Loeb warns errors now too costly

As the WRC moves into the final third of its season with this week's Rally Finland, the title race is finely balanced with the Citroen-driving Frenchman just one point behind Hirvonen (Ford).

Loeb said: "It promises to be a very close and exciting final run-in. It could go either way should one of us fail to finish an event. If that should happen, it will probably be impossible to catch up if the other driver doesn't make any mistakes. One thing which is sure is that a win in Finland would give me a psychological advantage going into the last three rallies."

In Loeb's opinion of the four rallies remaining, only the asphalt of Catalunya was in his favour.

He said: "Rally Australia will be new for everyone, so we will all start on an equal footing. In Catalunya, we have the edge on paper, but I am very much aware of how much Mikko has progressed on sealed surfaces.

"The season ends with Rally GB, which is an event we won last year, although Mikko will be very much at home on it too."

Loeb added that his only plan would be to attack on the final four rallies of the year, starting in Jyvaskyla later this week.

"Last year showed that we are capable of matching the Finns on their home event," said Loeb. "As I see it, it's as though the championship will be beginning afresh in Finland, and our only option will be to attack."

After a two-day test earlier this month, Loeb is confident in the Citroen C4 WRC, which remains largely unchanged from the car he used to win Rally Finland last year.

Loeb said: "Our C4 WRC is improving through detail changes at the moment and I know it is competitive on this event. Last year, I had every confidence in my car and that enabled me to push hard from start to finish.

"It turned out to be a very close fight, and the gap at the finish was less than 10 seconds. If we want to win again this time round, we will need to repeat the same sort of pace."