Rivals praise Loeb's achievement

Mikko Hirvonen said he had grown accustomed to finshing second to the Citroen driver, and had tremendous admiration for his title rival's ability.

"Fifty wins for Seb is amazing," Hirvonen said. "If he keeps going it probably means 50 second places for me...

"When I think of the time and how many years he has been driving, it is unbelievable. He has my full respect."

Petter Solberg was the last man to beat Loeb to a WRC title when he won the 2003 crown. The Norwegian, who finished third in Cyprus today, reckons Loeb ranks among the leading sportsmen in any discipline.

"Seb has done an unbelievable achievement. I take my hat off to him," said Solberg.

"There are not many sports stars in the world who have achieved something like this and we have to respect that. He has a good team and a good combination and the passion is 110 per cent.

"He is in the history books and will be there a long time. I have to drive until I am 50 or 60 years old now to beat that! It takes a lot of things to go right to do it."

Loeb's Cyprus victory means he remains unbeaten in this year's championship. But he is not thinking about the possibility of winning all 12 of this season's rallies yet.

"At the moment anything is possible," he said. "It is not what I really want to do. I will try and win and do my best."

The Frenchman has now held the record for the most WRC victories for several years. Marcus Gronholm, the second most successful driver in the sport's history, scored 30 wins in his career.