Citroen Makes It Four in Row As Loeb Dominates Turkey

CITROEN MAKES IT FOUR IN ROW AS LOEB DOMINATES TURKEY

Citroen continued its crushing domination of the 2005 World Rally Championship at the weekend with Sébastien Loeb’s fourth win in a row after his complete domination of the Turkish round of the championship in his Citroen Xsara at the weekend (3-5 June 2005).

Citroen has now won three Rallies of Turkey, Loeb has extended his world championship lead and with Carlos Sainz finishing in fourth place, Citroen’s bid to retain its manufacturer’s title is back on track.

"I couldn't have wished for better,” said Guy Fréquelin at the finish. “We have obtained exactly the result we wanted. Seb, Carlos, Daniel and Marc all made full use of the potential of their cars which proved impeccably reliable thanks to the outstanding work put in by the team. Carlos' come-back was complicated by the conditions and the weather but he didn't put a foot wrong. Amazing and worthy of the true champion we know him to be."

It is no hard to imagine that Sébastien Loeb was ever branded tarmac only specialist, with the talented French driver totally dominating yet another tough gravel round that saw all his rivals either fall by the wayside or running well behind him. At one point he had a lead of more than minute and despite a hard charging Solberg trying to make up for a poor tyre choice on the opening stages, Loeb ended the even with a lead of nearly a minute.

Four wins in a row… I'm clearly on a positive run at the moment!” said Loeb at the finish. “But I want to stress the importance of the team's contribution to this series of wins. They are more motivated than ever and continue not to make any mistakes. It was also a big pleasure to join forces with Carlos again. We picked up our association as though we had parted company the previous day. The silver fern the Maoris gave me in New Zealand? It's still in the car. A bit faded, but it's still there and it will stay there for the next rounds!”

Carlos Sainz also had a huge smile on his face as he was applauded at the finish:

"I'm obviously delighted to be at the finish. It wasn't as straightforward as that to pull off my mission. I had to find the right pace to finish high up and score as many points as possible, while at the same time not making any mistakes despite the awful weather conditions. But we've done it! I am very happy for Seb after his impressive win. It's been a superb weekend for the whole team. Working with everyone again has been a big occasion and lived up every bit to my experience with Citroën as a whole."

Rally Statistics

Stage wins

Leg 1. SS1: cancelled - SS2 and 3: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën Xsara) – SS4: Gianluigi Galli (Mitsubishi Lancer) – SS5, 6, 7, 8and 9: S. Loeb.

Leg 2. SS10: Petter Solberg (Subaru Impreza) – SS11: S. Loeb – SS12 and 13: P. Solberg – SS14: G. Galli – SS15 and 16: S. Loeb.

Leg 3. SS17: P. Solberg – SS18: Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot 307).

Best performers

S. Loeb, 10 stage wins – P. Solberg, 4 - G. Galli, 2 – M. Grönholm, 1.

Leaders

ES2 and 3: S. Loeb – SS4: G. Galli – SS5 to 18: S. Loeb.

Leaderboard after Rally of Turkey

1.  S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën Xsara) 4h 21min 48 s

2.  P. Solberg/Ph.Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 59,6 s

3.  M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Peugeot 307) + 1 min 15,3 s

4.  C. Sainz/Marc Marti (Citroën Xsara) + 4 min 17,9 s

5.  M. Märtin/M. Park (Peugeot 307) + 5 min 57,2 s

6.  T. Gardemeister/J. Honkanen (Ford Focus) + 8 min 07,3 s

7.  R. Kresta/J. Možný (Ford Focus) + 8 min 48,3 s

8.  G. Galli/G. D’Amore (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 9 min 38,9 s

9.  A. Warmbold/M. Orr (Ford Focus) + 11 min 26,7 s

10. H. Rovanperä/R. Pietiläinen (Peugeot 307) + 13 min 51,4 s …

FIA World Rally Championship after round 7 - Manufacturers

1. Peugeot, 72 points – 2. Citroën, 68 pts - 3. Ford, 49pts – 4. Subaru, 46 pts – 5. Mitsubishi, 30 pts - 6. Škoda, 8pts.

FIA World Rally Championship after round 7 - Drivers

1. S. Loeb, 55 pts – 2. P. Solberg, 42 points - 3. M. Märtin, 38 pts – 4. M. Grönholm, 32 pts – 5. T. Gardemeister, 31 pts – 6. H. Rovanperä, 13 pts - 7. M. Stohl, 11 pts - 8. R. Kresta, 10 pts – 9. H. Solberg, 9 pts – 10. G. Panizzi, 7 pts – 11. F. Duval, 5 pts – 12. C. Sainz, 5 pts - 13. D. Carlsson, 4 pts - 14. A. Warmbold, 4 pts - 15. G. Galli, 4 pts - 16. Ch. Atkinson, 2 pts – 17. J. Pykälistö, 1pt…

(ends)

For further information:

Citroën Australia Media Web Site: http://media.ateco.com.au/

Miles Williams

Edward Rowe

Web site: www.Citroën.com.au

Citroën Australia

Street Address: Heritage Building, Campus Business Park, 350 Parramatta Road, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia. Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd,Locked Bag 260, Silverwater, NSW 1811, Australia

Telephone: 02 9701 8000; Direct Telephone 02 9701 8015 Fax: 02 9701 3555. Mobile +61 0407 913 244

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EJR/ejr/557

6/6/2005