PORTO CERVO, Italy (AFP) — France's four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Sardinia here on Sunday to record his 40th career success.
The Citroen driver beat home Ford Focus pilot Mikko Hirvonen of Finland while another Finn Jari-Matti Latvala was third in a Ford Focus.
Loeb, who was winning along with co-pilot Daniel Elena his third Rally of Sardinia, had been ahead since the second special stage in a gripping contest.
The Frenchman negotiated the short final stage without incident to complete the event with a lead of 10.6sec.
"It's been a difficult rally but we're here!" said Loeb. "I've had to push all the way for this result, but it was important for me to get good points here.
"Mikko will still lead the championship, but okay, I'm happy - and of course win number 40 is nice for me."
Hirvonen heads the drivers' standings on 43 points, just three ahead of Loeb.
"I'm happy with second, especially after such a slow start on Friday," said Hirvonen. "Jari-Matti pushed me all the way to the end - so it was close.
"Now I have to find a solution to improving my speed when I'm running first through the stages - because it's going to be a similar situation in Greece."
Latvala took the final podium place after an incredible recovery from 14th place on Friday. The Finn had led the rally after SS1 but dropped 1:30min on the next stage when his car hit a bank and lost a tyre.
"On Friday I would have been happy to finish fifth - so third is fantastic," said Latvala.
"I had a very good day on Saturday and a good fight today too, but in the end we made the decision that it would be second for Mikko and third for me.
"It's important for me to get some points because I haven't done so well on the last two rallies. This has been a good confidence boost ahead of Greece."
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