Borovets, Bulgaria, July 11 -
Citroen's Sebastien Loeb eased to a comfortable victory in the Rally
Bulgaria on Sunday to claim his fourth win of the season.
The
36-year-old French driver, chasing his seventh title in a row, stamped
his authority on asphalt once again to finish 29.5 seconds ahead of
Spanish team mate Dani Sordo.
He took his record career tally of
wins to 58 and in the overall standings now has 151 points, followed by
Sebastien Ogier with 100 and Mikko Hirvonen on 86.
Loeb had
built up a lead of more than half a minute after winning the first five
stages of the first World Rally Championship (WRC) event to be held in
Bulgaria but then opted for caution in the final sections of the race.
"It's been a perfect race," said a delighted Loeb. "I made a good start and it was a very good first day.
"On the second day we had difficult conditions and it was difficult to
keep concentration. But it was important to just keep the rhythm and
not make any mistakes, not take any risks."
Loeb has now won the last 16 all-asphalt WRC races.
Tense battle
Sordo, yet to post a world championship win, hung on to second after a tense battle with Norway's Petter Solberg.
Solberg, the 2003 world champion, driving a privately-entered Citroen,
came third despite winning five of the last seven stages of the 354-km
race.
Ogier, who clinched his maiden win at the Rally of
Portugal in May, completed a perfect day for Citroen with his fourth
position. It was the best finish for a manufacturer since Toyota
achieved a similar result at the 1993 Safari Rally.
Ex-junior
world champion Ogier, 26, lost a lot of time after going off the road
on the opening day but rediscovered his speed and even managed to win
the last stage in the Rila mountains.
Rally of Sweden winner
Hirvonen was the highest-placed Ford in fifth position with team mate
and Finnish compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala sixth.
"Fifth brings
some good points for the team but I hoped for more," said Hirvonen.
"Now I'm looking forward to my home rally in Finland later this month
where I want to fight for a win."
Hirvonen and Latvala failed to
finish on the podium for a second time in a row as Citroen opened up a
47-point lead over Ford in the constructor standings with six races
remaining.
"It was a difficult weekend," said Latvala, who
finished almost four-and-a-half minutes behind Loeb. "I was aiming a
place in the top five so I'm a little disappointed not to achieve that."
Former Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen, 26th after the end of
the first day following a crash, moved up to 11th but still more than
14 minutes behind the winner.
The next leg of the WRC, the Rally of Finland, runs from July 29 to 31.