Page 1 /

VICTORY IN GREECE PUTS LOEB BACK INTO WORLD TITLE LEAD

Victory in the Greek round of the World Rally Championship, the legendary Acropolis Rally, at the weekend (30 May – 1 June 2008) has put Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb back into the lead of the of the drivers’ title chase and Citroen within two points of the manufacturers’ title lead but it was not an easy win with Citroen fighting tough, unforgiving conditions right through the event.

Loeb dramatically took the lead of the event on Day One when both Ford drivers managed to hit the same rock on the same stage at more than 150 kmh, damaging their suspension and plunging them down the leaderboard. It was Loeb’s turn to have problems on day two, when his team mate, Dani Sordo took the lead when Loeb had puncture problems. Loeb then re-took the lead as multiple punctures sent the Spanish Citroen driver down the leader board.

With 110.74km of against­the­clock action on the programme, with a menu of three stages to be contested twice each prior to the final visit to the Tatoi super­special, the event's last leg was no Sunday stroll.

True, the terrain wasn't as rough as that encountered on Saturday, but the weather was as hot as ever and the day provided further drama. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena nevertheless controlled impeccably from in front to collect their second Acropolis success, the 41st world class victory of their career and their fifth win of the year from seven starts. It also takes Citroën's score in the WRC to 47 wins.

"Wehaven't hadsucha quietSundayforsometime,"joked Sébastien at the finish. "After yesterday's punishing stages, today's conditions were far more straightforward. We succeededindriving sufficiently quicklytostay focused butatthesametimewedid whatwecouldtomakesurewesparedourtyresandcarall thewaytotheflag."

"This is an important win for us," continued the reigning World Champion. "It shows the progress we have made on the loose, while the work put in by everyone in the team to adapt our Citroën C4 WRC to its Pirelli tyres across the full spectrum ofsurface types has paiddividends.Iampleasedwithourrunoverwhatareincontestablythetougheststagesof theseason.Today'sresult hasenabledustorecovertheleadinthechampionshipandit's beenagoodweekend,too,intermsoftheManufacturers'championship.Thestrengthand competitivenessofourC4andthesuccessfulmanagementofourPirelli tyreswerethemain keystosuccesshere."

For Sordo, Sunday was a battle back up the leader board after the time lost on Saturday.

"Ourobjectivetodaywastoreachthefinish,"admitted Dani Sordo. "MarcandIoptedfora safepace,yetwestill managedtomoveuptwoplaces,sothat'sagoodresult.Haditnot beenforourproblemsyesterday (Saturday) wewouldprobablyhavefinishedhigheruptheorder,butI amstill pleasedwithourfinalpositionwhichmeansvaluablepointsforCitroën.Isucceeded instayingcompletelyfocusedoverthethreedays."

Given the tough conditions, Citroen’s team boss is pleased with the result, if at one point it could have been a Citroen 1-2 in Greece.

"Itwouldbedifficultnottobepleasedwiththeoutcomeofthisrally,whichistheroughest oftheentire championship,"said Olivier Quesnel. "Victory went to theC4WRC, Sébastien LoebandDanielElenaarebackontopoftheDrivers'standingsandCitroënisstillverymuch in the running for the Manufacturers' title. Dani and Marc put in a strong run, too, while Urmofinished4thandConrad10th in their Citroen C4 WRCs.Citroënhaseveryreasontobesatisfiedwithitsweekend here in Greece and, if we manage to enjoy the same sort of run in Turkey in two weeks' time,itwillbe anidealwaytogointothesummer break!"

Rally statistics

Stage wins

Day 1: SS1: Jari­Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) – SS2: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) – SS3: J.M.

Latvala – SS4, SS5 and SS6: S. Loeb – SS7:UrmoAava(CitroënC4).

Day 2: SS8: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS9 and SS10: Gigi Galli (Ford Focus) – SS11: M.Hirvonen – SS12:U.Aava– SS13: M. Hirvonen.

Day 3: SS14: Chris Atkinson (Subaru Impreza) – SS15: J.M. Latvala – SS16 and SS17: G. Galli – SS18and SS19: J.M. Latvala – SS20: Dani Sordo (Citroën C4 WRC).

Best performers: J.M. Latvala, 5 stages win – S. Loeb, 4 – G. Galli, 4 – M. Hirvonen, 3 – U.Aava,2– D. Sordo, 1 – C. Atkinson, 1.

Leaders: SS1 to SS3: Jari­Matti Latvala – SS4 to SS8: S. Loeb – SS9 to SS11: D. Sordo – SS12 to SS20: S. Loeb.

Final leaderboard on 55th Acropolis Rally* (7/15)

1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën C4) 3 h 54 min 54,7 s

2.P. Solberg/P. Mills (Subatu Impreza) + 1 min 09,5 s

3. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 1 min 56,1 s

4.U.Aava/K.Sikk(CitroënC4) +4min19,7s

5. D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën C4) + 4 min 49,7 s

6. M. Wilson/S. Martin (Ford Focus) + 6 min 11,3

7. JM. Latvala/M. Anttila (Ford Focus) + 6 min 47,5 s

8. H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus) + 9 min 14 s

9. T. Gardemeister/T. Tuominen (Suzuki X4) + 10 min 13,8 s

10.C.Rautenbach/D.Senior(CitroënC4) +13min29,1s

FIA World rally Championship’s rankings ‘Manufacturers’ (round 7/15)*

1. Ford, 81 points – 2. Citroën­Total, 79 pts – 3. Subaru, 50 pts – 4. Stobart, 37 pts – 5. Munchi's, 16 pts – 6. Suzuki, 10 pts.

FIA World rally Championship’s rankings ‘Drivers’ (round 7/15)*

1. S. Loeb, 50 pts – 2. M. Hirvonen, 49 points – 3. C. Atkinson, 31 pts – 4. JM Latvala, 26 pts – 5. D. Sordo, 25 pts – 6. G. Galli, 17 pts – 7. P. Solberg, 17 pts – 8. H. Solberg, 12 pts – 9. M. Wilson, 10 pts – 10. F. Villagra, 8 pts – 11.U.Aava,6pts – 12.C.Rautenbach,5pts – 13. F. Duval, 5 pts – 14. A. Mikkelsen, 4 pts – 15. JM. Cuoq, 2 pts – 16. T. Gardemeister, 2 pts – 17. A. Aigner, 1 pt –
18. PG. Andersson, 1 pt – 19. J. Hänninen, 1 pt – 20.S.Ogier,1pt.

*Subject to final publications of the results by the FIA.

(ends)

For further information:

Citroën Australia Media Web Site:

Miles Williams

/ Tel: (02) 9701 8020
General Manager / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0419 800 520
E-Mail:

Edward Rowe

/ Tel: (02) 9701 8015
Public Relations Manager / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0407 913 244
E-Mail:

Citroen 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

A.B.N. 34 000 486 706

If this material contained within this releases is not relevant to your purpose you may wish to prevent further deliveries. If so, please hit ‘forward’ on your e-mail, send the e-mail to and place “Remove from Mailing List” in the Subject Line.

EJR/ejr/829

6/2/2008