark for 10th place, although at least seventh position had been on the cards had he run trouble-free.

"It's too bad we had the punctures, but we proved we have the speed," said Mikkelsen.

Leading finishers:

Pos  Driver              Car      Time
 1.  Sebastien Loeb      Citroen  3h42:58.0
 2.  Mikko Hirvonen      Ford     +  3:24.7
 3.  Francois Duval      Ford     +  3:31.6
 4.  Jari-Matti Latvala  Ford     +  3:37.5
 5.  Petter Solberg      Subaru   +  5:35.4
 6.  Chris Atkinson      Subaru   +  6:10.4
 7.  Urmo Aava           Citroen  +  7:25.2
 8.  Matthew Wilson      Ford     +  9:02.2
 9.  Mads Ostberg        Subaru   +  9:13.3
10.  Barry Clark         Ford     + 13:38.3